Is 20 WPM Good?
20 WPM is slow, but a normal starting point. It is 32 WPM below the 51.6 WPM average in the largest typing study and faster than about 5.9% of the people tested.
Scale 0–150 WPM. The tick marks the 51.6 WPM study average.
What 20 WPM means in practice
- A 150-word email: about 8 minutes of typing.
- A 500-word essay: about 25 minutes.
- 1,000 words of notes or transcription: about 50 minutes.
Jobs that 20 WPM qualifies for
Typical requirements from job listings (they vary by employer, and most also want 90–98% accuracy):
| Role | Typical ask | At 20 WPM |
|---|---|---|
| General office / receptionist | 35–45 WPM | Short by 15 WPM |
| Customer service / chat support | 40–60 WPM | Short by 20 WPM |
| Administrative assistant | 45–60 WPM | Short by 25 WPM |
| Legal or medical secretary | 60–75 WPM | Short by 40 WPM |
| Transcriptionist | 65–80 WPM | Short by 45 WPM |
For numeric roles scored in keystrokes per hour, use the 10 key test or the data entry test.
How to move past 20 WPM
The quickest gains at this level come from touch typing: learn the home row, stop looking at the keys, and keep accuracy above 95 percent even if that feels slow at first. Practice drills target the keys you miss, and how to type faster explains why slowing down slightly often raises net WPM.
Next milestone: is 25 WPM good?
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Frequently asked questions
Is 20 WPM a good typing speed?
20 WPM is slow, but a normal starting point. In the largest typing study (Dhakal et al., CHI 2018, about 168,000 volunteers) the average was 51.6 WPM, so 20 WPM is 32 WPM below that average and faster than roughly 5.9% of participants.
Is 20 WPM good enough for a job?
Most office job listings ask for at least 35 WPM, so 20 WPM is usually below the bar for typing-heavy roles. Many people reach 35 WPM within a few weeks of regular practice.
How many characters per minute is 20 WPM?
Typing tests count a word as 5 characters, so 20 WPM is 100 characters per minute, or about 6,000 keystrokes per hour.
How long does it take to type 1,000 words at 20 WPM?
About 50 minutes of pure typing. A 500-word essay takes about 25 minutes. Real writing takes longer because you also stop to think.
How do I get faster than 20 WPM?
The quickest gains at this level come from touch typing: learn the home row, stop looking at the keys, and keep accuracy above 95 percent even if that feels slow at first.
Percentiles are a normal approximation (mean 51.56, SD 20.2) of the data in Dhakal, Feit, Kristensson & Oulasvirta, "Observations on Typing from 136 Million Keystrokes", CHI 2018. Volunteers on a typing site are likely faster than the general public, so treat percentiles as approximate. See average typing speed.