There is no single national 10-key standard. Each employer writes its own rule, and the wording matters: some count every keystroke, some only the correct ones. Below is the exact text from each source we could open and save, with its date and the day we last checked it.
The only keystrokes-per-hour pass mark we can currently quote from a page we're able to save. It's for a typing test, not a numeric keypad test, so a 10-key score is only a rough comparison.
Hiring process page: Testing Procedure (typing test)
“A passing score for the typing test is 7000 keystrokes per hour.”
Typing test pass mark: 7,000 keystrokes per hour. The page doesn't say whether errors are subtracted.
“Applicants can test or practice their skills using various online sites.”
The page points applicants to online sites to test or practice. It doesn't name any.
For jobs that test typing instead of (or as well as) a numeric keypad. Our alphanumeric test counts a word as 5 characters (the OPM standard doesn't define it) and only compares you with the OPM levels on a 5-minute sample, as OPM specifies.
Some of these pages also say how the speed has to be proved: a certificate, a proctored test, how many minutes it runs, whether an on-site test can follow. Those lines are quoted in full under the same agency.
Civil service exam announcement: Clerk, Typist and Related Titles (#80-380)
“Qualifying on a performance test, typing at the minimum required rate of speed of (35 WPM).”
For Typist and Library Aide/Typist: a waiver showing a passed typing test at 35 WPM or more is an accepted proof of typing ability. Typing work experience or a typing, computer or data-entry course also counts.
Public Safety Dispatcher: Minimum Requirements
“(NOTE: This classification requires a net typing speed of 40 words per minute.”
Net typing speed of 40 WPM.
“Special Requirement: Ability to type at a speed of not less than 40 words per minute; and a satisfactory record as a law-abiding citizen.”
The posting lists the typing speed as a special requirement of the dispatcher class: not less than 40 WPM.
“Additionally, possession of a typing certificate does not preclude being tested on site to verify your typing speed and accuracy.”
Having a typing certificate does not rule out an on-site typing test.
CalCareers: Typing Certification
“State departments will honor typing certificates issued within the last four years, and certified from a five (5) minute typing test that meets the CalHR requirements, with a minimum of 40 WPM (words per minute).”
California state jobs: a typing certificate from a 5-minute test, at least 40 WPM, issued within the last 4 years.
“A typing certification is required when applicants apply for State civil service clerical positions such as Office Assistant (Typing) and Office Technician (Typing). The specific typing requirement will be noted in the Class Specification.”
CalHR points to each job's Class Specification for the specific typing requirement.
“Typing certification must be 5 minutes in length and proctored either virtually or in person. Any State Agency/Department including the Agency/Department that you are applying to may also give you a typing test.”
A certificate must come from a 5-minute proctored test, and an agency may also give its own typing test.
“The California Department of Human Resources will not accept typing certifications from tests that were not proctored or less than 5 minutes long.”
Certificates from unproctored tests or tests under 5 minutes are not accepted.
Qualification Standards — Group Coverage: Clerical and Administrative Support Positions
“Data Transcriber, GS-2/4; and (Data Transcription) (any grade): skill in operating an alphanumeric data transcribing machine, or 20 words per minute typing speed1 for GS-2 transcription duties or 25 words per minute typing speed1 for GS-3 and GS-4 transcription duties”
1 is a footnote mark in OPM's text, not part of the speed. The footnote is the 5-minute sample rule quoted below.
Federal Data Transcriber: 20 WPM at GS-2, 25 WPM at GS-3 and GS-4 (or skill on a data transcribing machine).
“Clerk-Typist, GS-2/4; Office Automation Clerk/ Assistant (any grade); (Typing) (any grade); and (Office Automation) (any grade): 40 words per minute typing speed”
Federal Clerk-Typist and Office Automation Clerk: 40 WPM.
“Words per minute are based on a 5 minute sample with three or fewer errors.”
Measured on a 5-minute sample with 3 or fewer errors.
“Applicants may meet these requirements by passing the appropriate performance test, presenting a certificate of proficiency from a school or other organization authorized to issue such certificates by the Office of Personnel Management local office, or by self-certifying their proficiency. Performance test results and certificates of proficiency are acceptable for 3 years. Agencies may verify proficiency skills of self-certified applicants by administering the appropriate performance test.”
Federal applicants can show the skill with a performance test, a certificate or self-certification. Test results and certificates are acceptable for 3 years, and agencies may test self-certified applicants.
“A position classified as Payroll Clerk (Data Transcription), GS-544-4, may require either 20 or 25 words per minute typing speed depending upon the level of difficulty of the transcribing duties.”
A Payroll Clerk (Data Transcription) at GS-544-4 may need 20 or 25 WPM, depending on the transcribing duties.
Earlier versions of this page quoted these postings. The sites that host them don't allow automated access, so we can no longer check our copies against the originals, and we have removed the quoted text rather than quote something we can't verify. Each original posting is linked below.