Typing Speed Test: How Fast Should You Type? (Australian Benchmarks)

Typing speed is one of those skills that quietly compounds over a career. At 40 words per minute, writing a 500-word email takes about 12.5 minutes. At 80 WPM, the same email takes 6 minutes. Across a year of email-heavy work, that difference is equivalent to weeks of recovered time.

This guide covers what "good" typing speed actually means across different Australian jobs, where most people stand, and how to improve — even if you've been a two-finger typist for decades. Take our free Typing Speed Test to get your current baseline before you start.

Australian typing speed benchmarks by job type

Typing speed requirements vary dramatically across different roles. Here's what Australian employers and industry standards suggest:

Understanding WPM: what it actually measures

WPM (words per minute) is calculated as the number of characters typed divided by 5 (the average word length), divided by the time in minutes. A "word" is standardised at 5 characters including spaces.

But raw WPM without accuracy is misleading. A typist hitting 80 WPM with 85% accuracy is slower in practice than someone doing 65 WPM with 98% accuracy — because every error requires correction. This is why adjusted WPM (sometimes called net WPM) matters:

Net WPM = (Gross WPM − Errors per minute)

When you use our Typing Test, you'll see both gross and net WPM — along with your accuracy percentage — to give you a realistic picture of your productive typing speed.

The difference between hunt-and-peck and touch typing

Most self-taught typists "hunt and peck" — using 2–4 fingers and looking at the keyboard to locate keys. This typically caps out around 35–45 WPM. Touch typists, who use all 10 fingers and know key positions by muscle memory without looking, average 60–80 WPM and often exceed 100 WPM.

The single most impactful typing improvement most people can make is learning touch typing from scratch. Yes, it involves a frustrating 2–4 week period where you type slower than before. But the ceiling is dramatically higher.

Touch typing basics: the home row

Touch typing starts with the home row: the middle row of keys where your fingers rest by default.

• Left hand: A (pinky), S (ring), D (middle), F (index)
• Right hand: J (index), K (middle), L (ring), ; (pinky)
• Thumbs rest on the spacebar

The F and J keys have small tactile bumps so you can find home position without looking. Every other key is learned as a relative movement from this anchor position. Your fingers reach up for Q/W/E/R/T and down for Z/X/C/V/B — and always return to home row between keystrokes.

Finger assignments (QWERTY layout)

How to improve your typing speed: a practical plan

Phase 1: Learn the home row (Week 1–2)

Spend 15 minutes daily on home row drills. The goal is to type ASDF and JKL; without looking at the keyboard. Use tools like Keybr, TypingClub, or Typing.com (all free). Don't skip this phase — it's the foundation everything else builds on.

Phase 2: Expand to full keyboard (Week 3–6)

Introduce new rows methodically. Most touch typing courses do this in a structured sequence. Expect your speed to drop to 15–25 WPM during this phase. That's normal. You're rewiring muscle memory. Stick with it.

Phase 3: Build speed through real text (Week 7+)

Once you can type all keys without looking, switch to typing real text — articles, quotes, passages you'd encounter in your actual work. Your speed will climb naturally as patterns become automatic. TypeRacer and MonkeyType use real text passages and are excellent for this phase.

Practice tips that actually work

• 15–30 minutes daily beats sporadic hour-long sessions — motor learning responds to regularity, not volume
• Prioritise accuracy over speed — type slower and correctly; speed comes naturally
• Don't look at the keyboard — put a cloth over your hands if you have to. Every time you look, you reinforce the hunt-and-peck habit
• Use your weakest fingers deliberately — most people over-rely on index fingers. Specifically practise ring and pinky key assignments
• Take breaks — 25 minutes on, 5 minutes off. Typing is a physical skill; fatigue reduces quality of practice

Keyboard choice and ergonomics

Your keyboard matters more than you might think — not for raw speed, but for accuracy, comfort, and sustainability over a career of typing.

Mechanical keyboards

Mechanical keyboards (with tactile or clicky switches) provide physical feedback that reduces missed keystrokes and helps build muscle memory. Popular options available in Australia include the Keychron K2 (~$120–$140), Logitech MX Mechanical (~$180), and various budget brands on Amazon AU. Switch types to consider:

• Brown switches (tactile, quiet): Best for office environments — feedback without the click noise
• Red switches (linear, quiet): Preferred by many gamers; smooth keystroke
• Blue switches (clicky): Loud but very satisfying; not ideal for shared offices

Ergonomic positioning

Wrist pain and repetitive strain injury (RSI) are real risks for high-volume typists. Basic ergonomic setup:

• Keyboard at elbow height — arms at roughly 90°
• Wrists floating, not resting on the desk while typing (use a wrist rest only during pauses)
• Monitor at eye level, arm's length away
• Chair supporting your lower back with feet flat on the floor

Does typing speed still matter with AI tools?

You might wonder whether improving typing speed is worth it when AI can write entire documents from a brief prompt. The answer is yes — arguably more than ever. Here's why:

• AI prompting is typing — the quality of your AI interactions depends on how clearly you can express what you want, quickly
• Editing is faster than generating — even with AI output, heavy editing is still required. Fast, accurate typing makes this less painful
• Real-time communication — Slack, Teams, email, code comments — none of these are going away. Fast typing = faster communication = less friction
• Mental bandwidth — slow typing is cognitively expensive. When typing requires attention, there's less left for thinking. Touch typists can "type at the speed of thought"

How to use your typing test results

Once you've taken our Typing Speed Test, here's how to interpret your results:

• Under 30 WPM: Consider touch typing lessons — the investment will pay off quickly
• 30–45 WPM: Average range; targeted practice with real text will move you to 60+ within 3 months
• 45–60 WPM: Solid. Focus on accuracy and consistency rather than raw speed
• 60–80 WPM: Above average; you're efficient. Minor improvements come from reducing hesitation on uncommon key combinations
• 80+ WPM: Excellent. At this level, ergonomics and keyboard quality matter more than technique