What Is a Good WPM? Typing Speed Scores Explained
The quick answer: 60 to 70 WPM is good for almost everyone. 40 WPM is average, 80+ is fast, and 100+ puts you in the top few percent of typists.
The four bands that matter
Everything below is an expansion of this strip: which band your number falls in, what that band buys you, and what employers ask for at each level.
The short version
The average adult types about 40 WPM at roughly 92% accuracy. People who take online typing tests average 51.56 WPM per the Dhakal et al. CHI 2018 study of 136 million keystrokes, and only the fastest 10% of that self-selected group passed about 80 WPM. So a good WPM is simpler than most charts make it look: at 60 to 70 WPM typing stops being a bottleneck for anything you do, at 80 you are genuinely fast, and at 100 you are in rare company.
Is your WPM good? Score by score
Is 30 WPM good?
It is below the adult average of 40, but it is a normal place to be if you have never practiced deliberately. At 30 WPM typing noticeably lags your thoughts. The good news is that this range improves fastest: a few weeks of touch typing practice typically adds 10+ WPM.
Is 40 WPM good?
40 WPM is almost exactly average for adults, and it meets the minimum requirement for many office jobs. It is a solid baseline, not a ceiling. If you type for a living, the jump from 40 to 60 saves real time every single day.
Is 50 WPM good?
Slightly above the general average and right at the average of online test takers (51.56 WPM in Dhakal et al.). 50 WPM is respectable and perfectly workable, though most job postings that mention speed ask for a bit more, typically 55 to 70 for admin roles.
Is 60 WPM good?
Yes. 60 WPM is the first number that is unambiguously good: half again faster than the average adult, above the online-tester average, and past nearly every employer requirement. For most people this is the point of diminishing practical returns.
Is 70 WPM good?
Very good. 70 WPM puts you comfortably in the top 10% of TypingTest.now's 100,079-test dataset, where the 90th percentile sits at 69 net WPM. Text flows at close to conversational thinking speed at this level.
Is 80 WPM good?
80 WPM is fast, full stop. It clears the Dhakal study's top 10% cutoff of about 78 WPM and sits at the 95th percentile territory of published test datasets. Transcription work, which has the highest professional speed bar, starts around this level.
Is 100 WPM good?
100 WPM is elite for a practical typist. On TypingTest.now's published percentiles, the 99th percentile is about 105 net WPM, so triple digits puts you in the top 1 to 2% of test takers. Past this point, gains come from optimizing bursts and rollover rather than general practice.
Is 120 WPM good?
120 WPM is competitive-typist territory. Serious racers typically run 120 to 160 WPM, and the fastest verified typists average around 220 in short races. At 120 you will outpace virtually everyone you ever share a keyboard with. Check your consistency on the 1 minute test versus the 5 minute test; at this level endurance is the differentiator.
Good WPM for jobs
Employer expectations vary by role, and some fields do not use WPM at all. Typical requirements (industry figures, not peer-reviewed research):
- General office and admin: 40 to 65 WPM with 90%+ accuracy is the common screening range; job ads for busier admin roles often ask 55 to 70.
- Data entry: measured in keystrokes per hour, not WPM. 8,000 to 9,000 KPH is the usual minimum and 10,000 to 12,000 KPH is professional grade, with a 98% accuracy standard. As a rough conversion, KPH is about WPM x 300, so 12,000 KPH is around 40 WPM of pure sustained input.
- Transcription: 75 to 100 WPM, with medical transcription usually requiring at least 65 WPM plus very high accuracy.
- Programming: around 50 to 55 WPM is typical, and no serious employer screens developers on typing speed.
If a typing test is part of your hiring process, note that employment tests almost always run 3 to 5 minutes to measure sustained speed, which reads 8 to 15 WPM lower than a 1 minute sprint. Practice under real conditions with the 5 minute typing test, and if you need proof of your score, the free typing certificate is generated instantly after any test.
Where you stand, precisely
Labels like good and fast are useful shorthand, but percentiles are the honest ruler. See the full percentile table, skill bands, and profession benchmarks on the typing speed chart, or check how speed develops over a lifetime in average WPM by age. And whatever your number is today, the path upward is the same: accuracy first, then speed, tracked over time on your stats page.
So, what is your WPM?
Guessing which band you are in is less useful than measuring it, and the test takes a minute.
Go deeper
- Typing speed chart The full percentile table behind these verdicts
- Average typing speed Where the 40 WPM figure actually comes from
- Average WPM by age What counts as good at 10, at 16, and at 40
- 5 minute typing test Practice at the length employers use
- Free typing certificate Proof of your score, generated after any test
- Learn to type Accuracy first, then speed, in twenty lessons
Questions people ask
How many WPM is a good typing speed?
60 to 70 WPM is good for almost any purpose. It clears the requirement for nearly every job, sits well above the 40 WPM adult average, and means typing never bottlenecks your work. 80+ WPM is fast, and 100+ puts you in the top few percent.
How many WPM is considered fast?
80 WPM and up. The Dhakal et al. CHI 2018 study of 136 million keystrokes defines fast typists as its top 10%, above roughly 78 WPM, and those were self-selected online testers who already average above the general population.
What is a good WPM and accuracy?
A useful target pair is 60+ WPM at 95%+ accuracy. Accuracy comes first: a 70 WPM typist at 90% accuracy loses more time to corrections than a 60 WPM typist at 98%. Most employers who set a bar ask for 40 to 65 WPM with at least 90% accuracy.
What is a good WPM for a programmer?
Programmers typically type around 50 to 55 WPM, and that is plenty. Programming is dominated by thinking, reading, and editing rather than raw text entry. 60+ WPM is a comfortable target; beyond that the returns for coding specifically are small.
What WPM do employers require?
Typical job requirements run 40 to 65 WPM with 90%+ accuracy for general office roles. Transcription asks for 75 to 100 WPM, and data entry is usually measured in keystrokes per hour instead, with 8,000 to 12,000 KPH as the working range. Practice with the 5 minute typing test, since employment tests usually run 3 to 5 minutes.