Is Your Typing Speed Good? Check Your WPM by Age
A words-per-minute score means nothing on its own. 25 WPM is an excellent 4th grader and a slow adult. Enter your score below to get a straight answer for your age โ or scroll down for what each common WPM score actually means.
WPM Score Checker
Don't know your WPM yet? Take the free 60-second typing test and come back with your score.
What Counts as a Good Typing Speed?
Ignoring age for a moment, here is what each speed band means in practice. These are the same bands the checker above uses.
| Speed | Category | What it means in practice |
|---|---|---|
| Under 20 WPM | Below average | Typing is the bottleneck. A one-page email takes 10+ minutes of keyboard time alone. |
| 20โ35 WPM | Functional | Enough for casual use โ emails, chat, short documents. Most daily tasks are not noticeably slowed. |
| 35โ50 WPM | Proficient | The working-adult sweet spot. Fast enough that typing rarely limits productivity. |
| 50โ70 WPM | Fast | Faster than roughly 80% of the general population. Common among people who type for a living. |
| 70โ100 WPM | Very fast | Top 5% territory. Usually takes years of deliberate practice or professional training. |
| 100+ WPM | Elite | Competitive typist range. The English-language record is above 200 WPM in short bursts. |
Is Your Speed Good for Your Age?
This is the comparison that actually matters. A score that would be slow for an adult can be well ahead of the curve for a 3rd grader.
| Age | Typical context | Expected WPM | Accuracy target |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5โ6 | Pre-K / Kindergarten | 2โ6 | Any |
| 6โ7 | 1st Grade | 5โ10 | 85โ90% |
| 7โ8 | 2nd Grade | 8โ15 | 90% |
| 8โ9 | 3rd Grade | 13โ20 | 92% |
| 9โ10 | 4th Grade | 18โ25 | 95% |
| 10โ11 | 5th Grade | 22โ30 | 95% |
| 11โ13 | Middle school | 28โ40 | 95%+ |
| 14โ17 | High school | 35โ50 | 96%+ |
| 18โ24 | College / early career | 38โ55 | 97%+ |
| 25โ44 | Working adults | 38โ50 | 97%+ |
| 45โ64 | Mid-career and later | 30โ45 | 95%+ |
| 65+ | Retirees | 20โ35 | Varies |
These are median ranges measured under controlled conditions, not personal-best scores. For where these numbers come from and a much deeper breakdown, see how fast does the average person type.
Common WPM Scores, Answered
The short version for the scores people ask about most.
Is 20 WPM good?
For a 4th grader, yes โ 20 WPM is exactly the expected target and the speed at which typing an assignment stops being slower than handwriting it. For an adult it is below average, and long documents will feel like work. If you are an adult at 20 WPM, the fastest gain usually comes from learning not to look at the keyboard rather than from trying to type faster.
Is 22 WPM good or bad?
Neither, on its own โ 22 WPM is good for a 4th or 5th grader and below average for an adult. That is the whole answer, and it is why a single number with no age attached cannot be graded. If a 10-year-old tests at 22 WPM they are on track. If a 30-year-old tests at 22 WPM, the gap to the 38โ42 WPM adult average is about six weeks of ten-minute sessions.
Is 25 WPM good? What does 25 WPM typing speed mean?
Good for a 5th grader, on target for a 6th grader arriving in middle school, and below average for anyone 14 or older. In practical terms 25 WPM typing speed means roughly 125 keystrokes a minute โ fast enough to keep up with your own thoughts while writing, which is why state keyboarding frameworks tend to aim there by the end of elementary school.
Is 28 WPM a good typing speed?
For anyone still in elementary school, yes โ 28 WPM is at or above the 5th grade target. For a high schooler it is a little behind, and for an adult it is roughly ten words per minute short of average. 28 is a common plateau for people who type quickly with four or five fingers; the next jump usually requires committing to home row rather than practising more.
Is 30 WPM a good typing speed?
For a 5th grader, 30 WPM is at the top of the expected range and genuinely good. For a middle schooler it is solid. For an adult it sits below the 38โ42 WPM average โ functional for daily use, but typing is still a mild bottleneck on anything long.
Is 35 WPM a good typing speed?
35 WPM is the bottom edge of "proficient." It is ahead of the curve for anyone in middle school, on target for a high schooler, and just under average for a working adult. Most people at 35 WPM can reach 45 within a few weeks of regular practice, because the remaining gains come from removing hesitation rather than from raw finger speed.
Is 40 WPM a good typing speed?
Yes. 40 WPM is right at the adult average and comfortably above it for anyone under 18. At this speed typing has stopped being the thing that slows you down for email, schoolwork, and everyday writing. For a middle schooler, 40 WPM is well ahead of the curve.
Is 38 WPM good or bad?
Good. 38 WPM sits at the bottom of the 38โ42 WPM adult average band, meaning you type about as fast as the typical adult and faster than almost anyone still in school. Nothing about 38 WPM is bad โ it is the point where most people stop noticing their own typing.
Is 41 WPM good?
Yes โ 41 WPM is inside the adult average band and above average for anyone under 18. There is no practical difference between 38, 41 and 42 WPM in daily use; a single test can swing that much depending on the text you were given. Treat anything in the high 30s to low 40s as one band rather than as separate scores.
Is 42 WPM good or bad?
Good. 42 WPM is the top of the commonly cited adult average band, so you are typing at or slightly above what most adults manage, and it is a strong score for a high schooler. Pushing past 42 usually means working on accuracy first โ the remaining friction is almost always corrections, not finger speed.
Is 44 WPM good?
Yes. 44 WPM is above the adult average and comfortably ahead for any student. You are in the band where the keyboard has stopped being the bottleneck for schoolwork and email, and where further practice buys convenience rather than capability.
