40 WPM is exactly average. It is perfectly fine for everyday computer use, browsing, and casual emails. However, if you want to stand out in an office environment or apply for administrative roles, you should aim for 50–60 WPM.

Yes, 60 WPM is considered fast. It puts you in the top 20–30% of general typists. At 60 WPM, you are fast enough for most transcription jobs and high-volume data entry.

What is the average typing speed?

The global average typing speed is between 40 and 45 WPM. However, this varies by age. Younger generations tend to average closer to 50–60 WPM, while older adults average around 30 WPM.

What is a good typing speed for a job?

Most office and administrative jobs require 40–50 WPM with high accuracy (95%+). Data entry roles require 50–60 WPM, and transcription roles typically require 75 WPM or higher.

100 WPM is exceptional. You are in the top 1% of typists globally. At this speed, you are fast enough to compete in amateur typing races and handle any professional typing task with ease.

How long does it take to improve my typing speed?

With 15–20 minutes of daily, deliberate practice, most people can add 10–20 WPM to their speed within two to three months. The fastest gains come from focusing on accuracy first and learning touch typing.

What Is a Good Typing Speed? WPM Benchmarks by Job & Age

I can still recall the day I reached 60 WPM for the first time.

I felt like a rockstar. I thought to myself, "That's it. I'm fast. Nobody can beat me."

Then I hopped on TypingBattles and immediately got matched against a guy typing 110 WPM.

It was a humbling reality check. So I started asking around, reading forums, and taking dozens of tests. I quickly discovered that the idea of a "good typing speed" is highly subjective. A data entry manager has completely different requirements than a novelist. A beginner has different goals than a competitive racer.

If you are wondering whether your current typing speed is good, you need to stop looking at a single number and start looking at your context.

Here is the honest, no-BS guide to what a good typing speed actually looks like.

The Short Answer: General WPM Benchmarks

If you just want the raw numbers, here is the standard breakdown of Words Per Minute (WPM) and what they mean for the average person.

WPM	Classification	What It Means
0–20 WPM	Hunt & Peck	Very slow. You are likely looking at the keyboard. You will struggle with basic typing tasks.
20–30 WPM	Beginner	Slow but adequate. You can browse the web and send basic emails, but it takes time.
30–40 WPM	Below Average	The speed of casual typists. You get by, but it's not going to impress anyone.
40–50 WPM	Average	Solid. This is where most people naturally plateau. It is useful for most daily applications.
50–60 WPM	Above Average	You are faster than most of your co-workers. You might be considered for basic data entry roles.
60–70 WPM	Fast	You are in the top 20% of general typists. This is the starting line for professional transcription.
70–80 WPM	Very Fast	This is professional territory. Excellent for administrative roles and high-volume office work.
80–90 WPM	Excellent	Faster than 90% of the population. You can comfortably participate in amateur typing races.
90–100 WPM	Elite (for normal typists)	You are at the top tier of everyday typists.
100+ WPM	Exceptional	Competitive territory. Only a small fraction of typists ever reach this level.

If you want to know what your specific score means in a broader context, you can read our breakdown on Average Typing Speed in Words Per Minute.

But these numbers do not tell the whole story.

What "Good" Means Based on Your Goals

A 50 WPM typist who works as a novelist is doing great. A 50 WPM typist who works in medical transcription is going to get fired.

Here is what a "good" speed looks like in different real-world scenarios.

For a Beginner Learning Touch Typing

If you are just starting to learn touch typing and you are still glancing at the keyboard, 25 WPM is a massive success.

I remember when I first tried to stop looking at my hands. I put a towel over them and my speed plummeted to 12 WPM. I felt like an idiot. But two weeks later, I was back up to 30 WPM—this time, without looking.

For a beginner, "good" means typing above 20 WPM without looking. Speed comes later. (For a full guide on this, check out our Touch Typing Guide).

For a Student Taking Notes

Lectures move at about 100 to 150 WPM. If you are trying to type every single word the professor says, you are going to fail. Students with good shorthand and summarization skills can keep up at 40–50 WPM. If you want to type as fast as someone speaks (like in a live transcription context), you need 80+ WPM.

For an Office Worker or Admin Assistant

Most standard office jobs do not actually require the 60 WPM listed in the job ad. Hiring managers are usually happy with 40–50 WPM, provided your accuracy is high.

Why? Because office work involves thinking. You are not typing continuously; you are composing emails, clicking the mouse, and formatting documents. However, if you want to be noticeably faster than your peers, aim for 50–60 WPM with 95% accuracy.

