How Many Words Per Minute Can a Person Type?
The average person types about 40 words per minute. The typical range for adults runs from 30 to 55 WPM, trained professionals sustain 70–95, and the fastest typists on regular keyboards reach 150–200+ WPM in short sprints. On stenography machines, court reporters exceed 300 words per minute — but that is a different skill on different hardware.
How WPM is counted
One 'word' in typing tests is standardized as five characters — the industry average word length in English. So 'their' and 'speed' are each one word, and so is 'a bit'. This normalization lets tests with different real words compare fairly. Net WPM counts only correctly typed words; raw WPM counts everything you pressed.
The full human range
| Typist | Words per minute |
|---|---|
| Absolute beginner | 10–20 WPM |
| Average adult | 35–45 WPM |
| Fast office typist | 55–70 WPM |
| Professional transcriptionist | 70–95 WPM |
| Competitive typist (sprint) | 150–220 WPM |
| Stenographer (machine shorthand) | 225–360 WPM |
Is there a physical limit?
On a standard QWERTY keyboard, the fingers can only travel so fast: the practical ceiling for accurate, sustained typing sits somewhere around 200–230 WPM, limited by finger travel distance and the awkward bigrams built into the layout. Speeds beyond that require chorded or steno machines, where multiple keys are pressed simultaneously like piano chords.
Count your own words per minute:
Take a 1-minute typing testSee the full speed charts:
Average typing speed chart