diff --git a/arrow-json/Cargo.toml b/arrow-json/Cargo.toml
index f2653ec4e46e..5fcde480eb6d 100644
--- a/arrow-json/Cargo.toml
+++ b/arrow-json/Cargo.toml
@@ -65,3 +65,7 @@ rand = { version = "0.9", default-features = false, features = ["std", "std_rng"
 [[bench]]
 name = "serde"
 harness = false
+
+[[bench]]
+name = "json-reader"
+harness = false
diff --git a/arrow-json/benches/json-reader.rs b/arrow-json/benches/json-reader.rs
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..504839f8ffe2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/arrow-json/benches/json-reader.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,250 @@
+// Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one
+// or more contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file
+// distributed with this work for additional information
+// regarding copyright ownership.  The ASF licenses this file
+// to you under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the
+// "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance
+// with the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+//
+//   http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+//
+// Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing,
+// software distributed under the License is distributed on an
+// "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY
+// KIND, either express or implied.  See the License for the
+// specific language governing permissions and limitations
+// under the License.
+
+use arrow_json::ReaderBuilder;
+use arrow_json::reader::Decoder;
+use arrow_schema::{DataType, Field, Schema};
+use criterion::{
+    BenchmarkId, Criterion, SamplingMode, Throughput, criterion_group, criterion_main,
+};
+use serde_json::{Map, Number, Value};
+use std::fmt::Write;
+use std::hint::black_box;
+use std::sync::Arc;
+
+const ROWS: usize = 1 << 17; // 128K rows
+const BATCH_SIZE: usize = 1 << 13; // 8K rows per batch
+
+const WIDE_FIELDS: usize = 64;
+const BINARY_BYTES: usize = 64;
+const WIDE_PROJECTION_TOTAL_FIELDS: usize = 100; // 100 fields total, select only 3
+
+fn decode_and_flush(decoder: &mut Decoder, data: &[u8]) {
+    let mut offset = 0;
+    while offset < data.len() {
+        let read = decoder.decode(black_box(&data[offset..])).unwrap();
+        if read == 0 {
+            break;
+        }
+        offset += read;
+        while let Some(_batch) = decoder.flush().unwrap() {}
+    }
+}
+
+fn build_schema(field_count: usize) -> Arc<Schema> {
+    // Builds a schema with fields named f0..f{field_count-1}, all Int64 and non-nullable.
+    let fields: Vec<Field> = (0..field_count)
+        .map(|i| Field::new(format!("f{i}"), DataType::Int64, false))
+        .collect();
+    Arc::new(Schema::new(fields))
+}
+
+fn build_projection_schema(indices: &[usize]) -> Arc<Schema> {
+    let fields: Vec<Field> = indices
+        .iter()
+        .map(|i| Field::new(format!("f{i}"), DataType::Int64, false))
+        .collect();
+    Arc::new(Schema::new(fields))
+}
+
+fn build_wide_json(rows: usize, fields: usize) -> Vec<u8> {
+    // Builds newline-delimited JSON objects with "wide" schema.
+    // Example (rows=2, fields=3):
+    // {"f0":0,"f1":1,"f2":2}
+    // {"f0":1,"f1":2,"f2":3}
+    let mut out = String::with_capacity(rows * fields * 12);
+    for row in 0..rows {
+        out.push('{');
+        for field in 0..fields {
+            if field > 0 {
+                out.push(',');
+            }
+            let value = row as i64 + field as i64;
+            write!(&mut out, "\"f{field}\":{value}").unwrap();
+        }
+        out.push('}');
+        out.push('\n');
+    }
+    out.into_bytes()
+}
+
+fn build_wide_values(rows: usize, fields: usize) -> Vec<Value> {
+    // Mirrors build_wide_json but returns structured serde_json::Value objects.
