Is 90 WPM Good?

90 WPM

Very fast. Faster than about 98% of typists.

Absolutely. 90 WPM is very fast, faster than about 98% of typists. You could work as a transcriptionist, and typing is never what slows you down.

Think you can beat 90 WPM?

Punctuation

1:000 wpm100% accuracy

Practicefortenminutesadayandyouwillnoticethedifferencewithinafewweeks.Speedcomesfromrhythm,notfromrushing.Agoodtypistdoesnotlookatthekeyboard.

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What 90 WPM looks like in real life

Characters per minute	450
Keystrokes per hour	27,000
A 150 word email	1.7 minutes
A one page letter (500 words)	5.6 minutes
A 2,000 word essay	22.2 minutes
A 50,000 word novel draft	9 h 16 min

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

Jobs where 90 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 90 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 90 to 100 WPM

At this level, gains come from rhythm and reading ahead. Keep your eyes two or three words ahead and practice difficult letter pairs. Read the full guide on how to type faster.