Is 120 WPM good?
Yes, it is exceptional. Only a small share of typists sustain this, usually after years of practice.
- Level
- Expert
- Characters per minute
- 600
- Words per hour
- 7,200
- 500-word essay
- 4.2 minutes
What 120 WPM means in practice
120 words per minute is 600 characters a minute, or about 10.0 keystrokes every second. A double-spaced page of around 250 words would take about 2.1 minutes of pure typing. In typing tests, a "word" is always five characters including spaces, so the number does not depend on how long the actual words were. The WPM explainer shows the calculation step by step.
Speed only counts if it is accurate. 120 WPM at 98% accuracy is far more useful than the same speed at 90%, where roughly one keystroke in ten needs fixing. Check both numbers with the 1-minute typing test.
How to keep improving
- Push accuracy to 97% or more; corrections are the biggest hidden cost at high speed.
- Read one or two words ahead of your fingers.
- Practise symbols, numbers and code, where even fast typists slow down.
More habits that help are in how to type faster.
120 WPM FAQ
Is 120 WPM good?
Yes, it is exceptional. Only a small share of typists sustain this, usually after years of practice. For comparison, a 2018 study of about 168,000 volunteers by Aalto University and the University of Cambridge measured an average of about 52 WPM.
How many characters per minute is 120 WPM?
600 characters per minute, because one "word" in typing tests is five characters including spaces. That is about 10.0 keystrokes per second.
How long would a 500-word essay take at 120 WPM?
About 4.2 minutes of pure typing. Real writing takes longer because of thinking and editing.
How do I get faster than 120 WPM?
At this level gains come from accuracy (aim for 97%+), weak-key drills, reading ahead and practising punctuation and numbers, not from typing harder.