Is your typing speed fast or just average?

A "good" typing speed depends entirely on context. For general personal use, 40 WPM is considered adequate, and the general population average sits around 40-52 WPM. For office and administrative work, employers typically expect 60-75 WPM. For data entry roles, 80-95 WPM is the standard. A large-scale online study (Dhakal et al. 2018, n=168,000) found a mean of 52 WPM among self-selected participants. If you type above 80 WPM on a standard QWERTY keyboard, you are faster than approximately 90% of the general population. Source: Dhakal et al. 2018, Palin et al. 2019.

Typing speed follows a predictable age curve. Children aged 10-14 typically type 25-35 WPM as they develop keyboard familiarity. Teenagers average 35-50 WPM with significant improvement during school years. Peak typing speed occurs between ages 20 and 29, averaging 50-60 WPM. From age 30 onward a gradual decline begins: 40-49 year-olds average 43-50 WPM, and those over 60 average 30-40 WPM. Salthouse (1984) documented this age-related decline but found that experienced older typists compensate through better planning and anticipation of upcoming text. Source: Salthouse 1984, Dhakal et al. 2018.

At 60 WPM, you are above the general population average (40-52 WPM) and in approximately the 70th-75th percentile. This speed meets or exceeds the minimum requirements for most office jobs, which typically specify 40-60 WPM. You are within the lower range of proficient touch typists. For general office work, email, and document writing, 60 WPM means your typing speed is unlikely to be a productivity bottleneck. For data entry or transcription roles, you would benefit from improving to 80+ WPM. Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics job requirements data.

The single most effective improvement is switching from hunt-and-peck to proper touch typing technique, where each finger is assigned to specific keys and you do not look at the keyboard. This switch alone can double speed within 2-4 weeks of practice, though there is an initial productivity dip during the transition. After mastering touch typing, incremental improvement comes from daily practice with typing tutors (TypingClub and Typing.com are free), aiming for 15-30 minutes per day. Focus on accuracy first, then speed: typing accurately at 50 WPM is more productive than typing at 70 WPM with constant corrections. Source: cognitive motor learning research.

Yes, significantly. Palin et al. (2019) studied 37,370 participants and found that the average mobile typing speed on a touchscreen is 36.2 WPM, compared to 52 WPM on a physical keyboard. However, the gap is narrowing: younger users who grew up with smartphones type faster on mobile, and features like autocorrect, predictive text, and swipe typing partially compensate for the slower input method. For sustained document creation, a physical keyboard remains faster for the vast majority of users. Source: Palin et al. 2019.

Words Per Minute (WPM) uses a standardised "word" of five characters (including spaces and punctuation). Gross WPM equals total characters typed divided by five, divided by the number of minutes. Net WPM subtracts errors: gross WPM minus uncorrected errors multiplied by a penalty factor (typically 1 per error). For example, if you type 350 characters in one minute with 3 uncorrected errors: gross WPM is 350/5 = 70, net WPM is 70 minus 3 = 67. Always compare net WPM when evaluating typing ability. Source: standard typing industry convention.

Requirements vary by role. General office and administrative positions typically require 40-60 WPM. Executive assistants are expected to type 60-80 WPM. Data entry clerks need 60-80 WPM minimum. Medical transcriptionists are expected to produce 80-100 WPM with high accuracy. Legal transcriptionists need 80-120 WPM. Court reporters must pass certification at 200+ WPM using stenotype equipment. Programmers tend to type 40-80 WPM (code requires more pausing and thinking than continuous prose). Most job listings that mention typing speed specify a minimum, so exceeding the stated requirement by 10-20 WPM is ideal. Source: BLS occupational requirements data.

Keyboard type has a measurable but modest effect on typing speed. Mechanical keyboards with tactile switches provide physical feedback that some typists find helps with speed and accuracy. Laptop keyboards have shorter key travel, which can reduce speed for typists accustomed to full-travel keys. Studies suggest the speed difference between keyboard types is typically 5-10 WPM for experienced typists. The much larger factor is typing technique: a touch typist on any keyboard will outperform a hunt-and-peck typist on the best keyboard available. Consistent practice on your preferred keyboard matters more than switching hardware. Source: Kono et al. 2019.

Yes, 100 WPM is fast by any population benchmark. Based on Dhakal et al.'s (2018) study of 168,000 typists with a mean of 52 WPM and standard deviation of approximately 17 WPM, a speed of 100 WPM places a typist at approximately the 97th-98th percentile of the general typing population. In practical terms, very few people you would encounter in everyday office or professional settings type at 100 WPM or above. It is a speed typically achieved only by dedicated typists who have practised extensively, touch type correctly with all fingers, and have developed strong muscle memory for common letter combinations and words. For most professional roles, 100 WPM is well above any stated requirement. The exceptions are high-speed transcription roles (legal, medical, broadcast) where 80-100 WPM is an entry-level professional threshold rather than an exceptional achievement.

For a 13-14 year old, a typing speed of 30-40 WPM is typical and appropriate for their level of keyboard experience. Most young people at this age are still developing their typing technique, and speeds in the 20-40 WPM range are normal. A 13-year-old typing at 50+ WPM is genuinely above average for their age group and suggests either deliberate practice or extensive experience with keyboard-heavy activities like gaming or coding. School typing curricula typically target 30-40 WPM as a competency goal for middle school students. The most important developmental goal at this age is not speed but technique: students who develop correct touch-typing habits (all fingers on the home row, eyes off the keyboard) at a slower speed will consistently outperform faster hunt-and-peck typists by their early 20s. Typing speed increases naturally with practice and age through the late teens and early 20s.

The most effective path to faster typing depends on your current technique. If you type with fewer than eight fingers or look at the keyboard while typing, the highest-leverage improvement is learning proper touch typing — placing all fingers on the home row (ASDF / JKL;) and training muscle memory for each key's position. This feels slower at first and may temporarily reduce speed during the learning period, but it removes the physical ceiling that hunt-and-peck or partial-finger typing imposes. Free platforms including Typing.com, Keybr, and Monkeytype provide structured lessons for beginners. For typists who already touch type, deliberate practice targeting your weak keys (identified by most typing test platforms) and practising common word patterns produces the fastest gains. Research consistently shows that deliberate practice targeting specific weaknesses is more effective than simply typing more. For advanced typists, improving accuracy (targeting 98%+ rather than 95%) often produces a net speed increase because reduced backspacing time more than compensates for the slightly slower deliberate keystroke pace.