How Long Should a Press Release Be? (Word Counts From Real Releases)

Short answer: a press release should be 400 to 800 words, and most news fits comfortably in about 500 to 700. That is not a guess. We counted the words in 30 real releases published on PR Newswire in October 2026. The median release was 660 words (from the dateline to the end of the About section), the middle half ran from about 585 to 810 words, and 17 of the 30 landed between 400 and 800. The median headline was 15 words and the median lead paragraph was 72 words.

Below you will find the full data with links to every release, a length guide for each section (headline, subhead, lead, body, quotes, boilerplate), lengths by release type, what wire services charge per word, how a release compares with a media pitch, and a simple way to cut a long draft. This guide comes from Media PR Database, a directory of 9,596 news outlets in 195 countries with 16,692 newsroom and journalist emails. We read a lot of releases, because our customers send a lot of them.

How long should a press release be? The quick answer

Part	What we measured (median)	What to aim for
Whole release	660 words	400 to 800 words; 500 to 700 for most news
Headline	15 words, about 100 characters	15 words or fewer
Subhead	23 words (25 of 30 releases had one)	One sentence, 15 to 30 words
Lead paragraph	72 words	35 to 75 words
Quotes	2 quotes per release	1 or 2 quotes, 40 to 80 words each
Boilerplate (About)	98 words	60 to 120 words
Paragraphs before the About section	8	5 to 9 short paragraphs

Two rules sit on top of the numbers:

• Length follows the news, not the template. A restaurant pop-up needs 300 words. A product with eight new features may need 900. Do not pad a small story or squash a big one.
• The first 100 words do most of the work. A reporter decides from the headline and lead whether to keep reading. Everything after that is reference material for the ones who do.

Our data: word counts from 30 real press releases

We wanted real numbers rather than the usual "keep it to one page" advice, so we measured recent releases ourselves.

How we counted

• Sample: 30 English-language releases published on PR Newswire between October 21 and October 25, 2026, read on October 26, 2026. We picked a mix of product launches, funding rounds, events, local news, deals, a new hire, a grant and a brand campaign.
• Skipped: law-firm shareholder alerts, sponsored "best of" product lists, translated duplicates and one correction notice. These are wire traffic, not the kind of release most readers write.
• Release length: every word from the dateline ("CITY, Date /PRNewswire/ --") through the end of the About section, stopping at the media contact or "SOURCE" line. Bullet lists and tables count. Headline and subhead are counted separately.
• Words: anything separated by spaces, the same way a word processor counts.
• Paragraphs: paragraphs of more than 12 words before the About section, so short section titles are not counted.
• Limits: all 30 releases come from one wire service in one week. Business Wire did not load for our reader, so it is not in the sample. Treat the numbers as a snapshot of current practice, not a law.

The full list of releases, with links, is in the sources table near the end of this guide, so you can check any number yourself.

The headline numbers

• Median length: 660 words. The average was 662, so a few very long or very short releases did not skew it.
• Range: 315 words (a Halloween pop-up at a restaurant in Oxnard, California) to 1,025 words (Axon's Body 5 camera launch).
• Middle half: 585 to 811 words.
• Under 400 words: 5 releases. 400 to 800: 17. Over 800: 8.
• Quotes: 24 of 30 releases had at least one; the median was 2.
• About section: 27 of 30 had one.
• Bullet lists: 9 of 30 used them, mostly product launches listing features.

The biggest cluster sits between 600 and 699 words: 10 of the 30 releases. That is roughly one and a half pages in a normal document. The short group (300 to 399 words) is all small, local or single-fact news: a restaurant pop-up, an app launch, a $1 million investment in an Arizona lab, a surgeon's workshop for students and a satellite partnership. Nothing in the sample was below 300 words.

Press release length by section

A release is not one block of text. Each part has its own job and its own natural length. Here is what we measured in each section and what we suggest.

