Fact · Typing and writing speed
14.9words per minute
In the text entry speed by input method dataset, the 3 published figures for “Other” have a median of 14.9 words per minute, ranging from 6.3 to 17.
Calculated from 3 data points on October 19, 2026
- What it measures
- Each figure is one row of the dataset: a published measurement for a stated group, traced to its source. The median is the middle value of the 3 figures for this group.
- How it is calculated
- Median of 3 values (6.3, 14.9, 17) = 14.9.
- What it does not show
- Methods are measured in different studies with different people, phrases and error handling. A direct comparison is only fair within one study; the medians show the typical reported figure per method.
A statistic of the dataset Speech vs Typing Speed: Text Entry Rates Compared, calculated by code from its published rows.
Calculated from
- In the 2024 BrainGate study, the participant typed with a gyroscopic head mouse at 6.3 correct words per minute, with a standard deviation of 1.3.
- In a user study of the TwoStick joystick text entry method, entry rates started at 4.3 words per minute and reached 14.9 words per minute after five hours of practice, as reported by Castellucci and MacKenzie in 2008.
- In the same two-minute tasks, Japanese university students typed Japanese at 17 words per minute on cellphones, against 10 on onscreen QWERTY keyboards.