How Many Pages Is 500 Words?
1 min readUpdated October 4, 2026
Short answer
500 words in pages
Times New Roman 12pt with 1-inch margins, the usual academic setup.
| Spacing | US Letter | A4 |
|---|---|---|
| Single spaced | 1 page | 1 page |
| 1.5 spaced | 1.3 pages | 1.3 pages |
| Double spaced | 2 pages | 1.9 pages |
By font
US Letter, 1-inch margins. Google Docs starts in Arial 11pt; Word used Calibri 11pt for years before switching to Aptos.
| Font and size | Single spaced | Double spaced |
|---|---|---|
| Times New Roman 12pt | 1 | 2 |
| Arial 12pt | 1.2 | 2.3 |
| Arial 11pt | 1 | 1.9 |
| Calibri 12pt | 1.1 | 2.1 |
| Calibri 11pt | 0.9 | 1.8 |
- Paragraphs
- About 3 (3 to 5, at 100 to 200 words each)
- Characters
- About 2,900 including spaces
- Reading time
- 2 minutes 6 seconds at 238 words a minute
- Speaking time
- 3 minutes 20 seconds at 150 words a minute
- Handwritten
- About 2 sides of lined paperin average handwriting, about 250 words a side
Check your own numbers
2
Pages · double spaced
Every spacing
500 wordsAlso worth knowing
Estimates assume 12pt Times New Roman or Arial with 1-inch margins on US Letter or A4.
What 500 words looks like
Double spaced is the standard for school and university work, so a 500-word essay is usually two pages.
- Paragraphs: four or five of 100 to 125 words each: an introduction, two or three body paragraphs and a conclusion.
- Sentences: about 25 to 35 sentences at a typical 15 to 20 words each.
- Characters: roughly 2,900 including spaces.
How long 500 words takes
| Task | Time |
|---|---|
| Reading silently | About 2 minutes |
| Reading aloud | About 3 minutes 20 seconds |
| Typing, once you know what to say | 10 to 15 minutes |
| Writing a considered essay | 1 to 2 hours |
The typing is the quick part. Most of the time in a 500-word essay goes on deciding what the one argument is, because there is only room for one.
Writing to 500 words
At this length every paragraph has to earn its place. Two points made well beat four made in passing, and an introduction longer than two or three sentences is eating the space the argument needs.
Paste your draft into the essay word counter with the limit set to 500 to see how far over or under you are, including the usual 10% margin of 450 to 550 words.