TypeBurst

Words Per Minute (WPM) Explained

What WPM really means, the exact formula behind it, and how to convert it into the CPM and keystrokes-per-hour figures other tests and job adverts use.

By the TypeBurst team at FusionStudios. Published . Last updated . How TypeBurst measures.

Words per minute is calculated by dividing the number of characters you typed by five, then dividing by the minutes elapsed. A word is defined as exactly five characters including the space that follows it, not a real English word, which is what makes scores comparable between different passages. So 300 characters in one minute is 60 WPM.

Key figures

WPM calculator

Count what you typed and how long it took. The calculator applies the same five-character word the typing test uses.

Counted in

For example 1:00 or 2:30. A number on its own counts as minutes.

Adds net WPM, which subtracts errors per minute.

WPM
50
CPM
250
Keystrokes per hour
15,000
250 characters in 1:00 is 50 WPM, 250 characters a minute and 15,000 keystrokes per hour.

Words per minute, or WPM, is the standard unit for measuring typing speed. It tells you how many words you can type correctly in one minute. Because real words vary in length, typing tests do not count actual words. Instead, the convention is that every five characters, including spaces, count as one word. So if you type 250 correct characters in a minute, that is 50 words, or 50 WPM. Using a fixed five character word keeps scores fair and comparable no matter what passage you type.

There are two figures worth knowing: gross WPM and net WPM. Gross WPM counts everything you typed, mistakes included, while net WPM subtracts your errors and is the number that actually matters. A blazing gross speed means little if half of it is wrong, which is why accuracy and WPM always belong together. TypeBurst reports the accuracy percentage right next to your speed so you can see the full picture at a glance.

The calculator above does the arithmetic for you. Enter the characters or words you typed and the time it took, and it returns WPM, CPM and keystrokes per hour; add the number of uncorrected errors and it also gives net WPM. It applies the same five-character word the typing test scores with, so its answer and a test result always agree.

How is WPM calculated?

Take the number of characters typed, divide by five to convert characters into standard words, then divide by the number of minutes elapsed. For a 30 second test you divide by 0.5 minutes, for a 2 minute test by 2, and so on. TypeBurst does this continuously, counting only characters you typed correctly, so the WPM you see during a test is your correct characters so far, divided by five, divided by the time gone by. When the timer stops, that becomes your final score.

The five-character word is the part that surprises people. It is not an approximation of English word length picked at random; it is a fixed unit borrowed from typewriter-era testing so that two people typing two different passages get comparable scores. If tests counted real words, a passage full of short words would inflate a score and a passage of long ones would deflate it. Fixing the unit at five characters, including the space that follows each word, removes the passage from the equation entirely.

What is the difference between gross WPM, net WPM and CPM?

Gross WPM counts every character you typed, correct or not, divided by five, per minute. Net WPM starts from gross and subtracts uncorrected errors divided by the minutes elapsed, which is the classic scoring method used for typing certificates. CPM is characters per minute: the same measurement without the division by five, so a 60 WPM score is 300 CPM.

TypeBurst shows WPM, CPM and accuracy together and calculates WPM from correct characters only. That is a third variant, sitting between gross and net: wrong characters simply do not count toward your score, but they are not penalised twice either. Whichever definition a test uses, quoting accuracy alongside speed is what makes the number meaningful, because errors are the difference between the three figures.

How do I convert WPM to keystrokes per hour (KPH)?

Data entry and clerical job adverts often specify keystrokes per hour rather than words per minute, which makes a WPM score hard to compare against a requirement. The conversion follows straight from the definitions: one WPM is five characters per minute, and an hour is 60 minutes, so KPH equals WPM multiplied by 300.

So 40 WPM is 12,000 KPH, 50 WPM is 15,000 KPH and 60 WPM is 18,000 KPH. Going the other way, divide the KPH figure by 300: a posting asking for 10,000 KPH is asking for roughly 33 WPM. Bear in mind that some employers count only alphanumeric keystrokes and some count every key including numeric keypad entries, so treat the conversion as a close comparison rather than an exact equivalence.

The keystrokes per hour page goes further: a two-way KPH converter, a chart of common requirements and what each one means as a typing speed.

