How WPM Is Calculated

Typing speed is usually expressed as words per minute, or WPM. The calculation is simple once you know what counts as a word and which characters count toward the score.

The standard word is five characters

This hub defines one standard word as exactly five characters, including spaces and punctuation. The definition comes from the typewriter era and keeps results comparable across tests.

The WPM formula

WPM is calculated from the characters you typed correctly:

WPM = (correctly typed characters / 5) / elapsed time in minutes

For example, 320 correct characters in 60 seconds gives 64 standard words divided by one minute, or 64 WPM. In 30 seconds the same number of characters gives 128 WPM.

Raw WPM counts every keystroke

Raw WPM uses every character keystroke you made, including errors and characters you corrected with backspace. Comparing net WPM with raw WPM shows how much of your physical speed is lost to corrections.

Accuracy counts permanent errors

Accuracy is the percentage of correctly typed characters out of every character you typed. Corrected errors stay in the permanent count, because a backspace cannot erase the fact that a mistake happened.

Try the formula in the typing speed test or build accuracy with the difficult words practice.