Is 45 WPM good?
Yes โ 45 WPM is above the adult median and about the speed at which a college student can write an essay without the keyboard getting in the way. For anyone still in school it is a strong result.
Is 48 WPM a good typing speed?
48 WPM is solidly proficient and above average for every age group. You are close to the 50 WPM line where typing speed stops being a practical limit for most jobs and schoolwork, and further gains start producing diminishing returns.
Is 50 WPM good?
Yes. 50 WPM puts you above the adult median and into the range where typing rarely limits you. For a high schooler it is a strong score. The next meaningful jump is 60โ70 WPM, which is roughly the top 20 percent of the general population.
Is 52 WPM good?
52 WPM is a good score โ faster than most adults and firmly in the "fast" band. It happens to match the raw average from the 2018 Aalto University study of 168,000 online typists, which runs high because people who take typing tests online type more than the general population.
Is 60 WPM good?
60 WPM is fast โ faster than roughly 80 percent of people. It is the speed most professional writers, programmers, and journalists settle at, and past this point thinking speed rather than typing speed is usually what limits you.
Is 70 WPM good?
Very good. 70 WPM is the entry point to the top 5 percent and generally requires years of daily keyboard use or deliberate practice. Almost nobody reaches 70 WPM by accident.
Is 100 WPM good?
100 WPM is elite. It is competitive-typist territory and far beyond what any job or school requirement asks for. If you are at 100 WPM, accuracy and endurance over long sessions matter far more than adding more speed.
Is 148 WPM fast?
Extremely. 148 WPM is roughly three and a half times the adult average and sits in the range of ranked competitive typists rather than ordinary fast typists. Scores that high on a short test are usually run on familiar or repeated text; sustaining 148 WPM over several minutes of unseen writing is a different and much rarer thing.
What a WPM Number Actually Means
One "word" in a WPM score is not a real word. Every typing test, including ours, defines a word as five characters including the space after it. That convention exists so that typing "elephant" and typing "cat cat" score comparably, and it is why the same person can score differently on two tests with different text.
So a 15 WPM typing speed means about 75 characters a minute โ roughly one short sentence. A 25 WPM typing speed means about 125 characters a minute, or a full paragraph in four minutes. At 40 WPM you are at 200 characters a minute, which is about the speed of unhurried handwriting done twice over.
The other half of the number is accuracy. Our test counts only correctly typed characters, so a mistake does not just cost the time it takes to fix โ it never earns credit in the first place. That is why someone who types quickly and sloppily often scores below someone who types slowly and cleanly. If you want the full population picture rather than a verdict on your own score, the average typing speed by age chart has the age-by-age breakdown and the study data behind it.
If Your Score Is Lower Than You Hoped
Three things move the number, roughly in order of how much they matter:
-
1
Stop looking at the keyboard
This single change is worth more than any amount of speed drilling. Every glance down costs the time to look, find, and re-locate your place on screen. Most people who break 40 WPM did it by fixing this, not by moving their fingers faster.
-
2
Get accuracy above 95% before chasing speed
Below 95 percent, mistakes eat more time than rushing saves. Slow down until you are accurate, then let speed come back on its own โ it does, and it comes back higher than where you started.
-
3
Practice in short sessions, often
Ten minutes a day beats an hour on Saturday. Typing is a motor skill, and motor skills consolidate between sessions rather than during them.
Where to practice: pick by what you are working on.
- Building word-level speed โ Type Master or Speed Racer
- Sentences and punctuation โ punctuation typing practice, Sentence Safari or Speed Duel
- Still learning key positions โ Home Row Hero then Top Row Trek
- Younger kids on letters โ Kindergarten games and Pre-K games
Frequently Asked Questions
Is 40 WPM a good typing speed?
Yes. 40 WPM is right at the adult average and comfortably above it for anyone under 18. At 40 WPM typing has stopped being the thing that slows you down for email, schoolwork, and everyday writing. For a middle schooler, 40 WPM is ahead of the curve.
Is 30 WPM a good typing speed?
It depends on age. For a 5th grader, 30 WPM is at the top of the expected range and genuinely good. For an adult, 30 WPM is below the 38 to 42 WPM average โ functional for daily use, but typing is still a mild bottleneck when writing anything long.
Is 50 WPM good?
Yes. 50 WPM puts you above the adult median and into the range where typing rarely limits you. For a high schooler it is a strong score. The next meaningful jump is 60 to 70 WPM, which is roughly the top 20 percent of the general population.
What is a good typing speed for my age?
Rough targets: 5 to 10 WPM in 1st grade, 15 in 3rd, 20 in 4th, 25 to 30 in 5th, 28 to 40 in middle school, 35 to 50 in high school, and 38 to 50 for working adults. Accuracy targets rise alongside speed, from about 85 percent in 1st grade to 97 percent as an adult.
Does accuracy matter more than speed?
Below about 95 percent accuracy, yes. Every mistake costs the time to notice it, backspace, and retype โ usually more time than you gained by rushing. Once you are consistently above 95 percent, speed becomes the useful thing to push on.
How do I find out my WPM?
Take a timed typing test. Our free typing test runs for 60 seconds, uses age-appropriate text, and reports both words per minute and accuracy. Take it three times and use the middle score โ your first attempt is almost always your slowest.
A score is only useful if it changes what you do next. If the number came back low for your child's age, the fix is time on the keyboard, and our free typing games are grouped by grade so you can start at the right level rather than guessing.
Keep going
- Free typing test โ measure your WPM in 60 seconds
- Typing race against friends โ live rooms for classes and groups, no accounts
- Average typing speed chart โ the full data, ages 5 to 65+, with sources
- Typing speed by age for kids 5โ11 โ the elementary years in depth
- All typing games โ 30 free games, no login