Why do typing tests give different scores?

Every test starts from the same formula, WPM = (characters / 5) / minutes. What differs is which characters it counts. Gross WPM counts every character you typed. Net WPM takes gross WPM and subtracts uncorrected errors divided by the minutes. TypeBurst counts correct characters only. On a one minute run of 350 characters with 15 wrong ones left standing, that is 70, 55 and 67 WPM: one run, three defensible numbers, and a gap of more than 10 WPM that has nothing to do with your typing.

Three more variables move a score without your hands changing at all. Whether errors can be corrected: a test that forces you to fix mistakes before continuing spends your time differently from one that lets them stand. The difficulty of the passage, since common short words are faster to type than technical vocabulary even under a fixed five-character word. And the length of the test: a 10 or 30 second run catches you at your freshest and leaves no time for a slip to cost much, so it usually reads higher than a 5 minute run by the same typist.

Units are the last trap. A score quoted in characters per minute is five times the WPM figure, and keystrokes per hour follow from that: KPH = WPM x 300, because CPM = WPM x 5 and an hour has 60 minutes. A job advert asking for 9,000 KPH is asking for 30 WPM, not for a speed hundreds of times faster than yours.

Every rule TypeBurst applies, from when the clock starts to what backspace does, is written down in the measurement methodology and versioned, so a score here can be checked rather than trusted. Even so, comparing your score with your own previous score on the same test and the same duration is far more informative than comparing across sites, which is why TypeBurst keeps a separate personal best for every duration.

WPM, CPM and keystrokes per hour side by side

Direct conversions from the definition of WPM: CPM is WPM times five, and KPH is WPM times 300.

WPMCPMKeystrokes per hourCharacters in 30 seconds
201006,00050
301509,00075
4020012,000100
5025015,000125
6030018,000150
7035021,000175
8040024,000200
10050030,000250

Employers differ on whether KPH counts only alphanumeric keystrokes, so use this as a close comparison rather than an exact match to a job requirement.

Frequently asked questions

How many characters are in a word for WPM?

Five characters, including the space that follows the word. This fixed length keeps typing scores comparable no matter which passage you type, which is why tests do not count real English words directly. So 300 characters typed in one minute is reported as 60 WPM.

What is the difference between gross and net WPM?

Gross WPM counts everything you typed, mistakes included, divided by five, per minute. Net WPM then subtracts uncorrected errors divided by the minutes elapsed, and it is the figure used for typing certificates. TypeBurst uses a third variant, counting only correct characters, which sits between the two.

How do I convert WPM to keystrokes per hour?

Multiply your WPM by 300, because one WPM is five characters per minute and an hour is 60 minutes. So 40 WPM is 12,000 KPH and 60 WPM is 18,000 KPH. To go the other way, divide the KPH requirement by 300.

What is CPM and how does it relate to WPM?

CPM is characters per minute, the same measurement as WPM without dividing by five. A score of 60 WPM is 300 CPM. Some tests report CPM because it avoids the slightly artificial five-character word entirely.

Why do I get a different WPM on different typing tests?

Usually because of the scoring definition rather than your typing. Gross, net and correct-characters WPM can differ by more than 10 WPM on the identical run, and tests also vary in whether they force you to correct errors and how difficult the passage vocabulary is. Compare your score to your own previous score on the same test and duration instead.

Sources

  1. Words per minute, on the five-character word convention and net WPM
  2. Dhakal, Feit, Kristensson & Oulasvirta, Observations on Typing from 136 Million Keystrokes, CHI 2018
  3. The traits of fast typists discovered by analysing 136 million keystrokes, Aalto University
  4. Karat, Halverson, Horn & Karat, Patterns of Entry and Correction in Large Vocabulary Continuous Speech Recognition Systems, CHI 1999

Every conversion on this page follows from the definition of WPM rather than from a measurement, so it can be reproduced with a calculator. The four key figures at the top are quoted from the studies listed here, not measured by TypeBurst. The variant TypeBurst itself reports, and why it differs from gross and net WPM, is set out in full on the methodology page. Read the full measurement methodology.