Words per Page
Based on 12pt Times New Roman with one-inch margins — the standard for school and professional documents. Fonts, margins, and paragraph breaks shift these figures slightly, which is why teachers set word counts rather than page counts.
| Word Count | Pages (Single-Spaced) | Pages (Double-Spaced) |
|---|---|---|
| 250 words | ½ page | 1 page |
| 500 words | 1 page | 2 pages |
| 750 words | 1½ pages | 3 pages |
| 1,000 words | 2 pages | 4 pages |
| 1,500 words | 3 pages | 6 pages |
| 2,000 words | 4 pages | 8 pages |
| 2,500 words | 5 pages | 10 pages |
| 5,000 words | 10 pages | 20 pages |
| 10,000 words | 20 pages | 40 pages |
Platform Character Limits (2026)
| Platform / Field | Character Limit | Worth Knowing |
|---|---|---|
| X (Twitter) post | 280 | Links count as 23 characters flat |
| Instagram caption | 2,200 | Only ~125 visible before the "more" fold |
| TikTok caption | 2,200 | Hashtags count toward the limit |
| LinkedIn post | 3,000 | ~210 visible before the fold |
| Facebook post | 63,206 | Effectively unlimited; ~480 shown before "See more" |
| SMS (single segment) | 160 | Longer texts billed as multiple segments |
| Google title tag | ~60 | Truncated by pixel width, not exact characters |
| Google meta description | ~155–160 | Longer descriptions cut with an ellipsis |
| YouTube title | 100 | ~70 visible in most search results |
| YouTube description | 5,000 | First 2–3 lines visible before "Show more" |
Check any draft against these caps live with the character counter.
Reading & Speaking Times
Silent reading averages 238 words per minute; speeches run comfortably at 140. Full pace options are in the reading time calculator.
| Word Count | Silent Reading (238 wpm) | Spoken Aloud (140 wpm) |
|---|---|---|
| 250 words | ~1 min | ~1 min 45 sec |
| 500 words | ~2 min | ~3 min 30 sec |
| 1,000 words | ~4 min | ~7 min |
| 1,500 words | ~6 min 20 sec | ~10 min 45 sec |
| 2,500 words | ~10 min 30 sec | ~18 min (TED length) |
| 5,000 words | ~21 min | ~36 min |
Standard Length Targets
| Writing Type | Typical Word Count |
|---|---|
| Common App college essay | 250–650 words (hard cap 650) |
| Graduate statement of purpose | 500–1,000 words |
| Cover letter | 250–400 words |
| Blog post (SEO) | 1,000–2,000 words |
| Press release | 400–600 words |
| Flash fiction | under 1,000 words |
| Short story | 1,000–7,500 words |
| Novella | 17,500–40,000 words |
| Novel | 80,000–100,000 words |
| Non-fiction book | 50,000–75,000 words |
How these convert to physical pages — including font and margin effects — is covered in How Many Words Is a Page?. To count your own draft, paste it into the word counter.