A method, system, and computer usable program product for load balancing using replication delay are provided in the illustrative embodiments. In response to a request to update, a system updates data associated with a write server, forming updated data of a data partition. The system receives a read request for the data partition. The system calculates a time difference between an arrival time of the request to update and an arrival time of the read request. The system receives a set of average replication delays for a set of replica servers serving the data partition. The system directs the read request to a replica server in the set of replica servers whose average replication delay is less than or equal to the time difference.