Is 90 WPM Good?
90 WPM is approximately the 97th percentile — fast — near the top of the general population.
90 WPM ≈ 97th percentile (study mean: 51.56 WPM).
- Speed90 WPM
- Approx. percentile97th
- Study mean / SD51.56 / 20.2
- Professional range55–90 WPM
Normal approximation of the Aalto/Cambridge 136M-keystroke study distribution — labeled estimate, not a lookup table.
90 WPM in context
Approximating the Aalto 136-million-keystroke distribution (mean 51.56, SD 20.2) as normal, 90 WPM lands near the 97th percentile — fast — near the top of the general population. Reference points: hunt-and-peck typists average ~27, typing-test users ~41, touch typists 50+, professional standards 55–90, elite 120+. Accuracy is half the game: at 92% accuracy, one keystroke in twelve costs you correction time that raw speed can’t buy back.
Nearby: 80 WPM · 100 WPM · full benchmarks.
Frequently asked questions
Is 90 WPM good?
90 WPM is approximately the 97th percentile against the largest typing study's distribution (mean 51.6, SD 20.2) — fast — near the top of the general population.
What jobs need 90 WPM?
You clear effectively every published job requirement — word-processor roles top out around 90 WPM.
How do I get faster?
Touch typing with all ten fingers, then rollover technique (pressing the next key before releasing the last) — the study's fastest cluster used rollover on nearly half of keystrokes.
Sources & methodology
Sources: Dhakal et al., CHI 2018.
Percentile is a normal approximation from the study's published mean and SD; the study skews younger, which likely flatters high speeds slightly.