"Good" depends entirely on what you need typing for. Here is an honest set of benchmarks.
General benchmarks
| Level | Speed | What it feels like |
|---|---|---|
| Beginner | Under 25 WPM | Hunting for keys, eyes on the keyboard |
| Average | 35–45 WPM | Typical adult who uses a computer daily |
| Competent | 50–65 WPM | Comfortable touch typist, keeps up with thought |
| Fast | 70–90 WPM | Professional typist or heavy daily writer |
| Exceptional | 100+ WPM | Rare; usually years of transcription work |
The often-quoted "average" of around 40 WPM comes from general-population samples and includes a lot of two-finger typists.
For office and study work
50 WPM at 96% accuracy is the point where typing stops being the slow part of your work. Going beyond that helps, but the returns diminish because thinking, not typing, becomes the constraint.
For data entry roles
Data entry is measured differently — accuracy and numeric-pad fluency matter more than prose speed. Employers commonly look for 8,000–10,000 key depressions per hour with very low error rates.
For Indian government exams
Typing requirements vary by exam and are set by the recruiting body. Commonly cited requirements include:
- Around 35 WPM in English or 30 WPM in Hindi for several clerical-level posts
- Around 30 WPM in English or 25 WPM in Hindi for some railway clerical posts
- Key-depression-per-hour targets in place of WPM for certain data entry roles
Always check the current official notification for the exam you are sitting, because these figures change. Whatever the stated requirement, train 10 WPM above it — exam-day nerves, an unfamiliar keyboard and a printed source passage all cost speed.
A better question than "is my speed good"
Ask instead: is my speed stable at the duration and accuracy the task requires? Someone who hits 55 WPM once but averages 42 is, in practice, a 42 WPM typist. Track a weekly five-minute test and watch the trend rather than the peak.