After a typing test, most people ask "is that good, or just average?" It is a fair question, but "average typing speed" is slipperier than it sounds. Different websites and job guides quote different numbers, and few say who was tested or how.
This guide explains what the word "average" really means for typing speed, why the numbers you see online disagree, and how to work out a trustworthy average of your own, which is the number that actually helps you improve.
The short answer (with an honest caveat)
Many typing guides, including our own WPM chart, treat roughly 36–45 WPM as an "average" band for everyday computer users, with lower scores counted as beginner or below average and higher scores as above average or fast.
Treat that band as a rule of thumb, not a measured statistic. We are not aware of a large, representative study that tested the general public with one consistent method and settled on a single official number. That is why you will see slightly different figures in different places, and why we do not print a precise "the average person types X WPM" claim.
The useful takeaway: if you land around the 40s on a fair one-minute test, you are in the range most guides call typical.
Why different sources quote different averages
Who was tested
An average only describes the group it came from. Consider how different these groups are:
- People who use online typing tests. They chose to take a test, and many come back to practice, so they may not represent everyone.
- Students in a keyboarding class. Their results depend on how long the course has run and how it was taught.
- Job applicants. They often warm up and prepare because the result matters.
- Professional typists and transcriptionists. They type for hours a day, so their "average" says little about casual users.
When a source does not say which group it measured, you cannot tell whether its average applies to you.
How it was tested
Even with the same people, the test itself moves the number. Test length, text difficulty, whether errors are subtracted (gross vs net WPM), whether you may fix mistakes, and the keyboard used all change results. We cover these in detail in average typing speed by age and how WPM is calculated. The short version: two averages are only comparable if they were measured the same way.
Mean, median or "typical"?
"Average" usually means the mean: add up the scores and divide by how many there are. A mean is easily pulled up by a few very fast typists. The median, the middle score when you line everyone up, is often closer to what a "typical" person scores.
Here is a small made-up example to show the effect. Five friends take the same test and score 30, 38, 42, 45 and 95 WPM.
- Mean: (30 + 38 + 42 + 45 + 95) ÷ 5 = 250 ÷ 5 = 50 WPM
- Median: the middle score is 42 WPM
Four of the five friends are below the mean, because one fast typist lifted it. When you see an "average" quoted, it is worth asking which kind it is.
Average vs "good" vs "required"
These three ideas get mixed up all the time:
- Average describes a group. It tells you where you sit, not what you need.
- Good depends on your goals. For casual writing, a comfortable, accurate speed is plenty. For essays under time pressure or long reports, extra speed saves real time.
- Required is set by a specific school, test or employer. If a job posting asks for a certain WPM, that number matters far more than any general average, and so do its rules for counting errors.
If you are preparing for a job test, our guide to typing speed for data entry jobs explains how employers usually measure speed and accuracy.