The short answer
The figure you will see most often is about 40 WPM for adults who type regularly. Most people fall somewhere between 30 and 50 WPM. People who rarely use a keyboard are slower, and people who type all day and learned touch typing are often well above 60.
What a study of 168,000 typists found
In 2018, researchers from Aalto University and the University of Cambridge published one of the largest typing studies ever made: about 136 million keystrokes from roughly 168,000 volunteers who took an online typing test, copying English sentences. The average speed was about 52 WPM, with a wide spread: a large part of the group typed somewhere between 30 and 70 WPM, and a small number went past 120.
Keep in mind who took part. These were volunteers who chose to take a typing test, and many of them typed a lot, so the general population is probably somewhat slower. That is one reason the older 40 WPM figure is still a fair guide.
The study also found that the fastest typists often press the next key before they let go of the last one ("rollover"): their fingers move to the next letter while the previous one is still going down. That kind of overlap is something that builds up with practice.
Average typing speed on a phone
A later study by the same group, with about 37,000 volunteers, measured an average of about 36 WPM on mobile phones. People who typed with two thumbs were faster than people who used a single finger.
How your speed compares
| Your WPM | Compared with the average |
|---|---|
| Under 30 | Below average. Learning touch typing will help the most. |
| 30–45 | Around the typical adult average. |
| 45–60 | Above average; about the level of the large online study. |
| 60–80 | Fast. Well above most people. |
| 80+ | Very fast; professional level. |
A speed only means something with its accuracy. 60 WPM with 85% accuracy is worse in practice than 50 WPM with 98%. For what employers ask for, see what is a good typing speed.
What about averages by age or job?
You will find tables online with exact averages for every age group or profession. We could not find a reliable published source for them, so we do not repeat them. What the research does show is that practice and technique matter far more than age: a teenager who types every day and an adult who learned touch typing at school can both be well above average.
How to measure your own speed fairly
- Take the typing test three times and use the average, not your best try.
- Use a 1 minute or 3 minute test with real sentences to compare with job requirements.
- Look at net WPM (correct words only), not raw speed.
- Check your speed again every couple of weeks if you are practising.
See where you stand: take the one-minute typing test.
Start the test →Questions
What is the average typing speed?
About 40 WPM is the figure most often quoted for adults. The largest published study, of about 168,000 volunteers who took an online typing test, measured an average of about 52 WPM, but people who choose to take a typing test are probably faster than average.
What is the average typing speed on a phone?
A follow-up study by the same research group, with about 37,000 volunteers, measured an average of about 36 WPM on mobile phones, a little more than two thirds of the keyboard average.
Is 50 WPM above average?
Yes, compared with the commonly quoted 40 WPM, and it is close to the average in the large online study. It is enough for most office jobs.
What is the average typing speed by age?
There is no good public data broken down by age, so be careful with tables that claim exact figures. Speed depends much more on how much someone types and whether they learned touch typing than on age.