How Many Pages Is 500 Words?
500 words is about one page single spaced, or two pages double spaced. That assumes a 12-point font, 1-inch margins and normal paragraphs.
In a tightly packed document with no headings, 500 words can fit on about three quarters of a single-spaced page. With headings, lists and short paragraphs, it can spill onto a second page. Here is how much each setting changes it.
500 words in different layouts
These results come from our own layout test. We wrapped about 2,900 words of real text onto pages using real font measurements, at 12-point type with 1-inch margins and no extra space between paragraphs. The full method is in our guide to how many pages 1,000 words is.
| Layout | Words per page | 500 words takes |
|---|---|---|
| Times, single spaced, US Letter | 662 | 0.8 pages |
| Arial-style font, single spaced, US Letter | 611 | 0.8 pages |
| Times, 1.5 spacing, US Letter | 446 | 1.1 pages |
| Arial-style font, 1.5 spacing, US Letter | 412 | 1.2 pages |
| Times, double spaced, US Letter | 331 | 1.5 pages |
| Arial-style font, double spaced, US Letter | 306 | 1.6 pages |
| Times, single spaced, A4 | 696 | 0.7 pages |
| Times, double spaced, A4 | 348 | 1.4 pages |
These are best-case figures for dense text. Real documents have a title, your name, headings and gaps between paragraphs, which is why the rule of thumb of 1 page single spaced and 2 pages double spaced is still the best figure to plan with.
How long does 500 words take?
| Activity | Speed | Time for 500 words |
|---|---|---|
| Silent reading | 238 words per minute | About 2 minutes |
| Reading aloud | 183 words per minute | About 2 minutes 45 seconds |
| Giving a speech | 130 to 150 words per minute | About 3 minutes 20 seconds to 3 minutes 50 seconds |
The reading speeds come from a 2019 review of 190 reading studies. Speech speeds are the usual range for public speaking. If you are writing a talk, see how many words a 3 minute speech needs.
How many paragraphs is 500 words?
Usually four to six paragraphs. Most essay paragraphs run 80 to 150 words, so a 500-word piece often looks like this:
| Part | Words |
|---|---|
| Introduction | 60 to 80 |
| Body paragraph 1 | 110 to 130 |
| Body paragraph 2 | 110 to 130 |
| Body paragraph 3 | 110 to 130 |
| Conclusion | 50 to 70 |
That is the classic five-paragraph essay shape. For more on planning paragraphs, read how many paragraphs are in an essay.
What is usually 500 words long?
- Short school essays and homework answers. Many teachers set 500 words for a first essay.
- Scholarship and application essays. Limits of 250 to 650 words are common, so 500 is a typical middle.
- Short blog posts and news items. Fine for a quick update, though detailed guides usually need more. See how many words a blog post should be.
- Cover letters. Most should be shorter than 500 words. Our guide on how long a cover letter should be suggests 250 to 400.
What changes the page count?
Line spacing has the biggest effect. Double spacing halves the words on each page.
Font. In our test, Times fitted about 8% more words per page than an Arial-style font.
Page size. A4 fitted about 5% more words than US Letter in our Times test.
Headings, lists and short paragraphs. Each one leaves white space, so 500 words of notes or bullet points can easily fill two single-spaced pages.
How to check your length
- Paste your text into our free word counter to see the exact word count, paragraphs, reading time and speaking time.
- If you write in Word or Google Docs, use their built-in counters. See word count in Word or word count in Google Docs.
- For an exact page count, set your final font, spacing and margins, then look at the page number.
Quick answers
- Single spaced: about 1 page.
- Double spaced: about 2 pages.
- Dense text, single spaced: as little as three quarters of a page.
- Paragraphs: about 4 to 6.
- Reading time: about 2 minutes.
- Speaking time: about 3.5 minutes.