Cover letters · Updated October 2026
How Long Should a Cover Letter Be? Word Count, Paragraphs and Pages
Short answer
A cover letter should be 250 to 400 words, split into three or four paragraphs, and fit on one page, usually filling half to three-quarters of it. Go shorter when the email itself is your letter, and follow any limit the employer sets. Academic faculty applications are the main exception, where letters of up to two pages are normal.
Key takeaways
- 250 to 400 words in the body is the length university career centers recommend most often.
- Use three or four paragraphs: an opening, one or two body paragraphs and a closing.
- One page is the ceiling for business, nonprofit and most government jobs; half to three-quarters of a page is typical.
- An employer's own limit, such as a character count on an application form, always overrides general advice.
- Academic faculty letters run longer: up to two pages for early-career scholars.
How many words should a cover letter be?
Aim for 250 to 400 words in the body of the letter, not counting your header, the employer's address, the greeting and the sign-off. UCLA Extension's career guidance gives exactly that range, and it is the figure university career centers repeat most often.
The range has a practical logic. Below about 200 words, a letter rarely has room for more than one example, so it reads like a note clipped to a resume. Above about 400, you are usually retelling jobs the resume already covers, and with a full header and signature block the letter starts pushing onto a second page.
The first table below gives a target for each common situation, from email applications to faculty jobs. The second shows how to spread about 300 words across the paragraphs.
| Situation | Target length | What to adjust |
|---|---|---|
| Standard application, letter attached | 250 to 400 words, one page | Opening, two body paragraphs, closing |
| Email is the cover letter | About 150 to 250 words | Drop the address block; two or three short paragraphs |
| Online form with a text box | Whatever the character limit allows | Keep the opening and your best example if space is tight |
| Entry level or internship | 250 to 350 words, one page | One body paragraph on coursework, projects or part-time work |
| Career change or employment gap | Up to 400 words, one page | One or two sentences on the change or gap, then what you offer |
| Referral or internal move | About 200 to 300 words | Name the referrer or your current team in the first sentence |
| Senior or executive role | 300 to 400 words, still one page | Lead with one or two results at the scale of the new job |
| Academic faculty position | Up to two pages early career; up to four for senior scholars | Research, teaching and fit with the department |
| Part | Sentences | Words | What it does |
|---|---|---|---|
| Opening | 2 to 3 | 50 to 70 | Names the role, the source or referrer, and the main reason you fit |
| Body paragraph 1 | 4 to 5 | 90 to 120 | Proves the top requirement with an example and a result |
| Body paragraph 2 | 3 to 4 | 60 to 90 | Proves a second requirement or explains a career change |
| Closing | 2 to 3 | 30 to 50 | Thanks the reader and asks for an interview |
Number of paragraphs in a cover letter
Three or four. Georgia Southern University's career office says cover letters should be one page and three to four paragraphs long, and Purdue OWL describes the same shape: one introductory paragraph, one to three paragraphs that highlight your skills and one concluding paragraph.
Give each paragraph one job. The opening names the role and your strongest reason for applying. Each body paragraph proves one or two requirements from the posting with an example. The closing thanks the reader and asks for the next step. If a paragraph runs past six or seven lines, it is usually covering two ideas and should be split or cut.
Should a cover letter be one page?
Yes, for almost every job outside academia. Monroe Community College's career center is specific: three to four brief paragraphs, half to three-quarters of a page in total, and never more than one page. A letter that ends with white space at the bottom looks deliberate; one that spills three lines onto page two looks unedited.
Fix length by editing, not by squeezing the layout. Purdue OWL recommends single spacing and one-inch margins, and allows margins down to about 0.7 inch as long as they are the same on all sides. Keep the same font and size as your resume. Shrinking the type to fit a fourth body paragraph makes the letter harder to read, not stronger.
What makes a cover letter too long or too short?
Purdue's business school career office names both ends of the problem in its list of ten common cover letter blunders: too short, with no value added, and too long, so it will not get read. The fix is the same either way: tie every paragraph to something the employer asked for.
- Too long: a paragraph for each past job, a long opening about the company's history, every skill from your resume, or a closing that summarizes the whole letter again.
- Too short: "Please find my resume attached" with nothing about the role, or a single paragraph of adjectives with no examples.
- About right: one or two sentences on why this role, two or three specific examples with results, and one or two sentences on the next step.
Email cover letter length
When you apply by email, the message can be your cover letter, as Georgia Southern's career office notes. Keep it shorter than an attached letter, about 150 to 250 words in two or three short paragraphs, because it is read on screen and often on a phone.
Put the job title and your name in the subject line, skip the address block and date, and end with a signature that includes your phone number and LinkedIn URL. If the posting asks for a cover letter as an attachment, attach the full one-page version and keep the email itself to two or three sentences that point to it.
What if the employer sets a length or character limit?
Follow it exactly. Many online applications replace the upload with a text box that has a character limit, and anything past the limit may be cut off without warning. Write the letter in a document first, check the count (most forms count spaces as characters), then paste it in. If space is tight, keep the opening and your single best example.
Academic job postings sometimes set page limits too. The Writing Center at UNC Chapel Hill says early-career scholars' letters are typically no more than two pages, and senior scholars' up to four, and those norms give way to whatever the search committee asks for.
