Typing Speed Test

How the Typing Speed Test Works

Choose your test duration — 15, 30, or 60 seconds. Click into the text area and start typing. The timer begins automatically with your first keystroke. Type the words shown on screen as quickly and accurately as you can. Correct characters turn green, errors turn red. When time runs out you'll see your WPM (words per minute), accuracy percentage, total correct characters, and error count. Click "Try Again" to retake the test with a fresh set of sentences and beat your score.

What Is a Good Typing Speed?

• Beginner (under 30 WPM) — just getting started. Most kids ages 8–10 and hunt-and-peck typists start here.
• Average (30–45 WPM) — typical for students, casual typists, and most adults.
• Above average (45–65 WPM) — comfortable for schoolwork, office work, and everyday use.
• Fast (65–90 WPM) — great for coding, content writing, and serious productivity.
• Professional (90–120 WPM) — competitive territory. Court reporters and professional transcriptionists type here.
• Elite (120+ WPM) — top 1% of typists worldwide. Competitive typing champions exceed 200 WPM.

Average Typing Speed by Age

Typing speed varies significantly by age. Here's what to expect at each stage:

Age	Average WPM	Notes
6–8	5–15 WPM	Learning letter locations
8–12	15–30 WPM	Building muscle memory
13–16	30–50 WPM	Developing fluency
17–21	40–60 WPM	College-ready speed
Adults	40–45 WPM	National average
Professionals	65–95 WPM	Writers, coders, transcriptionists

Tips to Improve Your Typing Speed

• Use proper home row placement — rest your fingers on ASDF (left hand) and JKL; (right hand). Reach up or down from there.
• Don't look at the keyboard — train your muscle memory by keeping your eyes on the screen. Cover the keys if you need to.
• Focus on accuracy first — speed comes naturally once you stop making mistakes. Accuracy above 95% should be your first goal.
• Practice 10–15 minutes daily — consistency beats long sessions. Daily short practice builds speed faster than weekly marathons.
• Use real sentences — practicing with sentences (like this test) is more effective than random letter drills because it builds word-level pattern recognition.
• Learn common letter pairs — combinations like "th", "er", "in", "on", and "an" appear constantly. Train your fingers to hit them automatically.
• Take the test multiple times — track your WPM over days and weeks. Watching the number climb is great motivation.
• Type what you're reading — open a book or article and type along. It's free practice with real-world text.

What Is WPM and How Is It Calculated?

WPM stands for words per minute. It's the standard measurement for typing speed. Since words vary in length, the typing community uses a standard where 1 word = 5 characters (including spaces). The formula is:

WPM = (correct characters / 5) / time in minutes

For example, if you correctly type 250 characters in 30 seconds (0.5 minutes), your WPM is (250 / 5) / 0.5 = 100 WPM.

WPM vs CPM: What's the Difference?

CPM (characters per minute) counts every individual character you type. WPM divides that by 5 to give a word-equivalent score. CPM is more granular but WPM is the standard most people use. To convert: CPM / 5 = WPM.

Why Typing Speed Matters for Kids Learning to Code

Typing is a foundational skill for coding. Students who type faster spend less time on keystrokes and more time thinking about logic, problem-solving, and creativity. Every line of Python, JavaScript, HTML, or C# requires typing — and the faster you can type accurately, the faster you can build, debug, and iterate.

At Hackingtons, our students naturally improve their typing speed as they write real code every week. Many students see a 20–40% improvement in WPM within their first few months of coding classes. Learn more about our online coding program or try a free class.

Typing Speed for Different Professions

• Data entry — 60–80 WPM recommended. Speed and accuracy are both critical.
• Software developer — 50–80 WPM is common. Code involves special characters so raw WPM isn't the whole picture.
• Writer / Journalist — 60–100 WPM. Faster typing means faster drafts and tighter deadlines.
• Transcriptionist — 80–100+ WPM required. Audio transcription demands sustained fast typing.
• Customer support / Chat agent — 60–80 WPM. Fast responses improve customer satisfaction.
• Student — 40–60 WPM is ideal for taking notes, writing essays, and completing assignments efficiently.

Frequently Asked Questions

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