How Many Words Is 1 Page?
One page contains approximately 500 words when single-spaced or 250 words when double-spaced, using a standard 12pt Times New Roman font with 1-inch margins.
Page Count by Font and Spacing for 250 Words
| Font | Single | 1.15 | 1.5 | Double |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arial | 0.6 | 0.6 | 0.8 | 1.1 |
| Times New Roman | 0.5 | 0.6 | 0.7 | 1 |
| Calibri | 0.5 | 0.6 | 0.8 | 1.1 |
| Courier New | 0.7 | 0.8 | 1.1 | 1.4 |
| Verdana | 0.7 | 0.8 | 1 | 1.3 |
| Georgia | 0.5 | 0.6 | 0.8 | 1.1 |
| Helvetica | 0.6 | 0.6 | 0.8 | 1.1 |
| Garamond | 0.5 | 0.6 | 0.7 | 1 |
| Palatino | 0.5 | 0.6 | 0.8 | 1.1 |
| Tahoma | 0.6 | 0.7 | 0.9 | 1.2 |
| Trebuchet MS | 0.6 | 0.7 | 0.9 | 1.2 |
| Century Gothic | 0.7 | 0.8 | 1 | 1.4 |
| Book Antiqua | 0.5 | 0.6 | 0.8 | 1.1 |
| Comic Sans MS | 0.7 | 0.8 | 1 | 1.3 |
*Based on 12pt font, letter-size paper, 1-inch margins
Calculate Your Exact Page Count
Word Count for a Single Page
The number of words on a single page depends on several factors including font type, font size, line spacing, and margin width. Using the most common academic formatting—Times New Roman, 12pt, with 1-inch margins—a single-spaced page holds roughly 500 words while a double-spaced page holds about 250 words. These estimates are widely used by students, writers, and publishers as a reliable benchmark for planning written content.
Factors That Change Words Per Page
Not all pages are created equal. Switching to a larger font like Arial 12pt reduces your word count to roughly 400 words single-spaced because Arial characters are wider than Times New Roman. Similarly, increasing margins from 1 inch to 1.25 inches reduces the text area and lowers word count by approximately 10%. Headers, footers, images, and block quotes also take up space, further reducing the number of words that fit on a page.
Why Knowing Words Per Page Matters
Understanding how many words fit on a page helps you plan essays, reports, and manuscripts. If your professor assigns a 1-page response, you know to aim for about 250 words double-spaced. Freelance writers paid per page can calculate fair rates, and self-publishing authors can estimate book length from their word count. This simple conversion is one of the most practical tools in any writer's toolkit.