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Resume font size
Body text 10–12 pt, section headings 12–14 pt, your name 18–28 pt. Within that range, each half point changes how many lines fit on a page, so pick the size that fills the page without crowding it.
Rule of thumb: 11 pt for Calibri, Carlito or Cambria; 10.5–11 pt for Arial; 11.5–12 pt for Garamond or Times New Roman. Never go below 10 pt for body text.
How much does half a point cost?
Drag the size and see how many lines a US Letter page holds with your margins and line spacing, and what that means for a typical resume.
51 lines
fit on one page (11 in − 1.5 in margins = 9.50 in usable; each line is 11 pt × 1.20 = 13.2 pt)
A typical one-page resume uses 45–60 lines of text including headings and spacing, so 51 lines is tight; expect to trim.
Recommended sizes for each part of the resume
| Element | Size | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Your name | 18–28 pt | Bold. The largest thing on the page. |
| Section headings | 11–14 pt | Bold or small caps; can equal body size if uppercase and bold. |
| Job titles, employers | Body size | Bold the title, not the whole line. |
| Body and bullets | 10–12 pt | Depends on the font's x-height (see font comparison). |
| Contact line, dates | 9.5–11 pt | May be slightly smaller than body; never below 9 pt. |
Is 10 pt too small?
10 pt Calibri or Arial is readable in print and on screen; 10 pt Garamond or Times is not, because those fonts draw smaller letters inside the same point size. If you are at 10 pt and still spilling over, change the spacing or margins first, then cut content. The one-page guide lists what to cut.
Can I use 12 pt?
Yes, if the page is still well filled at 12 pt. It suits short resumes (students, first jobs) and serif fonts. If 12 pt leaves more than a quarter of the page empty, the builder's "Fill the page" button spreads things out more evenly than a big font alone.
Questions
What is the standard font size for a resume?
10.5–11 pt for body text in Calibri or Arial, 11.5–12 pt in Garamond or Times New Roman, with headings a point or two larger and your name at 18–28 pt.
Should all text on a resume be the same size?
No. Use three levels: name, section headings and body. Job titles can be bold at body size.
Does font size affect ATS parsing?
Not directly; parsers read the text regardless of size. Very small text (under 8 pt) can be flagged or missed by some systems, and humans will struggle with it.