Wordle Statistics
Every number on this page is computed from the full list of 8,636 five-letter words in the ENABLE dictionary — the same list our Wordle Solver searches.
Best Wordle starting words
Ranked by distinct-letter frequency: openers whose letters appear in the most 5-letter words. “Coverage” is the share of all 5-letter words that contain at least one of the starter's letters.
| Rank | Word | Letter coverage |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | arose | 95.3% |
| 2 | arise | 95.2% |
| 3 | raise | 95.2% |
| 4 | serai | 95.2% |
| 5 | arles | 93.6% |
| 6 | earls | 93.6% |
| 7 | lares | 93.6% |
| 8 | laser | 93.6% |
| 9 | lears | 93.6% |
| 10 | rales | 93.6% |
| 11 | reals | 93.6% |
| 12 | seral | 93.6% |
Ranking rewards distinct, high-frequency letters — the same heuristic our solver uses to order suggestions. Wordle's official answer list is a curated subset, so rankings against it may differ slightly.
Most common letters by position
| Position | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th most common |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Letter 1 | s (12.2%) | c (7.7%) | b (6.8%) | p (6.5%) | t (6.3%) |
| Letter 2 | a (17.1%) | o (15.5%) | e (12.3%) | i (11.2%) | u (9.2%) |
| Letter 3 | a (9.8%) | r (9.2%) | i (8.6%) | o (7.8%) | n (7.3%) |
| Letter 4 | e (19.7%) | a (7.6%) | t (7.2%) | i (6.7%) | l (6.2%) |
| Letter 5 | s (31.2%) | e (10.8%) | y (10.5%) | d (6.7%) | r (6.1%) |
Share of all 5-letter words with that letter in that position. S dominates both ends: many words start with S, and plurals end with it.
Vowels and repeated letters
| Vowels in word (A, E, I, O, U) | Words | Share |
|---|---|---|
| No vowels | 36 | 0.4% |
| 1 vowel | 2,692 | 31.2% |
| 2 vowels | 5,089 | 58.9% |
| 3 vowels | 798 | 9.2% |
| 4 vowels | 21 | 0.2% |
34.4% of all 5-letter words contain at least one repeated letter.
Put the stats to work
Frequently asked questions
How many 5-letter words are there?
There are 8,636 five-letter words in the public-domain ENABLE tournament dictionary. Wordle's own answer list is a curated subset of around 2,300 common words, but any valid dictionary word can be used as a guess.
What is the best Wordle starting word?
By our letter-coverage analysis of all 8,636 five-letter words, AROSE is the strongest opener: at least one of its letters appears in 95.3% of possible words. Other top openers include ARISE, RAISE, SERAI, ARLES. Any word with five distinct, high-frequency letters performs well.
How many 5-letter words have repeated letters?
34.4% of all 5-letter words contain at least one repeated letter — which is why ruling a letter 'gray' doesn't always eliminate duplicates and why good solvers (like ours) handle that case explicitly.
Are there 5-letter words without vowels?
Yes — 36 five-letter words contain none of A, E, I, O, or U (most use Y, like 'lymph' or 'crypt'). The most common pattern is two vowels per word.