What Is the Average Typing Speed?

The figure most people cite is 40 words per minute. It's out of date.

In 2018, researchers at Aalto University collected 136 million keystrokes from 168,000 volunteers, the largest typing study ever conducted. The average speed across all participants was 52 words per minute (WPM). The fastest five percent exceeded 80 WPM. The fastest individuals approached 120.

Where most people actually fall

The distribution is tighter than most people expect. The majority of typists fall between 40 and 65 WPM. Very few adults who use computers regularly type below 30, and very few untrained typists break 80.

Speed also varies with what you're typing. WPM measured on a standardised test (fixed text, no composition required) tends to run 5 to 15 points higher than real-world speed when writing original text. Tests measure your mechanical ceiling, not what you're doing in a document or email.

What separates fast typists from slow ones

The Aalto study identified clear mechanical differences between high- and low-speed typists. Faster participants used an average of 8.4 fingers; slower typists used 5.3. Faster typists also used rollover typing (pressing the next key before fully releasing the previous one) for 40 to 70 percent of their keystrokes. Slower typists used it considerably less.

Neither difference required formal training. Many of the high-speed typists in the study had never taken a touch-typing course. They had developed these habits through use.

Is 52 WPM good?

For most office and administrative work, 40 WPM is considered functional. Above 70 is broadly considered proficient. Transcription and data entry roles typically require 75 to 100 WPM.

If you're around 52, you're keeping pace with most regular computer users. If you're below 40, there's real room to improve.

How speed actually improves

A 2022 study of 1,301 university students by Pinet et al. found that structured practice drills were not a statistically significant predictor of typing speed. The dominant factor was total accumulated keyboard exposure: the sheer volume of typing done over time.

Longer sessions on varied, natural text build speed more effectively than short runs on random words. TypeLit.io tracks WPM and accuracy on every page of every book. Start reading, and the number starts moving.

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