Is 40 WPM good?
Yes. It is around the average for adults and comfortable for school and most office work.
- Level
- Good
- Characters per minute
- 200
- Words per hour
- 2,400
- 500-word essay
- 12.5 minutes
What 40 WPM means in practice
40 words per minute is 200 characters a minute, or about 3.3 keystrokes every second. A double-spaced page of around 250 words would take about 6.3 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. 40 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 get faster
- Stop looking at the keyboard entirely, even for numbers and punctuation.
- Find your weak keys on the progress page and drill them in Weak keys practice.
- Add paragraph practice for rhythm and stamina.
More habits that help are in how to type faster.
40 WPM FAQ
Is 40 WPM good?
Yes. It is around the average for adults and comfortable for school and most office work. 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 40 WPM?
200 characters per minute, because one "word" in typing tests is five characters including spaces. That is about 3.3 keystrokes per second.
How long would a 500-word essay take at 40 WPM?
About 12.5 minutes of pure typing. Real writing takes longer because of thinking and editing.
How do I get from 40 to 60 WPM?
Touch type without looking, use the correct finger for every key and practise 10 to 15 minutes a day. Most learners gain several WPM a month with regular practice.