The average typing speed for an adult is around 40 words per minute (WPM). People who type all day for work usually sit between 50 and 70 WPM, and anything above 80 WPM with high accuracy is genuinely fast. The figure you get depends heavily on how it was measured: a one-minute test on easy words gives a higher number than ten minutes of copying a real document with punctuation and capitals. This guide explains where the average comes from, gives a plain table of speed levels, lists what employers typically ask for, and shows how to measure your own speed so the number means something. You can check yours right now with our free typing test.
There is no single official census of typing speed, so the average is an estimate built from large online tests. The best-known study, run by researchers at Aalto University and published in 2018, recorded about 168,000 volunteers typing English sentences and measured an average of roughly 52 WPM. Those volunteers chose to take a typing test, so they lean towards people who type a lot; the everyday figure most typing schools quote for the general adult population is closer to 40 WPM.
The same study found that the fastest typists did not necessarily use all ten fingers. What separated them was rollover, starting the next key before the previous one is fully released, and making few errors, so they rarely stopped to correct. That is useful news: speed comes from flow and accuracy more than from a particular finger technique.
These bands assume net WPM with accuracy around 95% or better. A 75 WPM score at 85% accuracy is not really faster than 60 WPM at 98%, because every error has to be found and fixed later. Our typing accuracy guide explains why accuracy is the number to watch first.
| Net WPM | Level | What it feels like |
|---|---|---|
| Under 25 | Beginner | Looking at the keys; hunt-and-peck |
| 25 to 39 | Below average | Some touch typing, frequent pauses |
| 40 to 49 | Average | Comfortable for email and messages |
| 50 to 69 | Good | Office work feels easy; typical for heavy keyboard users |
| 70 to 89 | Fast | Professional typist, transcription, programming flow |
| 90 to 119 | Very fast | Competitive hobby typists |
| 120+ | Elite | Rare; usually years of daily practice |
A "word" in typing tests is standardised as five characters, including spaces and punctuation. That stops a test full of short words from inflating the score.
Gross WPM = (characters typed ÷ 5) ÷ minutes. 1,250 characters in 5 minutes is 250 words ÷ 5 = 50 gross WPM.
Net WPM = gross WPM minus uncorrected errors per minute. 50 gross WPM with 10 uncorrected errors over 5 minutes is 50 − 2 = 48 net WPM.
Accuracy = correct characters ÷ total characters typed. 1,200 correct out of 1,250 is 96%.
If you already have the numbers from a test, the WPM calculator does the arithmetic for gross WPM, net WPM and accuracy in one go.
Job adverts vary, but these are the ranges you will see most often. Treat them as typical asks, not legal requirements:
Employers that test usually give you three to five minutes of copy typing and report net WPM and accuracy. Practise in that format: a 60-second sprint flatters you, while a longer test shows whether you can hold the pace.
| Role | Commonly requested |
|---|---|
| General office, receptionist | 35 to 45 WPM |
| Administrative assistant, customer support by chat | 45 to 60 WPM |
| Data entry | Often measured in keystrokes per hour (KPH), commonly 8,000 to 10,000+ |
| Legal or medical secretary | 60 to 75 WPM |
| Transcriptionist, captioning | 65 to 80+ WPM, with very high accuracy |
Children's speed grows with hand size, reading fluency and practice, so age-based targets are rough. A common rule of thumb used by keyboarding teachers is that a pupil who has learned touch typing can aim for about their school grade × 5 WPM in the later primary years, so around 15 WPM in grade 3 and 30 WPM in grade 6. Teenagers who type schoolwork regularly often reach 35 to 50 WPM.
For students the bigger win is accuracy and not looking at the keys. Our brain training for students guide covers short daily practice that fits around homework.
Use a test of at least one minute; three to five minutes is better if you want a number to put on a CV.
Type normal text with capitals and punctuation, not only lower-case common words.
Do not correct obsessively, but do not ignore errors either: aim for 95% accuracy or better.
Take three tests and use the median, not your single best run.
Re-test at the same time of day each week so tiredness does not skew the trend.
Our free typing test reports WPM and accuracy, and the typing speed games hub has shorter drills such as Key Accuracy and Word Sprint for warming up.
Slow down to speed up. Drill at a pace where you make almost no errors; speed follows accuracy within a few weeks.
Stop looking at the keys. Even partial touch typing removes the biggest bottleneck, which is your eyes moving between keyboard and screen.
Practise little and often. Ten to fifteen minutes a day beats an hour once a week.
Target your weak keys. Numbers, punctuation and awkward pairs such as "br" or "ce" are where most people lose time.
Set a measured goal. The typing goal planner turns "get faster" into a weekly WPM target.
Our longer guide, type faster without losing accuracy, has a four-week plan, and typing drills online lists free drills by skill.
About 40 WPM for adults in general. Large online studies of people who chose to take a typing test report averages around 50 WPM, because those volunteers type more than most people.
Yes. 60 WPM with 95% accuracy or better is above average and comfortably meets the requirements of most office and administrative jobs.
Very fast. Only a small share of typists hold 100 WPM over several minutes with high accuracy; it usually takes years of daily typing.
Gross WPM counts every character you typed divided by five. Net WPM subtracts uncorrected errors per minute, so it reflects usable output and is what employers usually report.
With 15 minutes of focused practice a day, most people add 10 to 20 WPM over two to three months, with the biggest gains coming from no longer looking at the keyboard.
Average is about 40 WPM, good is 50 to 69, and fast is 70 and up, always with accuracy around 95% or better. Measure yourself over a few minutes rather than a single sprint, track the median of three tests, and practise accuracy first. Take the free typing test now to get your baseline.