diff --git a/benchmarks/files/lines/bench.sh b/benchmarks/files/lines/bench.sh
index 0c251fe..41d156f 100755
--- a/benchmarks/files/lines/bench.sh
+++ b/benchmarks/files/lines/bench.sh
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ BENCH_NAME="coreutils"
 
 printf 'benchmarking %s wc vs fastwc: lines, file input (%s interleaved runs each, minimum kept)\n' \
     "$BENCH_NAME" "$BENCH_REPS"
-printf '%-28s %10s %10s %8s %s\n' 'test' 'wc' 'fastwc' 'ratio' 'status'
+printf '%-28s %10s %22s %8s %s\n' 'test' 'wc' 'fastwc (ms µs)' 'ratio' 'status'
 
 printf '%s\n' '--- lines ---'
 if ! run_cases lines -l 10000 100000 1000000 10000000; then
diff --git a/benchmarks/files/words/bench.sh b/benchmarks/files/words/bench.sh
index e14449a..8ea852b 100755
--- a/benchmarks/files/words/bench.sh
+++ b/benchmarks/files/words/bench.sh
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ BENCH_NAME="coreutils"
 
 printf 'benchmarking %s wc vs fastwc: words, file input (%s interleaved runs each, minimum kept)\n' \
     "$BENCH_NAME" "$BENCH_REPS"
-printf '%-28s %10s %10s %8s %s\n' 'test' 'wc' 'fastwc' 'ratio' 'status'
+printf '%-28s %10s %22s %8s %s\n' 'test' 'wc' 'fastwc (ms µs)' 'ratio' 'status'
 
 printf '%s\n' '--- words ---'
 if ! run_cases words -w 1 10 100 1000 10000 100000; then
diff --git a/benchmarks/std.sh b/benchmarks/std.sh
index c505e53..3c8c6b5 100755
--- a/benchmarks/std.sh
+++ b/benchmarks/std.sh
@@ -131,6 +131,17 @@ time_ms() {
     printf '%s\n' "$(( (e - s) / 1000000 ))"
 }
 
+# time_us <cmd...> — run a command once and print elapsed wall time in µs.
+# More precise than time_ms: sub-millisecond runs come out as e.g. 812,
+# not 0. The benchmark keeps the µs reading for fastwc and derives the ms.
+time_us() {
+    local s e
+    s=$(date +%s%N)
+    "$@" >/dev/null 2>&1
+    e=$(date +%s%N)
+    printf '%s\n' "$(( (e - s) / 1000 ))"
+}
+
 # capture_count <cmd...> — print the first whitespace-separated field of a
 # command's output, i.e. the count reported by `wc -w/-l` or `fastwc -w/-l`.
 capture_count() {
@@ -151,7 +162,7 @@ write_failed_report() {
         printf 'failure        : %s\n' "$reason"
         printf '\nresults\n'
         printf '%s\n' '-------'
-        printf '%-28s %10s %10s %8s %s\n' 'test' 'wc' 'fastwc' 'ratio' 'status'
+        printf '%-28s %10s %22s %8s %s\n' 'test' 'wc' 'fastwc (ms µs)' 'ratio' 'status'
         printf '%s' "$RESULT_ROWS"
         printf '\nfastwc must never be slower than %s wc — benchmark aborted.\n' "$BENCH_NAME"
     } > "$report"
@@ -167,7 +178,7 @@ run_case() {
     local mode="$1" lines="$2" flag="$3"
     local noun='lines'; [[ "$lines" -eq 1 ]] && noun='line'
     local label="${mode} (${lines} ${noun})"
-    local file wc_count fast_count wc_ms fast_ms ratio verdict reason row
+    local file wc_count fast_count wc_ms fast_us fast_ms ratio verdict reason row
     local i d
 
     file=$(createtxt "$lines") || return 1
@@ -177,16 +188,18 @@ run_case() {
     fast_count=$(capture_count "$FASTWC" "$flag" "$file")
 
     # speed: interleaved timing so both commands see identical cache warmth;
-    # keep the minimum of $BENCH_REPS runs each to reduce noise
+    # keep the minimum of $BENCH_REPS runs each to reduce noise; fastwc is
+    # timed in µs so sub-millisecond wins are visible in the report
     wc_ms=''
-    fast_ms=''
+    fast_us=''
     for ((i = 0; i < BENCH_REPS; i++)); do
         d=$(time_ms "${WC_CMD[@]}" "$flag" "$file")
         [[ -z "$wc_ms" || "$d" -lt "$wc_ms" ]] && wc_ms="$d"
 
-        d=$(time_ms "$FASTWC" "$flag" "$file")
-        [[ -z "$fast_ms" || "$d" -lt "$fast_ms" ]] && fast_ms="$d"
+        d=$(time_us "$FASTWC" "$flag" "$file")
+        [[ -z "$fast_us" || "$d" -lt "$fast_us" ]] && fast_us="$d"
     done
+    fast_ms=$(( fast_us / 1000 ))
 
     # ratio: how many times faster fastwc is than the reference (wc / fastwc)
     if [[ -n "$wc_ms" && "$wc_ms" -gt 0 ]]; then
@@ -209,8 +222,9 @@ run_case() {
         reason="fastwc was slower (fastwc: ${fast_ms}ms vs ${BENCH_NAME} wc: ${wc_ms}ms)"
     fi
 
-    row=$(printf '%-28s %10s %10s %8s %s\n' \
-        "$label" "wc: ${wc_ms}ms" "fastwc: ${fast_ms}ms" "$ratio" "$verdict")
+    row=$(printf '%-28s %10s %22s %8s %s\n' \
+        "$label" "wc: ${wc_ms}ms" "fastwc: ${fast_ms}ms (${fast_us}µs)" \
+        "$ratio" "$verdict")
     RESULT_ROWS+="${row}"$'\n'
     printf '%s\n' "$row"
 
