TypeWars / Typing speed
Is 70 WPM good?
70 WPM is above average.
Faster than most people. Comfortable for typing-heavy jobs and for keeping up with your own thoughts.
*Estimate from the Aalto University study of 168,000 typists (Dhakal et al., CHI 2018; mean 51.6 WPM), using a normal approximation.
What 70 WPM means in practice
| Task | Time at 70 WPM |
|---|---|
| 150-word email | 2.1 minutes |
| 500-word page | 7.1 minutes |
| 1,500-word essay | 21 minutes |
| 80,000-word novel | 19.0 hours |
Times are pure typing at a steady pace. Real writing adds thinking and editing, so speed matters most for transcription, chat and data entry.
Next goal: 80 WPM
Keep accuracy above 95%, read one word ahead and drill the keys you miss most. Ten minutes a day of Word Blitz and a few races at the Diamond tier will pull you up.
Check your real speed
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Is 70 WPM good?
Above average. Faster than most people. Comfortable for typing-heavy jobs and for keeping up with your own thoughts. The adult average on a physical keyboard is about 52 WPM (Dhakal et al., CHI 2018).
What percentage of people type faster than 70 WPM?
Roughly 18% of the 168,000 people in the Aalto study, by our estimate. 70 WPM is faster than about 82% of them. This assumes a normal distribution (mean 52, SD about 20), so treat it as an approximation.
How many characters per minute is 70 WPM?
350 characters per minute, or 5.8 keystrokes per second, using the standard 5-characters-per-word rule.
How long does it take to type 1,000 words at 70 WPM?
About 14 minutes of pure typing, not counting thinking or editing time.
How do I get from 70 to 80 WPM?
Protect accuracy above 95%, read one word ahead, and drill your most-missed keys in short daily sessions.