Typing Speed Goals: 40 to 120 WPM
Last updated · by the FastTypings team
Pick the speed you are aiming for. Each section says where that speed ranks, who needs it, and what practice gets you there. Rankings use the largest published typing study (168,000 people, average 52 WPM) — see average typing speed for the full table and sources. FastTypings has bots that race at exactly 40, 70 and 100 WPM, so three of these goals come with a ready-made opponent.
40 WPM: is it good?
≈ 30th percentile40 WPM is a little below the 52 WPM average measured in the largest typing study, but it is a solid, usable speed: fine for email, chat and schoolwork, and the minimum many office job listings ask for.
Who needs 40 WPM
Entry-level office, retail and admin roles often list 35–45 WPM. Students writing essays will feel the difference between 30 and 40 WPM straight away.
How to reach 40 WPM
- Stop looking at the keyboard. This is the single biggest jump for most people under 40 WPM — expect to be slower for a week or two, then faster than before.
- Learn the home row (ASDF JKL;) and return to it after every key. Our home row guide has drills.
- Do short daily sessions — 10 minutes a day beats an hour once a week. A 30-second test is a good warm-up.
50 WPM: is it good?
≈ 45th percentile50 WPM is right around the measured average. It is comfortable for everyday computer work and meets the requirement for most general office jobs.
Who needs 50 WPM
Customer service, reception and general admin roles commonly ask for 40–50 WPM, usually with an accuracy requirement of 90–95% or higher.
How to reach 50 WPM
- Prioritise accuracy: FastTypings only counts correct characters, so every error you leave costs you speed directly.
- Type whole words, not letters. Common words like “the”, “and” and “that” should come out as a single movement.
- Turn punctuation on once a week so capitals and commas don't slow you down on real text.
60 WPM: is it good?
≈ 65th percentile60 WPM is clearly above average and the speed many people mean when they say “a good typist”. Writing long emails and documents stops feeling like a bottleneck.
Who needs 60 WPM
Executive assistant, secretary and many data-entry listings ask for 60 WPM or more, often tested over 3–5 minutes rather than 1.
How to reach 60 WPM
- Take longer tests. A 1-minute score flatters you; a 3- or 5-minute test shows whether you can hold the pace.
- Practise your weak keys. The per-key heatmap after each FastTypings test shows which letters cost you errors.
- Read one word ahead. Fast typists look at the next word while their fingers finish the current one.
70 WPM: is it good?
≈ 80th percentile70 WPM is fast. You type faster than roughly four in five people who take online typing tests, and typing rarely limits how quickly you can write.
Who needs 70 WPM
Transcription, legal and medical secretary roles often look for 65–80 WPM with very high accuracy. Programmers, writers and support agents who type all day benefit noticeably.
How to reach 70 WPM
- Expect a plateau somewhere between 60 and 80 WPM — it is the most common one. Varied practice (punctuation, numbers, longer tests) helps more than repeating the same 1-minute test.
- Relax your hands. Tension makes fingers slower and causes more errors at this speed.
- Let keys overlap: fast typists often press the next key before releasing the previous one.
80 WPM: is it good?
≈ top 10%80 WPM puts you in roughly the top 10% of typists measured in the largest study (whose 90th percentile was about 78 WPM). Very few jobs require more than this.
Who needs 80 WPM
Competitive for transcription, captioning and any role that tests typing speed. Beyond this point, speed is mostly a personal or competitive goal.
How to reach 80 WPM
- Train on harder text: punctuation and numbers on, or longer word tests. Gains on easy text stop transferring.
- Fix your slowest letter pairs. Common bigrams typed with the same finger are usually the bottleneck.
- Race real people in multiplayer — unpredictable opponents push harder than a fixed pace.
100 WPM: is it good?
≈ top 2–3%100 WPM is elite for everyday typists — only a few percent of people taking online tests reach it. Most people at this level have years of daily typing and touch-type with very few errors.
Who needs 100 WPM
No ordinary job requires it. It is the classic milestone in the competitive typing community.
How to reach 100 WPM
- Accuracy above 97–98% is effectively required; at this speed every correction costs a large share of your score.
- Practise rhythm as much as speed: an even pace through hard words beats bursts followed by stalls.
- Use many short, focused tests rather than long tired ones.
120 WPM: is it good?
≈ top 1% or fewer120 WPM and above is competitive-typist territory. The largest study noted that only its very fastest participants reached 120 WPM or more.
Who needs 120 WPM
Competitive typists and enthusiasts. At this level people often tune their keyboard, layout and switches, though technique still matters far more than hardware.
How to reach 120 WPM
- Work on consistency across many tests, not one lucky run — competitive leaderboards reward averages.
- Practise on varied word lists so you are not just fast on the most common 200 words.
- Race live opponents at your level in multiplayer.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a good typing speed?
Anything above the measured average of about 52 WPM is above average; 60–70 WPM is what most people consider a good typist, and 80+ WPM puts you in roughly the top 10%. For jobs, 40–45 WPM is a common minimum.
How long does it take to go up 10 WPM?
It varies a lot with starting speed and practice. Under 40 WPM, a few weeks of short daily practice (and not looking at the keyboard) usually adds 10 WPM or more. Above 70 WPM, each extra 10 WPM typically takes months.
Why is my WPM different on other sites?
Sites use different text (common words vs. quotes with punctuation), and some count raw keystrokes while others count only correct characters. FastTypings reports net WPM: correct characters ÷ 5, per minute.
How the score is worked out: how we calculate WPM.