Headline length

The median headline in our sample was 15 words and about 100 characters. The shortest was 8 words ("Sequoia Financial Group Acquires Colorado Wealth Manager Quish", 62 characters). The longest was 23 words (Mozilla's "Come Back to Firefox" campaign, 143 characters). Fourteen of the 30 headlines ran past 100 characters.

Long headlines get cut off in email subject lines, search results and news feeds. Aim for 15 words or fewer, put the company name and the news in the first 70 characters, and move the extra detail to the subhead. "Coast Raises $35 Million to Build the Financial Platform for the Physical Economy" (13 words) is a good model: who, what and how much, in one line.

Subhead length

Twenty-five of the 30 releases used a subhead (the line in italics under the headline). The median was 23 words, the range 14 to 42. Use it for the second most important fact: who led the round, when the event happens, which customers are involved. One sentence is enough.

Lead paragraph length

The lead (first paragraph, starting with the dateline) had a median of 72 words, with a range of 33 to 96. It should answer who, what, when, where and why in one or two sentences. If your lead runs past 80 words, you are probably explaining background that belongs in paragraph two.

Body and quotes

Everything between the lead and the About section had a median of about 500 words (561 words including the lead). Most releases split it into about 8 paragraphs of 40 to 80 words each.

Quotes take a big share of that space. The 24 releases with quotes had a median of 2, and the median paragraph containing a quote ran 78 words. Mach9's Series A release had four quote paragraphs totaling 253 words, almost a third of the release. One strong quote from the person in charge usually beats three quotes that repeat the same point.

Boilerplate (About section) length

Among the 27 releases with an About section, the median was 98 words, from 29 words (Corgi Invest) to 268 (the Salvation Army's Red Kettle release). Some releases add trademark notes or extra lines after the About paragraph, which pushes the top end up: Axon's 185 words include a 40-word trademark notice. Our press release boilerplate guide has 30 examples and a five-part formula if you need to write or trim yours.

Contact details

The media contact block (name, email, phone) is short and does not need a word target. Just make sure it is there: a reporter who wants an interview should not have to search your website.

How long should a press release be by type?

Different kinds of news produced different lengths in our sample. The groups are small, so read this as a direction, not a rule.

Release type	Releases	Median words	Range	Suggested length
Product or service launch	7	843	344 to 1,025	500 to 800
Funding round	7	682	631 to 816	500 to 700
Partnership, acquisition or deal	4	654	380 to 841	400 to 700
Event	5	623	315 to 792	300 to 600
Local news (community, health, small business)	4	494	353 to 842	300 to 500
Other (new hire, grant, brand campaign)	3	613	542 to 764	300 to 600

What stands out:

• Launches run longest. Feature lists add words fast. Axon's camera launch used 9 bullet points and Lyric Health's AI launch used 14. If you have many features, list the top three in the release and link to a product page for the rest.
• Funding releases are the most consistent. All seven sat between 631 and 816 words. They follow the same pattern: amount and investors, what the money is for, a founder quote, an investor quote, About.
• Event releases can be short. The CARNE Halloween pop-up used 315 words and ended with a simple What, Where, When block. For more on this format, see our event press release template.
• A new hire needs less than you think. The Wiser Solutions CFO release was 542 words, and 186 of them sat in two quote paragraphs. A 300-word version would have carried the same news.

What wire services charge by word count

Length is not only about readers. Most paid wires price by word count, so a long release can cost real money. These are the figures we could verify on October 26, 2026:

Service	Words included	Starting price	Source
PR Newswire	Up to 400	$355 state, $650 top-market, $850 national US (latest public pricing record)	Prezly
Business Wire	Up to 400	$475 for a US domestic local release	Prezly
eReleases (sends via PR Newswire)	400, 500 or 600	$399, $499 or $699; extra words $150 per block of 100 words	eReleases pricing
EIN Presswire	700, 1,000 or 2,500 (word limit)	$149 for 1 release; $499 for 5; $999 for 15	EIN Presswire pricing

Prices change and add-ons (images, extra circuits, translation) are extra, so confirm with the provider before you buy.

