Is 60 WPM a good typing speed?

Yes — 60 WPM is above the adult average of 40 WPM and is considered comfortably fast for most office work.

What is a fast typing speed?

70–90 WPM is fast. 90+ WPM sustained with high accuracy is professional-grade and common among developers, writers, and transcriptionists.

What is the average typing speed for a 12 year old?

Children aged 11–13 typically type between 20 and 35 WPM. By high school this rises to 30–45 WPM with practice.

What is the world record for typing speed?

Barbara Blackburn is the Guinness record holder at 212 WPM peak using a Dvorak keyboard. Sustained records on QWERTY sit around 216 WPM in short bursts.

Average typing speed by age, profession & skill

The average adult types at around 40 words per minute (WPM) with roughly 92% accuracy on standard prose. But that headline number hides a huge range — here's what typical looks like across age groups, professions, and skill bands, plus how to see where you actually land.

The short answer

Average adult: 40 WPM
Good / above average: 50–70 WPM
Fast: 70–90 WPM
Professional-grade: 90+ WPM sustained
World record: 212 WPM (Barbara Blackburn, Dvorak)

Average typing speed by age

Age group	Typical WPM	Notes
6–10	15–25	Learning finger placement
11–13	20–35	Home-row habits forming
14–17	30–45	Reaches adult baseline
18–29	40–55	Peak digital-native speed
30–49	38–50	Steady, accuracy-focused
50+	30–45	Slight decline, still functional

Average typing speed by profession

Role	Typical WPM	Notes
Data entry clerk	60–80	Certifications often require 60+ WPM
Programmer / developer	50–70	Bursts higher; symbol-heavy
Writer / journalist	55–80	Long-form endurance matters
Transcriptionist	70–100	Industry floor is ~65 WPM
Customer support	45–65	Chat agents skew higher
General office worker	35–55	Around the adult average

Speed bands: where do you fit?

0–30 WPMBeginner

Hunt-and-peck or still learning touch typing.

30–40 WPMBelow average

Functional, but slower than most adults.

40–50 WPMAverage

The adult baseline. Fine for everyday work.

50–70 WPMAbove average

Comfortable for most professional roles.

70–90 WPMFast

You outpace nearly all coworkers.

90–120 WPMProfessional

Developers, writers, transcriptionists.

120+ WPMElite

Top ~1% of typists worldwide.

Does gender affect typing speed?

Large-sample data from major typing platforms consistently shows women averaging 2–4 WPM higher than men, largely explained by higher accuracy (fewer backspaces cost fewer seconds). The gap is small, and it disappears entirely at the professional end of the distribution.

Why your "real" speed differs from a typing test

Typing tests use clean prose. Real work has code, symbols, unfamiliar names, and thinking pauses. Expect your real-world sustained speed to be 30–40% lower than your best test score. The test measures your ceiling; the workday averages your floor.

Find out where you actually land

TypeMetric Pro grades you against these bands with raw WPM, net WPM, accuracy, and consistency — plus a personal AI coach if you sign in.

Take a free typing test