Typing Skills Are More Important Than Ever
Employers today use the term "typing skills" interchangeably with "keyboarding skills." And those skills - measured in words per minute and accuracy percentage - sit near the top of the requirements list for hundreds of job categories.
Being fast on the keyboard with poor accuracy is actually slower than being moderate with near-perfect precision. Errors cost time to fix. The goal isn't just raw speed: it's accurate speed.
The only way to achieve both is through practice - specifically, practice that trains your fingers to find every key without your eyes leaving the screen.
What Is the Average Typing Speed?
The average typing speed for adults in the United States is approximately 40–55 WPM. Most people who type regularly for work land somewhere in this range. Here's how different speeds stack up:
| Skill Level | Speed | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Beginner | < 25 WPM | Hunt-and-peck typist; significant room to improve |
| Below Average | 25–40 WPM | Improving; enough for basic tasks |
| Average | 40–55 WPM | Meets most general job requirements |
| Above Average | 55–70 WPM | Comfortable for most office and admin roles |
| Fast | 70–90 WPM | Competitive; strong candidate for typing-focused jobs |
| Professional | 90–120 WPM | Top-tier; transcriptionists, court reporters |
| Expert | 120+ WPM | Rare; competition level typing speed |
Typing Speed Requirements by Job Type
Different roles have very different speed requirements. Here's what you'll typically see in job postings:
| Job Role | Speed | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Data Entry Clerk | 40–55 WPM | Minimum often 40 WPM with high accuracy |
| Administrative Assistant | 50–65 WPM | Most job postings require 50+ WPM |
| Legal Secretary | 65–80 WPM | High accuracy required alongside speed |
| Transcriptionist | 70–90 WPM | Speed + near-perfect accuracy essential |
| Medical Transcriptionist | 80–100 WPM | Specialized vocabulary plus high speed |
| Court Reporter | 225 WPM+ | Uses stenography machine, not a standard keyboard |
One important note: most employers care more about accuracy than raw speed. A candidate typing 55 WPM with 99% accuracy will usually beat someone at 70 WPM with 92% accuracy in a real work environment.
Average Typing Speed by Age
Age plays a real role in typing speed, partly due to experience and partly due to how long someone has been using a computer:
| Age Group | Speed | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Age 7–10 | 10–25 WPM | Still learning key positions |
| Age 11–13 | 20–35 WPM | Speed improving with school use |
| Age 14–17 | 30–50 WPM | Most high schoolers land in this range |
| Age 18–25 | 40–65 WPM | College/young professional average |
| Age 25–50 | 45–70 WPM | Working professional average |
| Age 50+ | 35–55 WPM | Typically slightly slower, still very functional |
These are averages, not limits. A motivated 12-year-old who practices daily can easily outtype a 40-year-old office worker.
How to Improve Your Typing Speed
1. Stop Looking at the Keyboard
This single habit change has the biggest impact. When you look down, you break your reading rhythm, lose your place in the text, and can't maintain a consistent pace. It feels uncomfortable at first - keep going through the discomfort. Within a week of forcing yourself to look up, you'll notice improvement.
2. Master Home Row Position
Your left fingers rest on A S D F and your right on J K L ;. Every key on the keyboard should be reachable from this starting position without repositioning your hands. The F and J keys have small bumps on them for exactly this reason - use them.
3. Use All Ten Fingers
Two-finger typists hit a ceiling around 40–50 WPM and can't break through it without switching to a ten-finger technique. Yes, your speed will drop when you first switch. Push through it. Ten-finger typists consistently outperform two-finger typists over any sustained typing session.
4. Focus on Accuracy First, Then Speed
This is counterintuitive but true: slow down until you can type with 98%+ accuracy, then gradually increase speed. Reinforcing bad habits (reaching for the wrong keys, correcting constantly) actually sets you back. Clean reps at moderate speed build the right muscle memory.
5. Practice Daily in Short Sessions
15 minutes of focused practice every day beats an hour of sporadic weekend sessions. Typing speed is built on motor memory, and motor memory consolidates during sleep. Daily practice - even brief - is the fastest path to improvement.
6. Posture and Ergonomics Matter
Sit upright with feet flat on the floor. Wrists should be slightly elevated - not resting on the desk while you type (resting during pauses is fine). Your monitor should be at eye level. Poor posture leads to fatigue, and fatigue leads to errors. Many people see a speed jump just from fixing their chair height.
7. Practice with Varied Text
If you only practice the same passages over and over, you'll memorize the text rather than build transferable typing skill. Use varied content - news articles, books, technical documents - to practice handling unfamiliar words and patterns.
Hunt-and-Peck vs. Touch Typing
Hunt-and-peck (searching visually for each key) is the single biggest limiter on typing speed. It's not just slower - it prevents you from reading ahead and mentally preparing for the next word, which is exactly what fast typists do.
Touch typing - where your fingers know where every key is without looking - feels slow at first. You'll go from 30 WPM back to 15 WPM when you start learning proper technique. Most people give up at this point and return to their old habits. Don't. That 15 WPM will become 60 WPM within a few months of daily practice. The ceiling for hunt-and-peck typists is around 50 WPM. The ceiling for touch typists is effectively unlimited.
Preparing for an Employment Typing Test
Many employers - government agencies, law firms, medical offices, call centers - require applicants to pass a typing test as part of the hiring process. Here's how to prepare:
- Find out the requirements in advance. Most postings list the minimum WPM. Know your target before you start practicing.
- Practice with the same time duration. If the employment test is 5 minutes, practice 5-minute sessions - not 1-minute ones. Endurance matters.
- Simulate test conditions. Quiet environment, no music, proper posture, same device type you'll test on.
- Prioritize accuracy. Most employment typing tests penalize errors heavily. A score of 60 WPM with 96% accuracy can be recalculated to an "adjusted WPM" in the low 50s. Accuracy is not optional.
- Practice for 2–3 weeks minimum. Speed gains from practice take time to stabilize. Last-minute cramming the night before rarely helps.