diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 86841312..67f0c462 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -12,6 +12,10 @@ and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0
 - [#1216](https://github.com/ClementTsang/bottom/pull/1216): Fix arguments not being sorted alphabetically.
 - [#1219](https://github.com/ClementTsang/bottom/pull/1219): Fix overflow/underflow in graph timespan zoom.
 
+## Features
+
+- [#1221](https://github.com/ClementTsang/bottom/pull/1221): Support human times for `rate`.
+
 ## [0.9.2] - 2023-06-11
 
 ## Bug Fixes
diff --git a/src/app.rs b/src/app.rs
index 5418f615..03782a56 100644
--- a/src/app.rs
+++ b/src/app.rs
@@ -45,7 +45,7 @@ pub enum AxisScaling {
 /// by config files or launch options.
 #[derive(Debug, Default, Eq, PartialEq)]
 pub struct AppConfigFields {
-    pub update_rate_in_milliseconds: u64,
+    pub update_rate: u64,
     pub temperature_type: temperature::TemperatureType,
     pub use_dot: bool,
     pub left_legend: bool,
diff --git a/src/args.rs b/src/args.rs
index 87035a6a..b384acc0 100644
--- a/src/args.rs
+++ b/src/args.rs
@@ -353,8 +353,8 @@ use CPU (3) as the default instead.
         .long("rate")
         .action(ArgAction::Set)
         .value_name("MS")
-        .help("Sets a refresh rate in ms.")
-        .long_help("Sets a refresh rate in milliseconds. The minimum is 250ms, and defaults to 1000ms. Smaller values may take more computer resources.");
+        .help("Sets the data refresh rate.")
+        .long_help("Sets the data refresh rate. The minimum is 250ms, and defaults to 1000ms. Smaller values may take more computer resources.");
 
     let time_delta = Arg::new("time_delta")
         .short('d')
diff --git a/src/constants.rs b/src/constants.rs
index a76c8609..9a0cd04a 100644
--- a/src/constants.rs
+++ b/src/constants.rs
@@ -520,7 +520,7 @@ pub const CONFIG_TEXT: &str = r##"# This is a default config file for bottom.  A
 # Whether to use dot markers rather than braille.
 #dot_marker = false
 # The update rate of the application.
-#rate = 1000
+#rate = "1s"
 # Whether to put the CPU legend to the left.
 #left_legend = false
 # Whether to set CPU% on a process to be based on the total CPU or just current usage.
diff --git a/src/lib.rs b/src/lib.rs
index 6424c286..86d36cb7 100644
--- a/src/lib.rs
+++ b/src/lib.rs
@@ -484,7 +484,7 @@ pub fn create_collection_thread(
     let use_current_cpu_total = app_config_fields.use_current_cpu_total;
     let unnormalized_cpu = app_config_fields.unnormalized_cpu;
     let show_average_cpu = app_config_fields.show_average_cpu;
-    let update_time = app_config_fields.update_rate_in_milliseconds;
+    let update_time = app_config_fields.update_rate;
 
     thread::spawn(move || {
         let mut data_state = data_harvester::DataCollector::new(filters);
diff --git a/src/options.rs b/src/options.rs
index 4a4d15f5..412748a6 100644
--- a/src/options.rs
+++ b/src/options.rs
@@ -66,45 +66,45 @@ impl From<u64> for StringOrNum {
 
 #[derive(Clone, Debug, Default, Deserialize, Serialize)]
 pub struct ConfigFlags {
-    pub hide_avg_cpu: Option<bool>,
-    pub dot_marker: Option<bool>,
-    pub temperature_type: Option<String>,
-    pub rate: Option<u64>,
-    pub left_legend: Option<bool>,
-    pub current_usage: Option<bool>,
-    pub unnormalized_cpu: Option<bool>,
-    pub group_processes: Option<bool>,
-    pub case_sensitive: Option<bool>,
-    pub whole_word: Option<bool>,
-    pub regex: Option<bool>,
-    pub basic: Option<bool>,
+    hide_avg_cpu: Option<bool>,
+    dot_marker: Option<bool>,
+    temperature_type: Option<String>,
+    rate: Option<StringOrNum>,
+    left_legend: Option<bool>,
+    current_usage: Option<bool>,
+    unnormalized_cpu: Option<bool>,
+    group_processes: Option<bool>,
+    case_sensitive: Option<bool>,
+    whole_word: Option<bool>,
+    regex: Option<bool>,
+    basic: Option<bool>,
     default_time_value: Option<StringOrNum>,
     time_delta: Option<StringOrNum>,
-    pub autohide_time: Option<bool>,
-    pub hide_time: Option<bool>,
-    pub default_widget_type: Option<String>,
-    pub default_widget_count: Option<u64>,
-    pub expanded_on_startup: Option<bool>,
-    pub use_old_network_legend: Option<bool>,
-    pub hide_table_gap: Option<bool>,
-    pub battery: Option<bool>,
-    pub disable_click: Option<bool>,
-    pub no_write: Option<bool>,
+    autohide_time: Option<bool>,
+    hide_time: Option<bool>,
+    default_widget_type: Option<String>,
+    default_widget_count: Option<u64>,
+    expanded_on_startup: Option<bool>,
+    use_old_network_legend: Option<bool>,
+    hide_table_gap: Option<bool>,
+    battery: Option<bool>,
+    disable_click: Option<bool>,
+    no_write: Option<bool>,
     /// For built-in colour palettes.
-    pub color: Option<String>,
-    pub mem_as_value: Option<bool>,
-    pub tree: Option<bool>,
+    color: Option<String>,
+    mem_as_value: Option<bool>,
+    tree: Option<bool>,
     show_table_scroll_position: Option<bool>,
-    pub process_command: Option<bool>,
-    pub disable_advanced_kill: Option<bool>,
-    pub network_use_bytes: Option<bool>,
-    pub network_use_log: Option<bool>,
-    pub network_use_binary_prefix: Option<bool>,
-    pub enable_gpu_memory: Option<bool>,
-    pub enable_cache_memory: Option<bool>,
+    process_command: Option<bool>,
+    disable_advanced_kill: Option<bool>,
+    network_use_bytes: Option<bool>,
+    network_use_log: Option<bool>,
+    network_use_binary_prefix: Option<bool>,
+    enable_gpu_memory: Option<bool>,
+    enable_cache_memory: Option<bool>,
     #[serde(with = "humantime_serde")]
     #[serde(default)]
-    pub retention: Option<Duration>,
+    retention: Option<Duration>,
 }
 
