Words to pages

Type or paste, and see the page count for every common combination of font, size and spacing at once.

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The conversion, and why it is approximate

The standard figures are 250 words per double-spaced page and 500 per single-spaced page, in 12pt Times New Roman with one-inch margins. That combination has been the academic default for decades, which is why it is the reference point.

Change any variable and the number moves. Arial is wider than Times at the same point size, so it fits fewer words. Wider margins cost you a line or two per page. Headings, block quotes and figures consume space that prose would have filled.

Words	Double-spaced	1.5 spacing	Single-spaced
250	1 page	0.75 pages	0.5 pages
500	2 pages	1.5 pages	1 page
750	3 pages	2.25 pages	1.5 pages
1,000	4 pages	3 pages	2 pages
1,500	6 pages	4.5 pages	3 pages
2,000	8 pages	6 pages	4 pages
2,500	10 pages	7.5 pages	5 pages
3,000	12 pages	9 pages	6 pages
5,000	20 pages	15 pages	10 pages
10,000	40 pages	30 pages	20 pages

Words per page by font

Approximate words on a single-spaced A4 or US Letter page with one-inch margins.

Font	11pt	12pt
Times New Roman	~600	~500
Georgia	~560	~470
Garamond	~640	~540
Arial	~540	~450
Calibri	~580	~490
Verdana	~490	~410
Courier New	~420	~350

If your brief specifies a page count rather than a word count, ask which font and spacing it assumes. A ten-page paper in Garamond 11pt holds nearly twice the words of ten pages in Courier 12pt, and markers notice.

Why briefs specify pages at all

Word counts are precise and page counts are not, so the persistence of page limits looks odd until you consider what they are for. A page limit constrains the physical reading burden — how long the stack is, how much a reviewer must carry through. It is a proxy for the reader's time rather than the writer's output, which is exactly why it survives in submissions, grant applications and legal filings.

Common questions

How many pages is 1,000 words?

Four pages double-spaced, or two pages single-spaced, in 12pt Times New Roman with one-inch margins. In 11pt the same text fits into roughly 3.6 and 1.8 pages.

Does the font really change the page count?

Substantially. Garamond fits around 40 per cent more words per page than Courier New at the same point size, because the letterforms are narrower. Point size alone is not a reliable guide to how much space a font occupies.

Are these figures for A4 or US Letter?

Both, near enough. A4 is slightly taller and narrower than US Letter, and the two effects roughly cancel: the difference is under three per cent, well inside the margin of error for any page estimate.