How Many Words Is One Page? (Word Count by Font & Spacing)

"How many words is a page?" sounds simple, but the honest answer is it depends — mainly on your font, font size, and line spacing. Still, there are reliable averages you can plan around. This guide gives you the numbers and the reasoning behind them.

The quick answer

For the most common academic setup — Times New Roman, 12 pt, with 1-inch margins — a single page holds roughly:

• ~500 words single-spaced
• ~250 words double-spaced

So a "5-page paper" double-spaced is about 1,250 words, and a "10-page paper" is about 2,500 words.

Words per page chart

What changes the count

Font and size

A wide font like Arial or Verdana fits fewer words per line than a condensed font. Bumping from 11 pt to 12 pt can drop ~50 words off a page. If your instructor specifies a font, use it — switching fonts to "pad" length is easy to spot.

Line spacing

Double spacing roughly halves the words per page versus single spacing. "1.5 spacing" lands in between, at about 330 words per page in the standard setup.

Margins and paragraphs

Wider margins and frequent paragraph breaks both reduce words per page. Lots of short paragraphs (like dialogue) use far more pages than a few dense ones.

How to hit an exact page count

Instead of guessing, paste your draft into the word counter and watch the live total. Multiply your target pages by the figure from the chart above (250 or 500), and write to that word count — it's far more accurate than eyeballing pages, which shift the moment you change a setting.

FAQ