What is a good typing speed in words per minute?

By convention, one word is five keystrokes, spaces included. That way the measure does not depend on whether the text has long or short words.

Divide the characters you typed by five, then divide the result by the minutes it took. For example, 300 characters in one minute is 60 words per minute.

There is no official figure for what counts as fast. As a general reference, around 40 WPM is often cited as the average for someone who types every day. These ranges are only a guide:

• Up to 30 WPM: you are learning, or you still look at the keyboard.
• 30 to 40 WPM: the usual speed of someone who types without a method.
• 40 to 60 WPM: a good speed for study and work.
• 60 to 80 WPM: a high speed.
• Over 80 WPM: very fast, as long as your accuracy holds.

Typing 80 WPM with many mistakes is no better than 60 WPM clean, because fixing errors eats the time you gained. Keep your accuracy high before chasing more speed.

Practice with a text of at least one minute and repeat the measurement on different days. A single result says little: what matters is the trend. In DEDEA every practice records your speed and accuracy, and the statistics screen shows how they evolve.