What Is a Good Typing Speed? Average WPM

By Jayadeep · Updated June 2026

Quick answer: A good typing speed is around 60–70 words per minute (WPM), while the average adult types about 40 WPM. Professional typists hit 70–100+, and competitive records exceed 200 WPM. Accuracy matters as much as raw speed.

Find your own number: open the typing speed test and type the passage as accurately as you can.

Typing speed benchmarks

• Beginner (under 30 WPM): hunt-and-peck or just learning.
• Average (~40 WPM): a typical adult who types regularly.
• Above average (50–60 WPM): comfortable touch typing.
• Good / professional (60–70 WPM): the usual bar for typing-heavy jobs.
• Fast (70–100 WPM): skilled touch typists.
• Expert (100+ WPM): rare; competition records pass 200 WPM.

Why accuracy matters as much as speed

Most tests report net WPM, which subtracts mistakes. A burst of fast typing full of errors scores worse than a steady, accurate pace, because fixing typos costs more time than it saves. Aim for accuracy first, then speed.

How to type faster

Learn touch typing: keep your fingers on the home row, use all ten fingers, and stop looking at the keyboard. Short daily practice builds the muscle memory that raises both speed and accuracy over a few weeks.

What is a good speed for a job?

Data-entry, transcription and admin roles typically want 50–60+ WPM with strong accuracy; around 65 WPM is a comfortable professional target. Specialised roles like court reporting use different equipment and far higher effective rates.

Test your typing speed

Run the typing speed test to see your WPM and accuracy, then compare against the benchmarks above.

What Counts as a Good Typing Speed

Typing speed is measured in words per minute (WPM), where a "word" is standardised as five characters. As a benchmark, the average typist manages around 40 WPM, a good speed is roughly 60–80 WPM, and professional typists and fast touch typists reach 100 WPM or more. Where you land depends on how you type: people who hunt and peck with a couple of fingers tend to sit below average, while trained touch typists who use all ten fingers without looking reach the higher figures. Measure yours on the typing test to see your current WPM and accuracy.

Speed Is Only Half the Story

Raw speed means little without accuracy. This is why typing tests report two numbers: gross WPM, your raw speed before mistakes, and net WPM, your effective speed after errors are subtracted. A blazing gross speed riddled with typos produces a poor net result, because every mistake costs time to fix. A typist doing 70 WPM at 99% accuracy is more productive than one hitting 90 WPM at 90%, since the second spends so long correcting. That's why accuracy is the foundation to build on first — consistent, correct typing is what real-world speed is actually made of.

What Affects Your Typing Speed

Several things shape how fast you type. Technique is the biggest: touch typing with all ten fingers from the home row beats hunting and pecking by a wide margin. Familiarity with the keyboard layout and the words you're typing matters — typing common text is faster than unfamiliar technical terms or numbers. Your keyboard plays a part too: a comfortable, responsive keyboard with good key travel can be faster and less tiring than a cramped or mushy one. And simple practice builds the muscle memory that turns conscious effort into automatic motion. None of these requires talent — they all respond to consistent use.

How Typing Speed Is Measured

A typing test gives you a passage to type and times you, then calculates WPM from the number of correct characters entered. Because the standard word is five characters, typing 300 correct characters in a minute equals 60 WPM. Good tests also track your accuracy percentage and often show which keys or words slow you down. For a fair result, type naturally at a sustainable pace rather than sprinting — your consistent speed over a full passage reflects real-world typing far better than a short burst. Retesting over time on the typing test is the clearest way to see genuine improvement.

Typing Speed by Use and Profession

How fast you need to type depends on what you do. For everyday use — emails, messages, browsing — the 40 WPM average is perfectly workable, and there's no pressure to be faster. Office and admin work flows more comfortably at 50–70 WPM, where typing keeps pace with your thinking rather than holding it back. Data entry and transcription roles often expect 60–80 WPM or more with high accuracy, since output is the job. Programmers are an interesting case: raw WPM matters less than accuracy and comfort with symbols and numbers, because thinking, not typing, is usually the bottleneck. And students are fine around 40–50 WPM for note-taking and essays. The honest takeaway is that "good enough" is whatever keeps typing from slowing down your actual work — for most people that's somewhere in the 50–70 range, not record territory.

Frequently Asked Questions