Is 70 WPM Good?

70 WPM

Fast. Faster than about 92% of typists.

Yes, 70 WPM is fast. This is professional speed, enough for nearly any job that involves typing, including most legal and medical secretary roles.

Think you can beat 70 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 70 WPM looks like in real life

Characters per minute	350
Keystrokes per hour	21,000
A 150 word email	2.1 minutes
A one page letter (500 words)	7.1 minutes
A 2,000 word essay	28.6 minutes
A 50,000 word novel draft	11 h 54 min

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

Jobs where 70 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 70 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 70 to 80 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.