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What Is a Good Typing Speed?

Most people have no idea whether their typing is normal. Here are the numbers, and what they are worth.

Basics3 min read
In this guide
  1. The bands
  2. What jobs actually ask for
  3. Speed by age, roughly
  4. The number that matters more than WPM
  5. What is realistic to improve
  6. Common questions

The honest answer: around 40 words per minute is average for an adult, and almost nobody needs to be exceptional. What you actually want is enough speed that typing stops interrupting your thinking — and that threshold is lower than most people assume.

The bands

SpeedWhere that puts you
Under 25 WPMHunt-and-peck. Typing is slowing down your thinking.
25–40 WPMBelow average, but functional for everyday use.
40–55 WPMAverage. Most office workers live here.
55–75 WPMFast. You are quicker than the large majority of people.
75–95 WPMProfessional level — transcription and copy work territory.
95+ WPMRare. Sustained speeds here take deliberate training.

For context, competitive typists sustain 150–200+ WPM. That is a hobby, not a job requirement.

What jobs actually ask for

Most listings quote a lower number than people expect:

  • General office / admin — 35–45 WPM is usually plenty
  • Data entry — 40–60 WPM, and accuracy is weighted more heavily than speed
  • Customer support / BPO chat roles — 40–50 WPM, often tested live
  • Transcription and captioning — 60–80 WPM, sometimes higher
  • Court reporting — a different skill entirely, on a stenotype machine, not a keyboard

Speed by age, roughly

These are broad averages, useful only as a sanity check:

  • Ages 6–11 — 10–20 WPM
  • Ages 12–16 — 20–35 WPM
  • Adults, untrained — 35–45 WPM
  • Adults who touch type — 55–80 WPM

Children being "slow" is not a problem to fix. Hand size and motor control are still developing, and pushing for speed before technique is settled is how bad habits get locked in.

The number that matters more than WPM

Raw speed is the headline, but accuracy is what decides your real output. Every mistake costs you twice: once to type the wrong character, once to delete and retype it. A backspace is not free.

Work it out for yourself:

  • At 60 WPM and 92% accuracy, you are constantly reversing
  • At 50 WPM and 98% accuracy, you finish first and the text is cleaner

This is why a good typing test reports both, and why you should not celebrate a fast run that needed a lot of correcting.

What is realistic to improve

If you currently hunt and peck, learning to touch type is worth 20–30 WPM — a genuinely large jump, usually over a few weeks of short daily sessions.

If you already touch type at 50–60, expect slower gains: a few WPM a month, and only with focused practice. That is normal. See how to break a typing plateau if you have stopped moving.

The fastest way to find out where you stand is to take the typing test — one minute is enough for a rough reading, three minutes for an honest one.

Common questions

What is the average typing speed?
Around 40 words per minute for an adult. Between 40 and 55 WPM is typical for office workers, and anything above 75 WPM is genuinely fast.
Is 60 WPM a good typing speed?
Yes. 60 WPM is comfortably above average and faster than most people you work with. It is enough for almost any job that involves typing, provided your accuracy is above about 95%.
What typing speed do I need for a data entry job?
Most data entry roles ask for 40 to 60 WPM, and they weigh accuracy more heavily than raw speed. Clearing the stated minimum with high accuracy matters more than exceeding it.

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