For Data Entry and Transcription

These jobs are fundamentally different. You are typing constantly, and your paycheck is directly tied to your speed.

Entry-level data entry: 50–60 WPM.
Higher-paying medical transcription: 75–85 WPM with near-perfect accuracy.

One transcriptionist told me: "If you type 60 WPM, you make $15 an hour. If you type 90 WPM, you make $25 an hour." The math is brutal, but it is accurate. If you are aiming for this, we have a detailed guide on Typing Assessment for Jobs.

For a Blogger or Writer

Writers often think they need to be fast, but writing is not the same as typing. Writing involves thinking, editing, deleting, and rewriting.

A novelist writing clean drafts at 40 WPM is far more productive than a novelist typing 80 WPM and deleting half of their words. That said, if your speed drops below 30 WPM, it becomes a hindrance—your fingers cannot keep up with your brain. The typical sweet spot for writers is 50–70 WPM.

For a Programmer or Coder

This surprised me, but very few brilliant programmers type fast. Coding involves a lot of stopping, thinking, and debugging. A senior developer friend of mine types only 45 WPM. He is brilliant because he spends his time thinking, not typing.

That said, for competitive coding or hackathons, 60–80 WPM is a solid advantage.

For a Competitive Typist (TypingBattles Racer)

If you are stepping into the arena on TypingBattles, the rules change completely.

The average racer here types 70–90 WPM. The top 10% are over 100 WPM. The elite racers are hitting 120 WPM and above. If you are below 50 WPM, you will struggle to finish in the middle of the pack. If you are not a racer, you shouldn't worry about these numbers, but if you want to see how you stack up, take a typing speed test.

Average Typing Speed by Age

Your age plays a significant role in your typing speed. Younger generations grew up with keyboards and touchscreens; older generations learned to type later in life.

Research based on global typing tests reveals these averages:

Ages 50+: ~30 WPM
Ages 25–50: ~40–45 WPM
Ages 15–25: ~50–60 WPM

The global average for adults sits around 40–45 WPM. If you are beating 45 WPM, you are officially faster than the average human.

Why Accuracy Matters More Than Speed

Here is a story that changed how I look at typing tests.

A while ago, I raced a guy who could type 130 WPM. Absolutely insane speed. But he only hit the target 85% of the time.

I won that race. I was typing 98 WPM with 98% accuracy.

Why did I win? Because every typo he made forced him to hit backspace. He lost his rhythm. He was wasting time fixing his mistakes.

When you ask "What is a good typing speed?", you are actually asking "What is a good speed and accuracy?"

To find your Effective WPM, multiply your speed by your accuracy:

80 WPM × 95% accuracy = 76 effective WPM.
60 WPM × 99% accuracy = 59 effective WPM.

If your accuracy is below 95%, you are leaking speed. You need to stop trying to type faster and focus on typing cleaner. We break this down in detail in our Typing Accuracy Test guide.

How to Find Your Own "Good" Speed

Here is the secret nobody tells you: You can type much faster than you currently do. Your speed today is not your permanent speed. It is just a snapshot.

I have seen students go from 25 WPM to 70 WPM in three months. I have also seen people sit at 50 WPM for years because they never tried to improve.

Instead of asking, "Is my speed good?", ask yourself, "What do I want to achieve?"

Want a data entry job? Aim for 60 WPM.
Want to beat your friends in TypingBattles? Aim for 90+ WPM.
Want to write your novel faster? Aim for 50 WPM with high accuracy.

The number is a tool, not a trophy.

If you have no idea what your baseline is, you need to take a standardized test. Don't just take one random test; read our guide on How to Choose and Take a Typing Test to get an accurate reading.

The Takeaway

Stop obsessing over YouTube videos of people typing 180 WPM. There is no universal definition of "good."

A good typing speed is whatever speed allows you to work without frustration. It is the pace at which you stop thinking about your fingers and start thinking about your words.

Author Bio

Abid is a competitive typist on TypingBattles (112 WPM peak, 400+ wins). He spent years wondering if his speed was "good enough." Now he knows it's plenty. He still gets destroyed by 140 WPM typists sometimes. He's made peace with it.

Recommendation

Stop wondering. Start typing.

Take a typing speed test to get your baseline. Then race a few rounds on TypingBattles. You'll see exactly where you stand.

And remember: good is whatever lets you stop thinking about your fingers.

Take the typing speed test now →

What Is a Good Typing Speed? (The Honest Answer by Job, Age, and Goal)