 #[derive(Clone, Debug, Default, Deserialize, Serialize)]
@@ -262,7 +262,7 @@ pub fn build_app(
     };
 
     let app_config_fields = AppConfigFields {
-        update_rate_in_milliseconds: get_update_rate_in_milliseconds(matches, config)
+        update_rate: get_update_rate(matches, config)
             .context("Update 'rate' in your config file.")?,
         temperature_type: get_temperature(matches, config)
             .context("Update 'temperature_type' in your config file.")?,
@@ -549,16 +549,15 @@ pub fn get_widget_layout(
     Ok((bottom_layout, default_widget_id, default_widget_type))
 }
 
-fn get_update_rate_in_milliseconds(matches: &ArgMatches, config: &Config) -> error::Result<u64> {
-    let update_rate_in_milliseconds = if let Some(update_rate) = matches.get_one::<String>("rate") {
-        update_rate.parse::<u64>().map_err(|_| {
-            BottomError::ConfigError(
-                "could not parse as a valid 64-bit unsigned integer".to_string(),
-            )
-        })?
+fn get_update_rate(matches: &ArgMatches, config: &Config) -> error::Result<u64> {
+    let update_rate = if let Some(update_rate) = matches.get_one::<String>("rate") {
+        try_parse_ms(update_rate)?
     } else if let Some(flags) = &config.flags {
-        if let Some(rate) = flags.rate {
-            rate
+        if let Some(rate) = &flags.rate {
+            match rate {
+                StringOrNum::String(s) => try_parse_ms(s)?,
+                StringOrNum::Num(n) => *n,
+            }
         } else {
             DEFAULT_REFRESH_RATE_IN_MILLISECONDS
         }
@@ -566,13 +565,13 @@ fn get_update_rate_in_milliseconds(matches: &ArgMatches, config: &Config) -> err
         DEFAULT_REFRESH_RATE_IN_MILLISECONDS
     };
 
-    if update_rate_in_milliseconds < 250 {
+    if update_rate < 250 {
         return Err(BottomError::ConfigError(
-            "set your update rate to be at least 250 milliseconds.".to_string(),
+            "set your update rate to be at least 250 ms.".to_string(),
         ));
     }
 
-    Ok(update_rate_in_milliseconds)
+    Ok(update_rate)
 }
 
 fn get_temperature(
@@ -914,7 +913,7 @@ mod test {
     use crate::{
         app::App,
         canvas::canvas_styling::CanvasStyling,
-        options::{get_default_time_value, try_parse_ms, ConfigFlags},
+        options::{get_default_time_value, get_update_rate, try_parse_ms, ConfigFlags},
     };
 
     #[test]
@@ -999,6 +998,7 @@ mod test {
         let flags = ConfigFlags {
             time_delta: Some("2 min".to_string().into()),
             default_time_value: Some("300s".to_string().into()),
+            rate: Some("1s".to_string().into()),
             ..Default::default()
         };
 
@@ -1013,6 +1013,8 @@ mod test {
             get_default_time_value(&matches, &config, 60 * 60 * 1000),
             Ok(5 * 60 * 1000)
         );
+
+        assert_eq!(get_update_rate(&matches, &config), Ok(1000));
     }
 
     #[test]
@@ -1024,6 +1026,7 @@ mod test {
         let flags = ConfigFlags {
             time_delta: Some("120000".to_string().into()),
             default_time_value: Some("300000".to_string().into()),
+            rate: Some("1000".to_string().into()),
             ..Default::default()
         };
 
@@ -1038,6 +1041,8 @@ mod test {
             get_default_time_value(&matches, &config, 60 * 60 * 1000),
             Ok(5 * 60 * 1000)
         );
+
+        assert_eq!(get_update_rate(&matches, &config), Ok(1000));
     }
 
     #[test]
@@ -1049,6 +1054,7 @@ mod test {
         let flags = ConfigFlags {
             time_delta: Some(120000.into()),
             default_time_value: Some(300000.into()),
+            rate: Some(1000.into()),
             ..Default::default()
         };
 
@@ -1063,6 +1069,8 @@ mod test {
             get_default_time_value(&matches, &config, 60 * 60 * 1000),
             Ok(5 * 60 * 1000)
         );
+
+        assert_eq!(get_update_rate(&matches, &config), Ok(1000));
     }
 
     fn create_app(config: Config, matches: ArgMatches) -> App {
diff --git a/tests/arg_tests.rs b/tests/arg_tests.rs
index 0bbddce8..c233c14e 100644
--- a/tests/arg_tests.rs
+++ b/tests/arg_tests.rs
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ fn test_small_rate() {
         .assert()
         .failure()
         .stderr(predicate::str::contains(
-            "set your update rate to be at least 250 milliseconds.",
+            "set your update rate to be at least 250 ms.",
         ));
 }