Fact · Typing and writing speed
5words per minute (trained over untrained, average)
Trained typists in the online sample averaged about 5 words per minute faster than untrained typists, a small difference next to the spread of about 20 WPM within each group.
Checked against its source on October 16, 2026
In the source's own words
“Trained typists in our sample type, on average, 5 WPM faster than untrained typists, with a similar SD, of about 20 WPM, for a relatively small difference (d = 0.27).”
Observations on Typing from 136 Million Keystrokes, Vivek Dhakal et al., CHI 2018, ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, 2018, Results, Words per minute.
Open the original (DOI 10.1145/3173574.3174220)- What it measures
- Trained typists are those who reported typing training. The paper gives an effect size of d = 0.27 for the difference.
- What it does not show
- Self-reported training in an online sample. The paper's own description of the difference is 'relatively small'.