What is a good typing speed?

What is defined as a good typing speed is dependent upon whether one is a professional typist or in the general population. An average person types between 38 to 40 words per minute while a professional typist may type between 65 to 75 wpm on average.

Correcting errors greatly influences typing speed. According to one study, if typists did not correct errors, they could type around 85 wpm, but this figure drops to 65 wpm when correcting errors. The characters per minute typing metric is used to measure the number of keystrokes made during a minute. A good CPM for a professional is around 325 to 335 CPM while anyone typing over 200 CPM is an above-average typist compared to the general population.