A good typing speed is one that lets you keep up with your own thoughts. For most people that lands somewhere between 50 and 70 words per minute with high accuracy. The figure most often quoted as the adult average is around 40 WPM. Below we break down what each range means, how jobs treat typing speed, and why the same person can get very different numbers on different tests.
The short answer
If you want one line to remember:
- Around 40 WPM is the commonly cited average for adults.
- 50 to 60 WPM is a solid, above-average speed that feels quick in daily work.
- 70 to 90 WPM is fast. You will rarely be waiting on your fingers.
- 100 WPM and above on a one-minute test is genuinely rare.
All of these assume accuracy of roughly 95 percent or better. A 90 WPM score at 85 percent accuracy means a lot of time spent fixing things, and in real writing those fixes eat most of the speed.
Typing speed benchmarks by level
There is no official standard for typing speed levels. The table below is our own guide, based on the figures commonly quoted around the web, what employers typically ask for, and what we see typists score on one-minute tests of common English text. Treat the boundaries as soft.
| Level | Net WPM | What it usually looks like |
|---|---|---|
| Learning | Under 20 | Looking at the keys, often one or two fingers per hand. Still finding letters. |
| Beginner | 20 to 34 | Knows where most keys are. Frequent glances at the keyboard. Slow on capitals and punctuation. |
| Average | 35 to 49 | Typical everyday typist. Fine for email and messages, but long documents feel like work. |
| Above average | 50 to 69 | Comfortable touch typist, or a well-practised self-taught one. Meets nearly every job requirement. |
| Fast | 70 to 89 | Types roughly as fast as most people think while writing. Reads ahead without effort. |
| Very fast | 90 to 119 | Dedicated typists. Clean technique, strong rhythm, years of practice. |
| Elite | 120 and up | Competitive typists. Sustained speeds here on varied text are rare. |
One thing the table cannot show: these are net speeds on a test of a minute or longer. Fifteen-second scores run higher for almost everyone, sometimes by 15 or 20 WPM, because there is no time to get tired and one good streak carries the whole result. If you are comparing yourself with a friend, make sure you both took the same kind of test.
What is the average typing speed, really?
You will see "about 40 WPM" quoted as the average adult typing speed all over the internet. It is a reasonable rule of thumb, though it is hard to trace it to a single definitive source, and it probably reflects a mix of people who type every day and people who rarely do.
The best-known large study is from researchers at Aalto University in Finland, published in 2018. They analysed keystrokes from around 168,000 volunteers who took an online typing test and reported an average of roughly 52 WPM. That is higher than the 40 WPM rule of thumb, and there is a good reason: people who choose to take a typing test online are probably more practised than the population as a whole. The same caveat applies to averages shown on any typing website, ours included.
So a fair summary is this. Among adults in general, 40 WPM is a sensible estimate of average. Among people who take typing tests for fun, the average is higher, often somewhere in the 50s. If you are above 50, you are comfortably ahead of most people you work with.
What about children and teenagers?
Speeds for younger typists vary hugely depending on whether they have been taught touch typing at school and how much they type at home. Rather than chase a number, it is more useful for a young typist to build good finger habits and accuracy first. Speed follows those within months.
Typical typing speeds in different jobs
We want to be honest about this section. There is no central register of required typing speeds, and requirements differ between countries, employers and even individual managers. What follows is based on what job postings commonly ask for and on how the roles work in practice. Always check the actual posting.
| Role | Speed often asked for | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| General office, admin, receptionist | Around 40 to 50 WPM | Accuracy is usually weighted as heavily as speed. US federal clerk-typist roles have long used 40 WPM as the bar. |
| Executive assistant, secretary | Around 50 to 70 WPM | Lots of email, minutes and documents. Formatting and shortcut skills matter too. |
| Data entry | Often stated in keystrokes per hour | Many postings mention figures around 8,000 to 10,000 KPH, sometimes on numeric keypad work. Accuracy is critical. |
| Customer support (chat and email) | Varies, often 40 WPM or more | Typing while reading and thinking. Short bursts matter more than long sustained speed. |
| Legal and medical transcription | Often 60 WPM or more | Typing from audio, so listening and specialist vocabulary matter as much as raw speed. |
| Court reporting and live captioning | 200+ WPM on a stenotype | Done on a chorded steno machine, not a normal keyboard. US certification tests run at up to 225 WPM. |
| Software development | Rarely tested | Thinking takes far longer than typing. A comfortable 50+ WPM and good symbol accuracy are plenty. |
| Writers, journalists, content creators | Rarely tested | Faster typing helps with drafts and interview notes, but nobody hires on WPM. |
Two things stand out. First, very few jobs need more than about 70 WPM on a standard keyboard. Second, employers who test typing care a lot about accuracy. A candidate with 55 WPM at 98 percent accuracy usually looks better than one with 75 WPM at 88 percent. Our guide to typing tests for jobs covers how employment tests work and how to prepare for one.
