Is 55 WPM Good?

55 WPM

Above average. Faster than about 79% of typists.

Yes, 55 WPM is a good typing speed. You type faster than most people, and you meet the bar for most administrative and customer support jobs.

Think you can beat 55 WPM?

Punctuation

1:000 wpm100% accuracy

Practicefortenminutesadayandyouwillnoticethedifferencewithinafewweeks.Speedcomesfromrhythm,notfromrushing.Agoodtypistdoesnotlookatthekeyboard.

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Tab or Esc restarts · the timer starts on your first keystroke

What 55 WPM looks like in real life

Characters per minute	275
Keystrokes per hour	16,500
A 150 word email	2.7 minutes
A one page letter (500 words)	9.1 minutes
A 2,000 word essay	36.4 minutes
A 50,000 word novel draft	15 h 9 min

Pure typing time at a steady pace, not counting thinking and editing.

Jobs where 55 WPM is enough

✅ General office, receptionist (often 35+ WPM)
✅ Customer service and live chat (often 40+ WPM)
✅ Administrative assistant (often 45+ WPM)
✅ Executive assistant (often 50+ WPM)
⬜ Legal and medical secretary (often 60+ WPM)
⬜ Transcriptionist (often 65+ WPM)
⬜ Fast-turnaround transcription and captioning (keyboard) (often 80+ WPM)

How 55 WPM compares

Speed	Level	Faster than
0–24 WPM	Beginner	0–10%
25–39 WPM	Developing	12–47%
40–54 WPM	Average	50–77%
55–69 WPM	Above average	79–91%
70–89 WPM	Fast	92–98%
90–109 WPM	Very fast	98–99.4%
110–129 WPM	Expert	99.4–99.8%
130+ WPM	Elite	99.8–99.9%

Percentiles are estimates based on published averages for adult typists (about 40 WPM on a keyboard). See the research.

How to get from 55 to 65 WPM

Focus on accuracy above 96% and look at the problem keys after each test. Most people at this level lose more time to backspace than to slow fingers. Read the full guide on how to type faster.