Yes, typing 40 words per minute (WPM) is a very achievable goal, as it's considered the average speed for most adults, and with practice, you can easily reach or exceed it using proper touch-typing techniques. While the average is around 40 WPM, professional typists often aim for 60-80+ WPM, making 40 WPM a solid baseline for productivity, especially if you learn to use all your fingers without looking at the keyboard.
What is the average typing speed? The average typing speed is around 40 words per minute (wpm). If you want to be very productive, you should aim for a typing speed of 65 to 70 words per minute.
The average person types between 38 and 40 words per minute (WPM). That translates into between 190 and 200 characters per minute (CPM). However, professional typists type a lot faster, averaging between 65 and 75 WPM.
How to Type Faster: Quick Tips
Estimated Learning Time
Gold Standard (40 WPM): About 70 hours of practice, allowing the student to type faster than handwriting.
The top 1% of typists generally achieve speeds well over 100 WPM (Words Per Minute), with speeds of 140-160 WPM or more often considered in that elite category, far above the average of around 40 WPM, with record holders pushing past 200-300 WPM on QWERTY or specialized keyboards, showcasing incredible skill.
No, typing 40 WPM (Words Per Minute) isn't hard; it's considered an average typing speed for everyday use, making it perfectly functional for emails and browsing, though professional roles often expect 60+ WPM, so it's easy for beginners to reach and great for general productivity. The difficulty lies in getting from a slow, hunt-and-peck style to touch-typing (using all fingers without looking).
You will learn all the touch typing within 7 days! Students completing the course will have the expertise to be able to type fast. With practices, you'll be able to gain 60+ WPM. You will receive a verifiable certificate of completion upon finishing the course.
AI keyboards don't just fix your typos - they fundamentally change how fast you can communicate. I've been testing different keyboard apps for over three years, and the speed difference is genuinely shocking. My typing went from around 45 WPM to consistently hitting 70+ WPM, but that's not even the real story.
Older adults typically type slower—around 25–30 words per minute—compared to younger people's 60–80 wpm (TypingTest.com). However, they make significantly fewer mistakes (10FastFingers.com, 2023). This is because seniors often take a deliberate and thoughtful approach to typing.
I would suggest that 40 wpm includes the vast majority of people on the planet who we know for a fact, DO NOT touch type because they've never learned to do so. If you include only those people who touch type, which is less than 1% of the people on the planet, then this number would probably increase to 70 wpm.
Typically, professional typists type at speeds of 43 to 80 wpm, while some positions can require 80 to 95 (usually the minimum required for dispatch positions and other time-sensitive typing jobs), and some advanced typists work at speeds above 120 wpm.
Typing skills were assessed by calculating the net words per minute (WPM). Typing skills were categorized as follows: (1) fewer than 26 net WPM as very slow; (2) 26 to 35 net WPM as slow; (3) 35 to 45 net WPM as intermediate; and (4) greater than 45 net WPM as fast.
Typing fast is great—but typing accurately is more important, especially in the beginning. Kids who start slowly but carefully tend to make faster progress than those who rush and develop bad habits.
The average wpm speed is only 41.4 words per minute. This is far below the speeds of the record holders, or even the speeds needed to succeed in the working world.
Practice typing exercises regularly.
Eliminate any potential distractions. If you find yourself making lots of errors, slow down and find a way to regain your focus or call it a day. The goal of practicing is to build muscle memory. Be consistent and mindful in your practice and you will avoid bad habits and mistakes.
Types of Common Typing Errors
Misspellings: Incorrect spelling of words and their impact on clarity. Transposed Letters: Frequently swapped letters that change word meanings. Omitted Letters: Letters accidentally left out of words. Extra Letters: Unintentional addition of unnecessary letters.
The top 1% of typists generally achieve speeds well over 100 WPM (Words Per Minute), with speeds of 140-160 WPM or more often considered in that elite category, far above the average of around 40 WPM, with record holders pushing past 200-300 WPM on QWERTY or specialized keyboards, showcasing incredible skill.
There are two ways to type faster: The best way to increase typing speed is to learn to type the correct way. “Touch typing” means you are able to type with all 10 fingers instead of using a “hunt and peck” method of typing. You can learn how to touch type with Typing.com's free typing lessons.
Well, according to Rocket, in order to climb from 200 WPM all the way up to 304.76 (his current record), he mostly relied on two free online typing platforms. “All my practice is on these two websites, Monkeytype and Typeracer,” he explains.
If typing skills are important enough to a role that an employer requires you to pass a typing test, chances are they're looking for an average WPM of at least 60. Above 70 WPM is considered advanced, and only 1% of typists score above 100 WPM.
A 40 WPM typing speed is considered average for the general population, sufficient for basic tasks like emails but slower than professional needs, which often require 60+ WPM, with improvement possible through touch-typing techniques (using all fingers without looking) and consistent practice.
In fact, if one extrapolates from the choice re- action time (RT) findings that adults in their 60s require about 100 ms more time per key- stroke response than adults in their 20s, typists in their 60s may be expected to type at a rate of only 40 wpm compared with 60 wpm for typists in their 20s.