Why your score changes between tests
If you have taken typing tests on several sites, you have probably noticed your number moves around. A few things cause most of that:
- Test length. Shorter tests give higher scores. A 15-second test rewards a single good burst. A 5-minute test exposes fatigue and lapses in focus.
- Text difficulty. Common short words are much faster than long words, capitals, numbers and punctuation. A quote test is usually slower than a common-words test, sometimes by 10 WPM or more.
- Net versus raw. Some results show gross or raw speed, which counts every keystroke. Others show net speed, which only counts correct work. Net is the honest number, and it is what we show by default.
- How errors are handled. Some tests force you to fix errors before moving on, some let you skip past them, and they penalise mistakes differently.
- Your day. Tiredness, a new keyboard, cold hands, or simply trying too hard can all cost you several words per minute.
The fix is simple: pick one test format and stick to it when tracking progress. We suggest the 1-minute test on common words. Take three and use the middle score. If you want to know exactly how the number is calculated, our WPM calculation guide has worked examples.
Accuracy matters as much as speed
A good typing speed is really two numbers. Here is roughly how we read accuracy alongside WPM:
- 98 percent or above: excellent. You can push for speed.
- 95 to 97 percent: good, and typical for confident typists.
- 90 to 94 percent: you are probably typing faster than your technique can support. Slowing down a little will likely raise your net WPM within a couple of weeks.
- Under 90 percent: focus on accuracy before anything else.
Watch a fast typist closely and you will see very little Backspace. They make few errors to begin with, so there is little to fix. If your speed is fine but your accuracy is low, the quickest improvement available to you is to type slightly slower for a while.
How fast do you actually need to be?
For most people, the honest answer is somewhere between 50 and 70 WPM. Past that, extra speed brings diminishing returns in everyday work, because you spend far more time thinking, reading and editing than typing. Going from 30 to 60 WPM halves the time it takes to type a long email. Going from 80 to 110 saves a lot less in practice.
That said, there are good reasons to keep going. Transcription and captioning work rewards every extra word. Competitive typing is a real hobby with its own community. And for plenty of people, getting faster is simply satisfying, the same way running a faster 5K is. All of those are perfectly good reasons.
If you are below 40 WPM, learning to touch type is the most valuable change you can make. Our touch typing guide lays out a four-week plan. If you are already touch typing and want to go faster, read how to type faster for the habits that make the biggest difference.
Find your own number
Averages are only useful as a starting point. What matters is your own number and whether it is moving. Take three 1-minute tests now, note the middle score and its accuracy, and find your row in the table above. Then take the same test once a week for a month. If you want something less formal, the typing games are a good way to put in practice time without it feeling like a test.
Questions people ask
What is the average typing speed?
The figure most often quoted for adults is around 40 words per minute. Online typing tests tend to show higher averages, often in the 50s, because the people taking them are usually keen typists. Either way, anything from about 35 to 50 WPM is a normal everyday speed.
Is 60 WPM a good typing speed?
Yes. 60 WPM with 95 percent accuracy or better is comfortably above average and meets the requirement of almost every office job. Past this point, extra speed matters mostly for transcription work, competitive typing or personal satisfaction.
Is 100 WPM fast?
Yes, 100 WPM on a test of ordinary text is very fast. Only a small fraction of typists can hold it on a one-minute test with good accuracy. Short 15-second bursts are easier, so make sure you compare like with like.
What typing speed do I need for a job?
Many general office and admin roles ask for somewhere around 40 to 50 WPM, while legal, medical and transcription roles often ask for 60 WPM or more. Data entry jobs sometimes use keystrokes per hour instead. Always check the specific posting, since requirements vary a lot between employers.
Put it into practice
The test starts on your first keystroke. No sign-up.