What Is WPM?

If typing tests counted real words, typing "a an it is" would score far higher than "extraordinary circumstances". To keep scores fair, typing tests define one word as five keystrokes, including spaces and punctuation. So "the cat sat" is 11 characters, or 2.2 words, no matter how many actual words it has.

The basic formula is:

WPM = (characters typed ÷ 5) ÷ minutes

Type 1,000 characters in 5 minutes and your speed is (1,000 ÷ 5) ÷ 5 = 40 WPM.

Gross WPM (sometimes called raw WPM) counts everything you typed, mistakes included. It measures how fast your fingers move.

Net WPM subtracts errors. The usual formula takes one word off per minute for every uncorrected error:

Net WPM = gross WPM − (uncorrected errors ÷ minutes)

Type 250 words' worth of characters in 5 minutes with 10 errors left in: gross is 50 WPM, net is 50 − (10 ÷ 5) = 48 WPM. Employers almost always care about net speed, because nobody wants documents full of mistakes.

Our tests use a third, stricter-in-a-different-way approach: only correctly typed characters count toward speed. A wrong key adds nothing to your WPM and shows up in your accuracy instead, and backspace lets you fix the current word. The result lands close to net WPM, and it can't be inflated by mashing keys.

Notice how much more errors cost on a short test. Four mistakes in one minute take four whole WPM off; the same four mistakes spread over five minutes take less than one. That's one reason job screenings prefer longer tests: they measure your usual accuracy rather than one bad moment.

Five characters (including the space after it) is close to the length of an average English word, and it became the standard in the typewriter era, when typing speed was a job qualification and needed a fair, repeatable measure. Counting characters rather than words stops a test from rewarding short words, and it means your score on one test can be compared with your score on another, as long as both use the five-character rule. Almost every modern test does, including ours.

Accuracy is the share of your keystrokes that were correct. 98% accuracy means two wrong keys in every hundred. It's the number that decides whether your WPM is worth anything: 45 WPM at 98% produces cleaner, faster real work than 55 WPM at 88%, because every error costs a correction. Most typists in a 2018 Aalto University study of 168,960 online typists left very few errors in the final text (an average of 1.17%), but they spent 6.3% of their keystrokes fixing mistakes along the way. Those fixes are where speed quietly disappears.

To convert: CPM = WPM × 5, and KPH = WPM × 5 × 60. Data-entry KPH tests are usually on the numeric keypad with numbers and codes, which our number typing game is built to practice.

Test length. Short tests flatter you and swing more. On a 1 minute typing test, one mangled word can move your score by several WPM. A 3 minute test smooths that out and is the length most job screenings use. Over a 5 minute test, most people fade 5-15% from their one-minute score, which is the honest measure of how you type in real work.

Text type. Lists of common words are the fastest thing to type. Real paragraphs add capitals, punctuation and numbers, and most people lose a few WPM. Our typing speed test has both modes so you can see your own gap.

Keyboard and device. Laptop, desktop and phone scores aren't comparable. A 2019 Aalto University study of 37,370 phone typists measured an average of 36.2 WPM on phones, well below typical keyboard speeds.

The day. Tired hands, a new keyboard or a cold room all cost speed. That's why a trend over weeks tells you more than any single test.

The short version: about 40 WPM is average for adults, 60 is fast and 80+ is exceptional. Our good typing speed chart goes through every score from 20 to 120, and the average typing speed guide covers averages by group and job.