@@ -228,7 +242,7 @@ run_stdin_case() {
     local mode="$1" lines="$2" flag="$3"
     local noun='lines'; [[ "$lines" -eq 1 ]] && noun='line'
     local label="stdin ${mode} (${lines} ${noun})"
-    local file wc_count fast_count wc_ms fast_ms ratio verdict reason row
+    local file wc_count fast_count wc_ms fast_us fast_ms ratio verdict reason row
     local i d
 
     file=$(createtxt "$lines") || return 1
@@ -237,14 +251,15 @@ run_stdin_case() {
     fast_count=$(capture_count "$FASTWC" "$flag" < "$file")
 
     wc_ms=''
-    fast_ms=''
+    fast_us=''
     for ((i = 0; i < BENCH_REPS; i++)); do
         d=$(time_ms "${WC_CMD[@]}" "$flag" < "$file")
         [[ -z "$wc_ms" || "$d" -lt "$wc_ms" ]] && wc_ms="$d"
 
-        d=$(time_ms "$FASTWC" "$flag" < "$file")
-        [[ -z "$fast_ms" || "$d" -lt "$fast_ms" ]] && fast_ms="$d"
+        d=$(time_us "$FASTWC" "$flag" < "$file")
+        [[ -z "$fast_us" || "$d" -lt "$fast_us" ]] && fast_us="$d"
     done
+    fast_ms=$(( fast_us / 1000 ))
 
     # ratio: how many times faster fastwc is than the reference (wc / fastwc)
     if [[ -n "$wc_ms" && "$wc_ms" -gt 0 ]]; then
@@ -267,8 +282,9 @@ run_stdin_case() {
         reason="fastwc was slower (fastwc: ${fast_ms}ms vs ${BENCH_NAME} wc: ${wc_ms}ms)"
     fi
 
-    row=$(printf '%-28s %10s %10s %8s %s\n' \
-        "$label" "wc: ${wc_ms}ms" "fastwc: ${fast_ms}ms" "$ratio" "$verdict")
+    row=$(printf '%-28s %10s %22s %8s %s\n' \
+        "$label" "wc: ${wc_ms}ms" "fastwc: ${fast_ms}ms (${fast_us}µs)" \
+        "$ratio" "$verdict")
     RESULT_ROWS+="${row}"$'\n'
     printf '%s\n' "$row"
 
@@ -286,7 +302,7 @@ run_solo_case() {
     local lines="$1" flag="$2"
     local noun='lines'; [[ "$lines" -eq 1 ]] && noun='line'
     local label="solo ${lines} ${noun}"
-    local file ms best='' bytes gbps mlps i d
+    local file best_us='' best_ms bytes gbps mlps i d
 
     file=$(createtxt "$lines") || {
         printf '%-28s %s\n' "$label" 'SKIP (could not create test data)'
@@ -294,16 +310,17 @@ run_solo_case() {
     }
 
     for ((i = 0; i < BENCH_REPS; i++)); do
-        d=$(time_ms "$FASTWC" "$flag" "$file")
-        [[ -z "$best" || "$d" -lt "$best" ]] && best="$d"
+        d=$(time_us "$FASTWC" "$flag" "$file")
+        [[ -z "$best_us" || "$d" -lt "$best_us" ]] && best_us="$d"
     done
+    best_ms=$(( best_us / 1000 ))
 
     bytes=$((lines * 11))
-    gbps=$(awk -v b="$bytes" -v ms="$best" 'BEGIN { printf "%.2f", b / ms / 1e6 }')
-    mlps=$(awk -v l="$lines" -v ms="$best" 'BEGIN { printf "%.1f", l / ms / 1e3 }')
+    gbps=$(awk -v b="$bytes" -v ms="$best_ms" 'BEGIN { if (ms < 1) ms = 1; printf "%.2f", b / ms / 1e6 }')
+    mlps=$(awk -v l="$lines" -v ms="$best_ms" 'BEGIN { if (ms < 1) ms = 1; printf "%.1f", l / ms / 1e3 }')
 
-    printf '%-28s %12s %12s %14s\n' \
-        "$label" "fastwc: ${best}ms" "${gbps} GB/s" "${mlps} Mlines/s"
+    printf '%-28s %25s %12s %14s\n' \
+        "$label" "fastwc: ${best_ms}ms (${best_us}µs)" "${gbps} GB/s" "${mlps} Mlines/s"
 }
 
 # run_cases <words|lines> <-w|-l> <size...> — run run_case for every size,
diff --git a/benchmarks/stdin/piping/bench.sh b/benchmarks/stdin/piping/bench.sh
index f8b3b0a..c7ce272 100755
--- a/benchmarks/stdin/piping/bench.sh
+++ b/benchmarks/stdin/piping/bench.sh
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ BENCH_NAME="coreutils"
 
 printf 'benchmarking %s wc vs fastwc: stdin (%s interleaved runs each, minimum kept)\n' \
     "$BENCH_NAME" "$BENCH_REPS"
-printf '%-28s %10s %10s %8s %s\n' 'test' 'wc' 'fastwc' 'ratio' 'status'
+printf '%-28s %10s %22s %8s %s\n' 'test' 'wc' 'fastwc (ms µs)' 'ratio' 'status'
 
 printf '%s\n' '--- stdin lines ---'
 if ! run_stdin_cases lines -l 10000 100000 1000000 10000000; then