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Is 60 WPM a Good Typing Speed?

Short answer: yes, comfortably. Here is what 60 WPM is actually worth, and what it is not.

Basics3 min read
In this guide
  1. Where 60 WPM puts you
  2. What 60 WPM is enough for
  3. The number that decides whether your 60 is real
  4. Should you push past 60?
  5. If you do want more
  6. Common questions

Yes. 60 WPM is a good typing speed, and by a clear margin — the average adult types around 40, so you are roughly 50% faster than the person next to you.

If you were hoping for a more complicated answer, there is not one. The interesting question is not whether 60 is good; it is what 60 actually buys you.

Where 60 WPM puts you

Average adult~40 WPM
You60 WPM
In practiceclearly above average for everyday typing
Professional typists65–75 WPM
Competitive typists150+ WPM

That puts you in the band just below professional. That gap — 60 to 75 — is much smaller in practice than it looks, and it is mostly about consistency rather than peak speed.

What 60 WPM is enough for

Nearly everything. This is the part worth internalising:

  • General office and admin work — needs 35–45. Cleared, with room spare.
  • Data entry — asks 40–60. You are at the top of that range.
  • Customer support and BPO chat roles — 40–50. Comfortable.
  • Virtual assistant work — 50–60. Right in band.
  • Transcription — 60–80. You are at the entry point; the higher end takes work.

The full breakdown by role is in typing speed for jobs.

The number that decides whether your 60 is real

Accuracy. 60 WPM at 90% accuracy is worse than 50 WPM at 98%, because every mistake costs about five keystrokes to notice, delete and retype.

Check both numbers, not one:

  • 60 WPM, 97%+ — genuinely good. Nothing to fix.
  • 60 WPM, 92–95% — your real output is closer to 50. Fix accuracy before speed.
  • 60 WPM, under 90% — you are typing faster than you can control.

The arithmetic behind that is in accuracy vs speed.

Should you push past 60?

Honestly: probably not, unless you enjoy it.

Around 60–70 WPM is where typing stops being the thing slowing you down. Past that, your thinking is the bottleneck, not your fingers — you are waiting on what to say, not on how fast you can say it.

Going 60 → 80 is months of deliberate practice for a benefit you will rarely notice. Going 60 → 65 is a few weeks and slightly more comfort. Neither is wasted, but neither is urgent.

Worth pushing if: you transcribe, caption, or write for a living, or you simply find it satisfying.

Not worth pushing if: you type in bursts between thinking, which describes most jobs.

If you do want more

The gains at this level are small and specific. General practice will not move you; you have already automated your ordinary typing.

  • Drill the five or six transitions you actually fumble, not the whole alphabet
  • Work on even rhythm — most people at 60 have a fast 75 and a stalling 45, averaged
  • Practise capitals, punctuation and numbers, which are probably where your real speed drops

More on this in breaking a typing plateau.

Take a three-minute test to confirm the 60 is a real average and not one good run — daily variation of 5–10 WPM is normal, so a single result proves less than you would think.

Common questions

Is 60 WPM a good typing speed?
Yes. The average adult types around 40 WPM, so 60 is roughly 50% faster — clearly above average for everyday typing. It also clears the requirement for almost every job that asks for one.
Is 60 WPM fast enough for a data entry job?
Yes. Data entry roles typically ask for 40 to 60 WPM, so 60 sits at the top of the range. Accuracy matters more at that point — most employers want 98% or higher.
How long does it take to go from 60 to 70 WPM?
Usually a few months of focused practice, because gains get smaller as speed rises. At 60 WPM you have already automated ordinary typing, so progress comes from drilling specific weak transitions rather than from general practice.

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