Is 40 WPM Good? WPM Chart by Score
Yes: 40 WPM is the average adult typing speed. 50 WPM is above average, 60 WPM is fast (what most people call good), 75 WPM is the pace of a trained professional typist and 100 WPM is elite. The chart below gives every score from 20 to 120 WPM a verdict and the kinds of jobs that speed is usually enough for. Don’t know your number yet? Take the 1-minute typing test first; it takes sixty seconds.
WPM Chart: Every Score at a Glance
Verdicts use the same levels as the result screen of the TypeTails typing test. Scores are WPM as we count it: correctly typed characters divided by five, per minute. Job ranges are the typical figures from our average typing speed by age and job, not the rule for every employer.
| Score | Verdict | Jobs this speed is usually enough for |
|---|---|---|
| 20 WPM | Developing | Jobs where typing is occasional: retail floor, trades, warehouse, care work |
| 25 WPM | Developing | Same as above; short notes and order lookups are fine |
| 30 WPM | Developing | Front-desk check-ins, store associates entering orders, short work emails |
| 35 WPM | Average | Light-typing roles; general office work usually starts at 45 |
| 40 WPM | Average | Everyday computer use and school work; just under the office range |
| 45 WPM | Above average | The low end of general office and admin work (45–60) |
| 50 WPM | Above average | Office and admin work; the low end of data entry and programming or writing jobs (50–70) |
| 55 WPM | Above average | Live chat support begins to fit (55–70); most data-entry roles |
| 60 WPM | Fast | Chat support, data entry, writing-heavy jobs, office work of any kind |
| 65 WPM | Fast | The entry point for transcription work (65–80) |
| 70 WPM | Fast | Transcription, high-volume data entry, top of the chat-support band |
| 75 WPM | Fast | Transcriptionist and other speed-measured typing jobs |
| 80 WPM | Very fast | Any keyboard job; typing speed stops being the bottleneck |
| 90 WPM | Very fast | Any keyboard job, with room to spare |
| 100 WPM | Elite | Beyond what any typing job asks for on a standard keyboard |
| 120 WPM | Elite | Competition territory, usually over short passages |
Is 30 WPM good?
30 WPM is below the adult average of about 40 WPM, but it is a normal score for a 12 or 13 year old and a common starting point for adults who never learned to touch type. If you type 30 while looking at the keyboard, learning the home row is the fastest way up, and a short session every day kept up for a few weeks usually makes a clear difference.
Is 35 WPM good?
35 WPM is average, at the bottom of the 35–44 WPM band and a little under the typical adult’s 40. It is plenty for messages and school work, and ten words short of the 45 WPM where general office work starts. Scores of 35 to 39 are often held back by errors rather than finger speed, so check your accuracy first: mistyped characters do not count toward your WPM, so at 90% accuracy about a tenth of what you type is lost.
Is 40 WPM good?
Yes. 40 WPM is the average adult typing speed, so it is a solid, ordinary score. It covers everyday computer use and school work, and sits just under the 45 WPM where general office and admin work begins. The same answer applies to 41, 42, 43 and 44 WPM: average, and close to the 45 WPM where general office work starts to feel comfortable.
Is 45 WPM good?
Yes, 45 WPM is above average. You type faster than a typical adult and you are inside the 45–60 range expected for general office and administrative work. Scores of 46 to 49 sit in the same band, a few points short of 50.
Is 50 WPM good?
50 WPM is above average: ten words a minute faster than the typical adult. It fits general office and admin work (45–60) and the low end of data entry (50–70). A score of 52 or 54 WPM tells the same story; the next meaningful step is 60, the start of the fast band, where live chat support and writing-heavy jobs feel easy.
Is 60 WPM good?
60 WPM is fast, the level most people mean by a good typing speed, and about one and a half times the average. At 60 your typing keeps up with your thinking for most writing, and you fit comfortably into chat support, data entry and office roles. Only transcription asks for more, usually from 65 upward.
Is 70 WPM good?
70 WPM is fast. You are near the top of the chat-support band and into transcription territory, and few people around you will type faster. Gains above this point come from accuracy and rhythm more than raw finger speed.
Is 80 WPM good?
80 WPM is very fast. Sustained over a few minutes at 95% accuracy or better, it puts you in the top tier of everyday typists, and no standard typing job will ask for more. Scores like 92 WPM are the same verdict with extra margin.
Is 100 WPM good?
100 WPM is elite. Holding 100 or more over a full minute with high accuracy is something mostly competitive typists do. Scores such as 113 or 148 WPM are almost always short bursts; test again on a three or five minute passage to see your sustained speed.
Why Accuracy Changes the Answer
On TypeTails, characters you mistype simply do not count toward your WPM, so a raw 60 WPM at 90% accuracy works out to about 54 WPM. Nothing extra is subtracted; the real cost of errors is the missing characters plus the time you spend going back to fix them. Some other typing tests do subtract a word for every uncorrected error, so the same run can score lower elsewhere. Employers who test typing look at speed and accuracy separately, and many set an accuracy floor around 95%, so an accuracy below that can cost you more than a few WPM ever would.
What Employers Mean by a WPM Requirement
When a job listing says “45 WPM” it normally means net WPM on a timed test of one to five minutes, typed from a printed or on-screen passage. Longer tests are harder: most people lose a few WPM between a one-minute and a five-minute run as concentration drops. Practise on the same length the employer uses with the three-minute test or the 5 minute typing test, so the real test holds no surprises.
How to Move Up One Row
Moving up one row of the chart, say from 40 to 50 WPM, usually comes from about 15 minutes of practice a day kept up for several weeks; how long it takes varies a lot from person to person. Three things do most of the work: typing without looking (the free typing lessons start from the home row), steady rhythm instead of bursts, and practice on real paragraphs rather than single words, which the paragraph lesson covers. Games help with the rhythm part; the car racing typing game rewards an even pace over sprints.
WPM FAQ
What is a good WPM?
60 WPM or more is a good typing speed for most purposes; on TypeTails 60 to 79 WPM is rated fast. 40 WPM is average for adults, 75 WPM or more is the pace of trained professional typists and 100 WPM or more is elite.
How many WPM do you need for data entry?
Data-entry listings usually ask for 50 to 70 WPM, and accuracy is checked as closely as speed. 10-key (number pad) jobs are measured separately, in keystrokes per hour.
Is 40 WPM fast for a kid?
Yes. 40 WPM matches the adult average, so it is fast for anyone under 14. Typical ranges are 15 to 25 WPM at age 10 and 30 to 40 WPM at 13 or 14.
How is WPM calculated?
Every 5 characters, spaces included, count as one word. On TypeTails, WPM counts only the characters you typed correctly, so mistakes are left out rather than subtracted, while raw WPM counts every keystroke. Some other tests also subtract one word per uncorrected error, which is why the same typing can score differently on different sites.
Ready to place yourself on the chart? Take the free typing speed test and come back with your score.