What this means for a 660-word release

Take a release at our sample median of 660 words and send it through eReleases:

• Buzz Builder (400 words included): 260 extra words = 3 blocks of 100 = $399 + $450 = $849.
• Newsmaker (500 words included): 160 extra words = 2 blocks = $499 + $300 = $799.
• Cut the same release to 500 words: it fits Newsmaker with no extras for $499, a saving of $300.

On PR Newswire the base prices also cover only 400 words, and Prezly notes that "more than 400 words" is one of the items that raises the quote. The 400-word line is worth keeping in mind before you add a third quote. If wire costs are the problem, our PR Newswire alternatives guide compares cheaper options.

Press release vs. media pitch length

A press release and a pitch email are different documents, and the pitch is much shorter. Muck Rack's State of Journalism 2026 survey, as summarized by the University of Minnesota's marketing communications team, found that:

• 69% of journalists prefer pitches under 200 words.
• 62% prefer to be pitched in a one-to-one email.
• 78% prefer pitches sent before noon.
• 86% say at least some of their work began with a PR pitch.

How long should a media pitch be?

Keep a pitch under 200 words, and 100 to 150 is often better. That is less than a third of a typical release. The pitch is not a shorter release. It is a personal note that tells one reporter why this story fits their beat, gives the one fact that makes it news, and offers something useful: an interview, data, images or an early look. Paste the release below your signature or link to it; do not attach it.

If you need help with the wording, try our free media pitch generator or copy one of the examples in our media pitch email template guide.

Who should get the pitch

A 150-word pitch only works if it reaches a reporter who covers the topic. A local story belongs with local outlets: you can find local newspapers by city, or browse lists such as newspapers in Texas, Ohio newspapers and TV stations or our India media list. For a wider campaign, the media list builder lets you filter outlets by country, state and topic.

How to cut a press release that is too long

Most drafts start long. Here is a simple order of cuts that keeps the news intact.

1. Cut the warm-up

Delete any opening sentence about the industry, the market or "today's fast-changing world". Start with your company doing something. "[Company] today announced [news]" is a lead. "Small businesses face many challenges" is not.

2. Keep one or two quotes

Quotes were the second biggest block of text in our sample. Keep the quote that says something only that person could say: a reason, a number, an opinion. Delete quotes that just repeat the headline with "excited" or "thrilled" added.

3. Turn feature paragraphs into three bullets

A list of features in prose eats words. Pick the three that matter to readers, write each in one line, and link to the product page for the rest.

4. Move background to links

Company history, earlier funding rounds and full product specs can live on your website. Link to them once. The release only needs what is new.

5. Trim the boilerplate

If your About section is over 150 words, it is doing too much. Cut awards lists and mission statements to one line each. Aim for 60 to 120 words.

6. Shorten sentences, not just paragraphs

Remove "in order to", "the fact that", "very" and "a wide range of". Replace "is pleased to announce the launch of" with "launched". These small cuts often save 50 to 80 words in a 700-word draft.

7. Read it at 400 words

Try cutting to 400 words as a test, even if you plan to publish at 600. If the story still makes sense at 400, everything above that is optional, and you can add back only what earns its place.

Press release length checklist

Use this before you send or upload your release:

• Total length between 400 and 800 words (300 to 500 for small local news).
• Headline 15 words or fewer, company name and the news in the first 70 characters.
• Subhead is one sentence with the second most important fact.
• Lead paragraph is under 80 words and answers who, what, when, where and why.
• No more than two quotes, each under 80 words, each adding something new.
• Paragraphs are short: 2 to 4 sentences, 40 to 80 words.
• Feature lists are three to five bullets, not long paragraphs.
• About section is 60 to 120 words.
• Media contact with a name, an email and a phone number.
• You checked the word limit of your wire service and know what extra words cost.
• Your pitch email is a separate, personal note under 200 words.
• You have a list of reporters who actually cover the topic.