How to cut a cover letter to one page in 5 steps
- 1
Count the body
Paste the body into a word counter. Over 400 words means cutting; under 200 usually means you need another example.
- 2
Keep three requirements
List the three qualifications the posting stresses most, and delete any sentence that does not support one of them.
- 3
Cut resume repeats
If a sentence restates a resume bullet without explaining why it matters to this employer, rewrite it or remove it.
- 4
Shorten the frame
Trim the opening and closing to two or three sentences each. Replace "I am writing to express my interest in" with the job title itself.
- 5
Check the layout
Use single spacing, one-inch margins (never below about 0.7 inch) and your resume font and size. If it still runs over, cut words, not margins.
Body paragraph: too long vs right length
The same experience written two ways. The applicant, practice and numbers are fictional.
In my current position as a front desk coordinator at Brookside Family Medicine, which I have held since 2021, I am responsible for many different tasks, including checking patients in and out, answering phones, scheduling appointments, verifying insurance, collecting copays, scanning documents into the electronic health record, ordering office supplies and helping train new staff members when they join our team. Over the years I have developed strong communication, organization and multitasking skills, and I always try to give every patient a positive experience. I believe my skills and dedication would make me a valuable addition to your practice.
Your posting stresses insurance verification. At Brookside Family Medicine I verify coverage for about 70 patients a day in athenaOne, and after I started checking eligibility two days before each visit, claim denials for inactive coverage fell from roughly 30 a month to fewer than 10.
Cover letter example at the right length
About 275 words in the body, for a fictional dispatcher. With a standard header it fills most of one page.
Marcus Bell Sparks, NV · marcus.bell@example.com · (555) 019-2287 · linkedin.com/in/marcusbell October 27, 2026 Ms. Renee Castillo Operations Manager Silver State Freight Dear Ms. Castillo: I am applying for the Lead Dispatcher position at your Reno terminal (Req. 2219). I have dispatched regional and local freight for five years, and your focus on on-time performance and driver retention matches what I have worked on for the last three. Your posting asks for someone who can keep 40 drivers on schedule. At Northgate Logistics I dispatch 35 drivers a day in McLeod, and when a winter storm closed I-80 last January, I rerouted 22 loads in four hours with no missed delivery windows. I also built a shared daily load board in Excel that cut our morning check-in call from 45 minutes to 15. You also mention driver retention. I hold a 10-minute call with each new driver at the end of their first week and fix whatever slowed them down, from fuel card problems to unclear dock instructions. Over two years, our 90-day driver turnover fell from about one in four to about one in eight, and the terminal manager now uses my checklist for every new hire. Your posting also lists customer communication. I am the main contact for our two largest grocery accounts, sending each a 7 a.m. status email and calling their receiving managers before any load runs late, so problems reach them from us first rather than from an empty dock. I hold a Class A CDL and drove regional routes for two years before moving into dispatch, which helps when I plan around hours-of-service limits and talk a driver through a tight dock. I would welcome the chance to talk about how I could support your team through peak season. Thank you for your time. Sincerely, Marcus Bell
Frequently asked questions
How long should a cover letter be for a resume?
One page at most, with a body of about 250 to 400 words in three or four paragraphs. It should be shorter than your resume and add context rather than repeat it.
Can a cover letter be two pages?
Not for business, nonprofit or most government jobs; keep those to one page. Two pages is normal for academic faculty applications, and UNC's Writing Center notes that senior scholars may go up to four.
Is 200 words enough for a cover letter?
It can be for an email cover letter or a referral. For a standard attached letter, 200 words usually leaves room for only one example, so aim for 250 to 400 and prove two or three requirements from the posting.
How long should an email cover letter be?
Shorter than an attached letter: about 150 to 250 words in two or three short paragraphs. Put the job title in the subject line and your contact details in the signature.
How many paragraphs should a cover letter have?
Three or four: an opening, one or two body paragraphs and a closing. Purdue OWL allows up to three body paragraphs, but the letter still has to fit on one page.
Is a half-page cover letter too short?
No. Monroe Community College's career center recommends half to three-quarters of a page. What matters is that the half page names the job and proves at least two requirements with examples.
Should a senior candidate write a longer cover letter?
Only slightly. Senior candidates have more to choose from, but the letter still fits on one page. Pick the one or two results most relevant to this employer and leave the rest to the resume.
Related guides
Sources, checked 27 October 2026
We opened every page below on that date. Pay, rules and requirements change, so check the source before you rely on a detail.
- UCLA Extension: Cover Letter Resources (body of 250 to 400 words, one page, three to four paragraphs)
- Monroe Community College Career Center: Writing a Cover Letter (three to four brief paragraphs, half to three-quarters of a page, never more than one page)
- Georgia Southern University Office of Career and Professional Development: Cover Letters (one page, three to four paragraphs, email message as the cover letter)
- Purdue Online Writing Lab (Purdue OWL): Quick Formatting Tips for Cover Letters (one page, one to three skills paragraphs, single spacing, margins down to 0.7 inch)
- The Writing Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill: Academic Cover Letters (up to two pages for early-career scholars, up to four for senior scholars)
- Purdue University Mitch Daniels School of Business, Business Career Services: Elements of a Cover Letter (too short and too long among the top 10 blunders)