Sizes: the statement
Full page newspaper ad cost
126 column inches of undivided attention. The published ceiling is known to the dollar; everything below it is a phone call.
A full page is 126 column inches on a standard broadsheet. The published 2026 ceiling is $181,185: WSJ national edition, color, open rate. The same page in the WSJ Western Edition computes to $44,418.78. Metro and local full pages are quote-only, and the further from national prestige you buy, the harder the open rate falls on request.
Source: WSJ 2026 General Advertising Rate Card, Issue #92, effective Jan 1 2026, retrieved Jul 31, 2026.
| Paper / tier | Full page, color, open rate |
|---|---|
| WSJ national edition | $181,185 |
| WSJ Western Edition (computed: 126 x per-inch) | $44,418.78 |
| Metro dailies | Quote-only |
| Local weeklies | Quote-only |
Source: WSJ 2026 General Advertising Rate Card, Issue #92, effective Jan 1 2026, retrieved Jul 31, 2026. B&W runs 20% below color per the card. Contract tiers discount 5-35% off open rates.
Weekday vs Sunday, and the discount reality
Sunday editions carry higher readership and, at papers that price by day, higher rates; the premium itself is quote-set at metro papers, so ask for the weekday and Sunday figures side by side (the day-of-week page covers the trade). More important: full pages are where open rates are softest. A page is a large perishable slot the paginator must fill, so desks holding unsold space near deadline will deal, and the remnant page explains how to be the call they make.
When it is rational
The four honest reasons to buy a page
The moment
Grand opening, anniversary, acquisition, apology. When the ad is the news, the page is the format.
The statement to a room
Open letters and advocacy buys work because a page in a paper of record is a public act, not just reach.
The statutory page
Some legal publications and government notices are long enough that a page is simply the space required. See the notice bureau.
The tribute
Retirements, memorials, community thanks. Full pages of goodwill are a real category at local papers, and local desks price them kindly.
For selling products week over week, the page is usually the wrong buy: a half page repeated wins on cost per remembered impression. Price both paths in the estimator.