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What Is a Good Average Number of Keystrokes per Hour?

Nov 21, 2020

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I tested my typing speed to see how many words I could type in an hour. But, I didn’t know whether my speed was fast or slow. So, I researched it, and here’s what I found.

So, what is a good average number of keystrokes per hour? A good average number of keystrokes per hour is 15,000, which is equivalent to 60 words per minute. Most companies that hire people to do data entry or write professionally want someone who can write 60 words per minute.

You can definitely get a lot faster than that, and if you’re a professional writer or do data entry for a job, it will make your job easier if you can type faster. I found out some secrets about how to get faster at typing that not many people know about, and I summarised it below.

How fast do most people type? (and how to type faster)

*Data provided by livechat.com

Livechat.com provides an online speed typing test, and data from people who took the test showed that most people type at about 30 words per minute. But, in my opinion, this is a very slow pace.

According to Ratatype.com, men type on average about 11000 keystrokes per hour (44 wpm), and women normally type at about 9250 keystrokes per hour (37 wpm).

How to type faster (my personal experience and secrets I’ve learned)

Based on my experience, it’s pretty easy to type at that speed if you make a conscious effort to type fast.

But, I find it’s a lot easier to get these speeds if you are only copying an existing document. When I used to write essays for University, I would have to think through what I was trying to say, and I would find myself going back and editing each part a few times.

I used to be able to write about 1 paragraph in 30 minutes, which is only 1750 kph (7 words per minute) – about 10% of the average typing speed. This because I had to carefully think while typing and create references, among other things. And surprisingly I had a tonne of free time and got really good grades.

So, for a University and school, if you plan your time carefully, you don’t need to type very fast at all.

However, to get a job as a receptionist, or personal assistant (PA), most companies hire someone who can type at around 15,000 keystrokes per hour, which is equivalent to 60 words per minute. This is what I’ve found when looking at job listings on websites like Indeed.com.

You can improve your writing speed by:

1. Practicing typing

2. Using a different keyboard (secret)

3. Playing typing games

1. Practicing typing (following typing best practices)

Typing around 15,000 keystrokes per hour is quite challenging to do, and most people will need to practice quite a bit to improve their typing speed.

I would say if you practice for 15 to 30 minutes and focus on typing quickly, you can easily get your writing speed up to that level. However, you do have to hustle.

And you want to make sure you’re following typing best practices. For example, having your hands in the correct starting position and using the correct fingers.

As you may be aware, when you have your fingers in the correct starting position, you make fewer mistakes and can reach the keys faster and easier.

You also never want to look at the keyboard. Much like a musical instrument, you want to be able to look at the ‘sheet music’, which in this case is the screen as you type.

When you look down at the keys to find them, you have to look up at the screen and then back down again, which slows you down a lot.

2. Secret method (using a different keyboard)

Most people won’t be aware that the keyboard that most people use – called QWERTY isn’t the fastest keyboard you can type on. The position of the keys is actually not very efficient. A better one was invented in 1936 known as the Dvorak keyboard, after August Dvorak.

You can use on any keyboard you have without buying a whole new keyboard (more on that later). He designed the layout so that the middle letters are the letters that are used the most in the English language, such as the letters e, s, and t. And he also put them on the middle row of the keyboard where the fingers are in their resting position.

Therefore, when you’re typing the most common letters, your fingers hardly have to move, and the letters you use less often are the ones where you have to move your fingers.

This makes using this type of keyword MUCH more efficient. It is faster to type on and requires less effort, so you don’t work your hands and fingers the same as using a standard QWERTY.

You also make far fewer errors, which makes your typing speed faster. It’s definitely a huge upgrade to your typing speed. I thoroughly recommend it if you’re becoming a professional typist, such as a receptionist, secretary, or data entry person.

You can change your QWERTY keyboard to a Dvorak keyboard by changing the settings on your computer. It’s different for each computer, so I recommend doing a Google search for how to change my keyboard to Dvorak.

I know on my Windows 10 Laptop, I can just click the language in the bottom right next to the time and date. From ‘ENG US’ to ‘ENG DV’ where DV stands for Dvorak. But, for Macs and older versions of Windows, it will be a bit different.

Also, if you’re thinking about writing articles for magazines, publications, and blogs, my favorite website to learn the Dvorak keyboard is this website, which is absolutely free to use.

3. Playing competitive games

There are a lot of competitive games that you can play online that will help you increase your typing speed. Often I find when I’m playing against someone else, it makes me type faster because I’m trying to beat them.

Ones I liked were where you have a car on a race track, and when you typed a word, it would make your car go faster. It’s called Nitrotype. But, you were racing against four other players online. It was so fun and really improved my typing speed.

Another one was where words come down from the top of the screen. As the words hit the bottom of the screen, your lives go down. I couldn’t find the original one I used to play, but this one is similar and really good.

How do you convert keystrokes per hour to words per minute?

A researcher looked at the average letters in English words and found that it was about 5. So, divide the number of words per minute by the number of characters per word (5), and then divide it by the number of minutes in an hour (60) to get the wpm. Wpm = kph / 5 / 60

So, the formula is wpm = kph divided by 5 divided by 60, in mathematical symbols wpm = kph/5/60. To go the other way, multiply the words per minute by 5 and then by 60.

It’s not an exact number, but it will be pretty close. Sometimes, keystrokes per hour is a better estimation of how much writing you can do because some types of writing – particularly scientific writing can use a lot of very long words.

In Conclusion

A good average number of keystrokes per hour is about 15,000. Which is the same as 60 words per minute. This is the speed that most professional typists can achieve. But, for most people, you don’t need to type this fast.

About 40 words per minute is about average, and you won’t be at a disadvantage if you type slower than that. There are many ways to increase your typing speed, including playing typing games and practicing a typing test.