Sources: the 30 releases we measured

All releases were published on PR Newswire in October 2026 and read on October 26, 2026. "Words" covers the dateline through the About section; headline and subhead are counted separately. The Lubbock release was published as a single block of text, so we did not count its lead or paragraphs.

Release	Type	Date	Words	Headline words	About words	Quotes
Axon Body 5	Product launch	Oct 24, 2026	1,025	11	185	1
LexisNexis Coplogic Field Clarity	Product launch	Oct 25, 2026	927	16	175	2
Corgi Invest bond ETFs	Product launch	Oct 22, 2026	916	13	29	0
Lyric Health Grace	Product launch	Oct 22, 2026	843	15	80	3
Think Together, California	Local news	Oct 23, 2026	842	16	93	2
Fulcrum and Slalom	Partnership / deal	Oct 21, 2026	841	10	162	2
Mach9 raises $34M	Funding	Oct 21, 2026	816	13	101	4
Mave raises $34M	Funding	Oct 22, 2026	809	14	87	2
Salvation Army Red Kettle kickoff	Event	Oct 25, 2026	792	17	268	3
Holly and 17A grant	Award / grant	Oct 22, 2026	764	16	121	2
Clarins Austin event	Event	Oct 25, 2026	706	13	175	0
Coast raises $35M	Funding	Oct 22, 2026	701	13	99	2
DIRECTV adds NHL channels	Partnership / deal	Oct 24, 2026	697	17	none	2
BioStack raises $9.5M	Funding	Oct 22, 2026	682	15	98	2
BOB raises $5.5M	Funding	Oct 23, 2026	661	11	79	2
Opply raises $7.5M	Funding	Oct 21, 2026	660	13	100	2
Vertice Procure-to-Pay	Product launch	Oct 22, 2026	632	9	112	0
WILDE raises $40M	Funding	Oct 22, 2026	631	14	233	2
Tennessee Oncology trial	Local news	Oct 25, 2026	630	12	80	1
wine2wine New York forum	Event	Oct 24, 2026	623	21	none	0
Mozilla Firefox campaign	Campaign	Oct 25, 2026	613	23	52	3
Sequoia Financial acquires Quish	Partnership / deal	Oct 22, 2026	610	8	237	2
Monster Energy x Call of Duty	Event	Oct 25, 2026	597	18	55	1
Swanson Vitamins Nexus Pro	Product launch	Oct 24, 2026	548	20	130	1
Wiser Solutions new CFO	New hire	Oct 21, 2026	542	15	81	2
ST Engineering iDirect and MBSat	Partnership / deal	Oct 25, 2026	380	18	61	2
Lubbock surgeon workshop	Local news	Oct 25, 2026	358	17	none	0
Geneticure $1M, Arizona	Local news	Oct 21, 2026	353	15	59	2
WayUp mobile app	Product launch	Oct 21, 2026	344	21	62	1
CARNE Oxnard pop-up	Event	Oct 24, 2026	315	12	33	0

Find reporters for your release

A well-sized release still needs the right inbox. Media PR Database lists 9,596 news outlets in 195 countries with 16,692 newsroom and journalist emails, including outlets in all 50 US states. Pro ($149, one-time) gives you outlet emails and CSV export. Premium ($299, one-time) adds everything, including 2,997 podcasts and 123 newsletters, plus export for Instantly, Smartlead and Lemlist. There is no subscription. See pricing.

The bottom line

How long should a press release be? Between 400 and 800 words, with most news fitting in 500 to 700. Our count of 30 real releases from October 2026 put the median at 660 words, with a 15-word headline, a 72-word lead, two quotes and a 98-word About section. Write the news in the first 100 words, cut anything a reporter would skip, check what your wire charges past 400 words, and send a pitch under 200 words to reporters who cover your topic.

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