Typing Speed Statistics

Why there are no numbers here yet

This page publishes a distribution only once at least 500 eligible tests have been recorded. There are currently 0. A median over a handful of tests is noise with a decimal point on it, and publishing it would make this page part of the problem it exists to fix: the web is full of typing-speed figures that no one can trace to a measurement.

The method below is fixed in advance, so when the numbers appear they will not have been chosen to look good.

Method, in full

Everything here is reproducible from the definitions below. If a figure on this page cannot be traced to them, it is a bug — not a rounding choice.

What counts as an eligible test

• Submitted live while taking the test. Results imported from a browser’s local history are excluded, because they are unverified self-reports.
• Not flagged by the anti-cheat checks.
• English 1k word list, with punctuation and numbers off, so every test in the sample used comparable material.
• Timed mode only (15, 30, 60 or 120 seconds).
• From an account that is neither deleted nor banned.

How the speed is calculated

Net WPM is (correct characters ÷ 5) ÷ minutes, where a “word” is the standard five characters and only characters correct at the end of the test count. The full definitions — net versus raw, accuracy, consistency — are in how typing speed is measured.

What this sample is not

These are not population statistics, and should never be quoted as “the average person types X”. Everyone counted here chose to visit a typing-test website and start a test, which selects for people who type often and care how fast they do it. Expect this sample to run faster than the general public. It also skews toward people comfortable in English and on a physical keyboard, and one person can appear many times.

What it is good for: comparing yourself against people doing the same task under the same rules, on current data, with the method stated. For a broader discussion of why published averages disagree so much, see average typing speed.

Reuse

You are welcome to cite these figures. Please include the sample size and the date, both of which change as more tests are recorded, and link back so readers can check the current numbers.