Typing speed is how quickly a person can produce correct keystrokes, almost always reported in words per minute (WPM). A meaningful measure of typing speed always pairs raw speed with accuracy: 80 WPM at 99% accuracy is genuinely fast, but 80 WPM at 85% accuracy means a lot of backspacing and correction that a "net WPM" figure will discount heavily. Standard tests run for a fixed window — 60 seconds is typical — and report both numbers.
What counts as a good typing speed? A useful ladder: under 30 WPM is below average, 40 WPM is roughly the adult average, 60–70 WPM is comfortable for professional office work, 80–95 WPM is fast, and above 100 WPM is competitive-class. Transcriptionists and court reporters (using stenotype machines, a different technology) can far exceed these figures. Speed also depends on the material: typing familiar prose is faster than typing code, numbers, or text dense with punctuation.
Typing speed improves with deliberate practice. The biggest gains come from touch typing — using all ten fingers without looking at the keyboard and keeping fingers on the home row (ASDF / JKL;). Prioritising accuracy over raw speed early on pays off, because errors are expensive in net WPM and correcting them breaks rhythm. Consistency drills, proper posture, and learning to type common letter pairs as single motions all help. The metric itself is discussed in more detail under WPM. Test and track your progress with our typing test.