The short answer, for the most common academic format (12-point Times New Roman, double-spaced, 1-inch margins): a page holds roughly 250 words. Single-spaced, that roughly doubles to about 500 words per page. But that "roughly" is doing a lot of work, so here's the detail.
Standard estimates by formatting
- Double-spaced, 12pt Times New Roman: ~250 words/page
- Single-spaced, 12pt Times New Roman: ~500 words/page
- Double-spaced, 12pt Arial: ~230 words/page (Arial is slightly wider than Times New Roman)
- Double-spaced, 11pt font: ~275–300 words/page
- 1.5-line spacing, 12pt: ~330 words/page
Why the number moves around so much
Three variables change the count the most:
- Line spacing. This has the single biggest effect — moving from single to double spacing roughly halves the words per page, since you're fitting half as many lines on the sheet.
- Font and font size. A 12pt serif font like Times New Roman is fairly compact. Sans-serif fonts like Arial or Calibri tend to be slightly wider per character, and every point increase in size noticeably reduces how much text fits.
- Margins. The academic standard is 1-inch margins on all sides. Widening margins to 1.25" or 1.5" shrinks the usable text area and, with it, the words per page.
Quick conversion table
| Pages required | Double-spaced (~250/pg) | Single-spaced (~500/pg) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 page | 250 words | 500 words |
| 3 pages | 750 words | 1,500 words |
| 5 pages | 1,250 words | 2,500 words |
| 10 pages | 2,500 words | 5,000 words |
The most reliable method
Estimates are useful for planning, but if a page count actually matters (a submission requirement, a printed booklet), the only fully accurate approach is to format your document exactly as required and check the page count directly in your word processor — page breaks depend on your exact software, headers, footers, and any images or tables in the text, none of which a word-per-page average accounts for.
To plan a draft before formatting, paste your text into the WordlyCounter word counter to get an exact word count, then use the table above to estimate the resulting page count.