Wordle Letter Frequency: The Most Common Letters in Each Position
In common five-letter words, E is the most frequent letter overall, appearing in 49% of words. But position matters. S is the most common first letter (15% of words), A is the most common second and third letter, and E is the most common last letter (18%), followed by Y (13%).
Key facts
- E appears in 49% of common five-letter words, A in 40% and R in 37%.
- S is the most common first letter, starting 15.3% of words.
- E (18.4%) and Y (13.2%) are the most common last letters.
- J, Q, X and Z each appear in 2% of words or fewer.
How we counted
We took every five-letter word in our dictionary that is common in everyday English and is not a simple plural: 1,981 words in total. That mirrors the kind of words that appear as daily puzzle answers. Then we counted how often each letter appears anywhere in a word, and how often it appears in each of the five positions.
The most common letters in five-letter words
| Letter | Share of words that contain it |
|---|---|
| E | 49.3% |
| A | 40.3% |
| R | 36.9% |
| O | 30.3% |
| T | 28.9% |
| I | 28.5% |
| S | 26.3% |
| L | 25.4% |
| N | 24.3% |
| D | 19.5% |
| C | 19.3% |
| U | 17.0% |
S is less common here than in English generally, because we left plurals out. If you include every valid five-letter word, 31% of them end in S.
The most common letter in each position
| Position | Top letters |
|---|---|
| 1st | S (15.3%), C (8.5%), B (7.3%), T (6.7%), F (6.2%) |
| 2nd | A (14.5%), O (13.7%), E (11.3%), R (11.1%), I (9.8%) |
| 3rd | A (12.6%), I (10.8%), O (9.6%), R (7.8%), E (7.5%) |
| 4th | E (17.1%), N (7.5%), I (7.2%), R (7.1%), S (7.0%) |
| 5th | E (18.4%), Y (13.2%), T (10.0%), D (9.7%), R (8.7%) |
How to use this in your game
- When you have a yellow letter, try it where it is most common. A yellow E is most likely in the 4th or 5th spot, a yellow A in the 2nd or 3rd.
- If the last letter is still unknown, test E, Y, T and D, which together end more than half of all answers.
- Words that start with S, C, B or T cover more than a third of answers.
- Don’t rule out double letters. Words like SPEED, SKILL and APPLE are common answers.
For a ranked list of first guesses based on this data, see the best Wordle starting words. To filter the list with your own clues, use the Wordle helper.
Sources
- Our own count over the ENABLE word list, with common words identified using wordfreq.
