Average Typing Speed by Age & Profession
The average typing speed is around 40 words per minute (WPM). Most people type between 35 and 45 WPM, people who type all day at work often reach 50–60 WPM, and trained professional typists work at 75 WPM or faster. Anything above 80 WPM puts you in the top tier of everyday typists.
Typical Typing Speed by Age Group
Typing speed climbs through school years as motor skills and keyboard exposure grow, peaks in working adulthood, and stays stable with regular use. These are typical ranges seen across online typing tests:
| Age group | Typical WPM | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Ages 6–9 | 10–20 | Still building letter recognition and finger placement |
| Ages 10–11 | 15–25 | Home row and first reaches; see the year-by-year table below |
| Ages 12–16 | 25–45 | Touch typing usually clicks in this window: about 25–35 at 12, 30–40 at 13–14, 35–45 at 15–16 |
| Ages 17–24 | 40–55 | Peak learning years; fastest average gains |
| Ages 25–54 | 40–60 | Depends heavily on daily keyboard use |
| Ages 55+ | 30–45 | Experience offsets slower motor response |
Average Typing Speed for Ages 10 to 14
Between 10 and 14 is where typing speed moves the most. The figures below are the same typical ranges as the age-group table above, split out year by year, next to what kids at each age usually reach after a few months of regular touch-typing practice (about 10 to 15 minutes a day).
| Age | US grade | Typical WPM | With regular practice | Skill to focus on |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age 10 | 4th–5th | 15–25 | 25–30 | Home row without looking |
| Age 11 | 5th–6th | 20–25 | 28–35 | Top and bottom row reaches |
| Age 12 | 6th–7th | 25–35 | 35–45 | Capitals with the opposite Shift |
| Age 13 | 7th–8th | 30–40 | 40–55 | Punctuation and longer words |
| Age 14 | 8th–9th | 30–40 | 45–55 | Paragraphs and 3-minute stamina |
Average WPM for a 10 year old
Most 10 year olds type 15 to 25 WPM, and many still look down at the keys. At this age the number matters less than the habit: fingers resting on ASDF JKL; and returning there after every reach. A child who learns the home row properly at 10 usually passes a hunt-and-peck classmate within a year. Lesson 1 drills exactly that home row, with the on-screen keyboard showing which finger owns each key.
Average WPM for a 11 year old
An 11 year old typically types 20 to 25 WPM. The jump to 30 comes from reaching the top and bottom rows without the hand drifting off home. Short daily sessions work better than one long one; ten minutes of lessons followed by a game keeps it from feeling like homework.
Average WPM for a 12 year old
At 12 the usual range is 25 to 35 WPM. This is when school writing moves onto the keyboard, so capital letters and sentence typing start to matter. Pressing Shift with the hand opposite the letter feels slow for a week, then removes one of the biggest sources of errors.
Average WPM for a 13 year old
A typical 13 year old types 30 to 40 WPM; with a few months of touch-typing practice, 40 to 55 is common. Accuracy is the thing to watch here. At 88% accuracy about one character in eight does not count toward the score, and going back to fix mistakes costs more time on top, so aim for 95% before chasing the number. Punctuation practice covers the commas, apostrophes and question marks that slow most teens down.
Average WPM for a 14 year old
By 14, 30 to 40 WPM is average and 45 to 55 is a realistic target with regular practice, which is already faster than the adult average of about 40 WPM. The next step is stamina: holding the same speed for three minutes instead of one. A three-minute typing test shows whether a fast one-minute score survives a longer passage.
These ranges are for WPM on a one-minute test. Short game rounds and burst drills produce higher numbers than a sustained test, so compare a child’s score with the same kind of test each time.
Typing Speed Chart
Use this typing speed chart to place any WPM score. Characters per minute is WPM × 5 (one “word” is five keystrokes, spaces included), and the last numeric column is how long a 500-word school essay or report takes to type at that speed, before any editing.
| Speed | Level | Characters / min | 500 words takes | What it means |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 WPM | Beginner | 50 | 50:00 | Still searching for keys |
| 20 WPM | Developing | 100 | 25:00 | Typical for younger kids |
| 30 WPM | Developing | 150 | 16:40 | Fine for short messages |
| 40 WPM | Average | 200 | 12:30 | The adult norm |
| 50 WPM | Above average | 250 | 10:00 | Comfortable for school and office work |
| 60 WPM | Fast | 300 | 8:20 | Typing keeps up with your thinking |
| 70 WPM | Fast | 350 | 7:09 | Fast enough for transcription work (65–80) |
| 80 WPM | Very fast | 400 | 6:15 | Top tier of everyday typists |
| 90 WPM | Very fast | 450 | 5:33 | Rarely limited by the keyboard |
| 100 WPM | Elite | 500 | 5:00 | Mostly competitive typists |
| 120 WPM | Elite | 600 | 4:10 | Short-burst speeds of the fastest typists |
If your score sits between two rows, the lower row describes you better until you can repeat the higher one on a fresh text. For a score-by-score answer to questions like “is 40 WPM good?”, with the kinds of jobs each speed is enough for, see the WPM chart by score.
Typing Speed Requirements by Profession
| Role | Expected WPM |
|---|---|
| General office / admin | 45–60 |
| Data entry | 50–70 |
| Customer support (chat) | 55–70 |
| Transcriptionist | 65–80 |
| Programmer / writer | 50–70 (accuracy matters more) |
| Court reporter (stenotype) | 180–225 — NCRA certification standard, on a stenotype machine |
What Counts as Fast?
Sustained 80+ WPM with 95%+ accuracy is very fast by any practical standard. Competitive typists reach 120–160 WPM in short bursts. The fastest typist on record, Barbara Blackburn, was documented by Guinness World Records at up to 212 WPM on a Dvorak keyboard.
Speed without accuracy is a false economy: mistyped characters do not count toward your WPM, and every error costs time to go back and fix. If your accuracy is under 95%, slow down first and let speed return once your typing is clean.
Is Your Typing Speed Good?
In short: 40 WPM is average, 50 is above average, 60 is fast and 100 is elite. This page is about what is typical for your age and job; for a verdict on one exact score, the score-by-score answers to “is 60 WPM good?” go through every result from 20 to 120 WPM.
Average Typing Speed FAQ
What is the average typing speed for adults?
About 40 WPM. Regular keyboard users typically land between 35 and 45 WPM, and people who type all day at work average 50 to 60 WPM.
What is a good typing speed?
60 WPM or higher counts as good for most purposes, and it is where the fast band starts. 75+ WPM is the pace of trained professional typists and 100+ WPM is elite.
What is the average typing speed for a 13 year old?
Roughly 30 to 40 WPM. Teens who practice touch typing for a few months commonly reach 40 to 55 WPM.
How is average typing speed measured?
As net words per minute: every 5 correctly typed characters (spaces included) count as one word, and characters left wrong are not counted. Most online tests use a one-minute sample; a longer test gives a more reliable average.
How Do You Compare?
Take our free 1, 3 or 5 minute typing test to measure your WPM and accuracy. If you want to move up a bracket, our 20 structured lessons and typing games are built for daily 15-minute practice. A short session every day kept up for several weeks usually makes a clear difference, and you can read the method in our guide on how to improve typing speed.