+    let mut out = Vec::with_capacity(rows);
+    for row in 0..rows {
+        let mut map = Map::with_capacity(fields);
+        for field in 0..fields {
+            let key = format!("f{field}");
+            let value = Number::from((row + field) as i64);
+            map.insert(key, Value::Number(value));
+        }
+        out.push(Value::Object(map));
+    }
+    out
+}
+
+fn bench_decode_wide_object(c: &mut Criterion) {
+    let data = build_wide_json(ROWS, WIDE_FIELDS);
+    let schema = build_schema(WIDE_FIELDS);
+
+    c.bench_function("decode_wide_object_i64_json", |b| {
+        b.iter(|| {
+            let mut decoder = ReaderBuilder::new(schema.clone())
+                .with_batch_size(BATCH_SIZE)
+                .build_decoder()
+                .unwrap();
+            decode_and_flush(&mut decoder, &data);
+        })
+    });
+}
+
+fn bench_serialize_wide_object(c: &mut Criterion) {
+    let values = build_wide_values(ROWS, WIDE_FIELDS);
+    let schema = build_schema(WIDE_FIELDS);
+
+    c.bench_function("decode_wide_object_i64_serialize", |b| {
+        b.iter(|| {
+            let mut decoder = ReaderBuilder::new(schema.clone())
+                .with_batch_size(BATCH_SIZE)
+                .build_decoder()
+                .unwrap();
+
+            decoder.serialize(&values).unwrap();
+            while let Some(_batch) = decoder.flush().unwrap() {}
+        })
+    });
+}
+
+fn bench_decode_binary(c: &mut Criterion, name: &str, data: &[u8], field: Arc<Field>) {
+    c.bench_function(name, |b| {
+        b.iter(|| {
+            let mut decoder = ReaderBuilder::new_with_field(field.clone())
+                .with_batch_size(BATCH_SIZE)
+                .build_decoder()
+                .unwrap();
+            decode_and_flush(&mut decoder, data);
+        })
+    });
+}
+
+#[inline]
+fn append_hex_byte(buf: &mut String, byte: u8) {
+    const HEX: &[u8; 16] = b"0123456789abcdef";
+    buf.push(HEX[(byte >> 4) as usize] as char);
+    buf.push(HEX[(byte & 0x0f) as usize] as char);
+}
+
+fn build_hex_lines(rows: usize, bytes_per_row: usize) -> Vec<u8> {
+    let mut data = String::with_capacity(rows * (bytes_per_row * 2 + 3));
+    for row in 0..rows {
+        data.push('"');
+        for i in 0..bytes_per_row {
+            let byte = ((row + i) & 0xff) as u8;
+            append_hex_byte(&mut data, byte);
+        }
+        data.push('"');
+        data.push('\n');
+    }
+    data.into_bytes()
+}
+
+fn bench_binary_hex(c: &mut Criterion) {
+    let binary_data = build_hex_lines(ROWS, BINARY_BYTES);
+
+    let binary_field = Arc::new(Field::new("item", DataType::Binary, false));
+    bench_decode_binary(c, "decode_binary_hex_json", &binary_data, binary_field);
+
+    let fixed_field = Arc::new(Field::new(
+        "item",
+        DataType::FixedSizeBinary(BINARY_BYTES as i32),
+        false,
+    ));
+    bench_decode_binary(c, "decode_fixed_binary_hex_json", &binary_data, fixed_field);
+
+    let view_field = Arc::new(Field::new("item", DataType::BinaryView, false));
+    bench_decode_binary(c, "decode_binary_view_hex_json", &binary_data, view_field);
+}
+
+fn bench_decode_schema(c: &mut Criterion, name: &str, data: &[u8], schema: Arc<Schema>) {
+    let mut group = c.benchmark_group(name);
+    group.throughput(Throughput::Bytes(data.len() as u64));
+    group.sample_size(50);
+    group.measurement_time(std::time::Duration::from_secs(5));
+    group.warm_up_time(std::time::Duration::from_secs(2));
+    group.sampling_mode(SamplingMode::Flat);
+    group.bench_function(BenchmarkId::from_parameter(ROWS), |b| {
+        b.iter(|| {
+            let mut decoder = ReaderBuilder::new(schema.clone())
+                .with_batch_size(BATCH_SIZE)
+                .build_decoder()
+                .unwrap();
+            decode_and_flush(&mut decoder, data);
+        })
+    });
+    group.finish();
+}
+
+fn build_wide_projection_json(rows: usize, total_fields: usize) -> Vec<u8> {
+    // Estimate: each field ~15 bytes ("fXX":VVVVVVV,), total ~15*100 + overhead
+    let per_row_size = total_fields * 15 + 10;
+    let mut data = String::with_capacity(rows * per_row_size);
+
+    for _row in 0..rows {
+        data.push('{');
+        for i in 0..total_fields {
+            if i > 0 {
+                data.push(',');
+            }
+            // Use fixed-width values for stable benchmarks: 7 digits
+            let _ = write!(data, "\"f{}\":{:07}", i, i);
+        }
+        data.push('}');
+        data.push('\n');
+    }
+    data.into_bytes()
+}
+
+fn bench_wide_projection(c: &mut Criterion) {
+    // Wide projection workload: tests overhead of parsing unused fields
+    let wide_projection_data = build_wide_projection_json(ROWS, WIDE_PROJECTION_TOTAL_FIELDS);
+
+    let full_schema = build_schema(WIDE_PROJECTION_TOTAL_FIELDS);
+    bench_decode_schema(
+        c,
+        "decode_wide_projection_full_json",
+        &wide_projection_data,
+        full_schema,
+    );
+
+    // Projected schema: only 3 fields (f0, f10, f50) out of 100
+    let projected_schema = build_projection_schema(&[0, 10, 50]);
+    bench_decode_schema(
+        c,
+        "decode_wide_projection_narrow_json",
+        &wide_projection_data,
+        projected_schema,
+    );
+}
+
+criterion_group!(
+    benches,
+    bench_decode_wide_object,
+    bench_serialize_wide_object,
+    bench_binary_hex,
+    bench_wide_projection
+);
+criterion_main!(benches);