How Many Ounces Are in a Pint?
Quick Answer: 16 fluid ounces in 1 US pint · 2 cups · 473 mL
At a glance
- 1 US pint = 16 fluid ounces (2 cups, 473 mL)
- 1 Imperial (UK) pint = 20 Imperial fl oz (568 mL — about 20% larger)
- ½ US pint = 8 fl oz (1 cup, 237 mL)
- 1 US dry pint ≈ 18.6 fl oz (551 mL — a niche US dry measure, still used for produce like berries and mushrooms but rare elsewhere)
A US pint holds exactly 16 fluid ounces (2 cups, 473 mL). The Imperial (UK) pint is substantially larger at 20 Imperial fluid ounces (568 mL) — a 20% difference that’s instantly noticeable when you order a pint of beer on either side of the Atlantic. This page uses the US pint unless specified; the section below explains when you need the UK figure.
How many ounces in 1 pint?
pint → fluid ounce Quick Converter
Need more features? Try our complete pint to fluid ounce converter.
1 pint on the fluid ounce scale
1 pint = 16 fl oz
Did you know? The old mnemonic “a pint’s a pound the world around” is only true in the US — and only for water. 1 US pint of water weighs almost exactly 1 pound (473 g ≈ 1.04 lb). 1 UK pint of water weighs about 20% more: 1.25 lb.
A standard blood donation is 1 US pint — that’s why donors often feel lightheaded. The human body holds about 10-12 pints of blood total, so donating 1 pint takes ~8-10% of the total. Because blood density is close to water’s, that pint weighs almost exactly 1 pound, consistent with the mnemonic above.
Formula
Values follow the US customary system as published by NIST (Office of Weights and Measures). The US liquid pint is defined as exactly 1⁄8 US gallon = 473.176473 mL. The 16:1 ratio is exact by definition: 1 pint = ¼ quart = 1⁄8 gallon, and 1 fl oz = 1⁄128 gallon, so 128 ÷ 8 = 16.
Pints to Fluid Ounces Conversion Table
mL values are NIST-exact, rounded to 1 decimal.
| Pints | Fl oz | Cups | Milliliters | UK fl oz equiv. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ⅛ | 2 | ¼ | 59.1 | 2.08 |
| ¼ | 4 | ½ | 118.3 | 4.16 |
| ⅓ | 5⅓ | ⅔ | 157.7 | 5.55 |
| ½ (1 cup) | 8 | 1 | 236.6 | 8.33 |
| ⅔ | 10⅔ | 1⅓ | 315.4 | 11.10 |
| ¾ | 12 | 1½ | 354.9 | 12.49 |
| 1 | 16 | 2 | 473.2 | 16.65 |
| 1½ | 24 | 3 | 709.8 | 24.98 |
| 2 (1 quart) | 32 | 4 | 946.4 | 33.31 |
| 3 | 48 | 6 | 1,419.5 | 49.96 |
| 4 (½ gallon) | 64 | 8 | 1,892.7 | 66.61 |
| 6 | 96 | 12 | 2,839.1 | 99.92 |
| 8 (1 gallon) | 128 | 16 | 3,785.4 | 133.23 |
Last column shows how many Imperial fl oz equal the volume shown — useful for converting between US and UK recipes. See the complete pints ↔ fluid ounces chart »
What is a fluid ounce? What is a pint?
Fluid ounce
A fluid ounce (fl oz) is a small volume unit for liquids. 1 US fl oz = 29.5735 mL ≈ 2 tablespoons ≈ ⅛ cup. 1 UK (Imperial) fl oz = 28.4131 mL, about 4% smaller than the US fl oz.
A fluid ounce measures volume. Ounces without “fluid” measure weight (28.35 g), which is different. For water, 1 fl oz happens to weigh ~1 oz, which is where “1 pint = 1 pound” comes from — but only for water, and only for the US pint.
Pint
A pint (abbreviated pt) is a mid-sized volume unit. In the US, 1 pint = 16 fluid ounces = 2 cups = 473 mL. Two pints make a quart; eight pints make a gallon. The name comes from the Latin pincta, originally marks painted on vessels to indicate fill levels.
Pints are most visible in: beer (pint glasses are standard in bars), ice cream containers (Ben & Jerry’s and Häagen-Dazs both use 1-US-pint containers), milk at corner stores, and blood donation (1 US pint is the standard donation unit).
US Pint vs UK Pint — Why a Pint Isn’t a Pint
If you’ve been to both a US and a UK pub, you already know this viscerally: a pint of beer feels bigger in London than in Boston. Here’s why:
- US pint: 16 US fl oz = 473 mL
- UK (Imperial) pint: 20 Imperial fl oz = 568.26 mL
The UK pint is 20% larger in absolute volume — a full 95 mL extra, which is about ⅓ cup. This difference traces back to 1824, when Britain redefined the Imperial gallon (based on 10 pounds of water) while the US kept the older wine-gallon-based system (231 cubic inches).
The double-gotcha with fluid ounces
It gets worse. The fluid ounce itself is different in each system:
- 1 US fl oz = 29.5735 mL
- 1 Imperial fl oz = 28.4131 mL (about 4% smaller)
So a UK pint contains more fluid ounces (20) because each Imperial fluid ounce is slightly smaller. In absolute milliliters, though, the UK pint still wins by 20%. In practice:
| US pint | UK pint | Difference | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fluid ounces (native) | 16 US fl oz | 20 Imperial fl oz | UK: 4 more fl oz |
| Milliliters | 473 mL | 568 mL | UK: +95 mL (+20%) |
| Expressed in US fl oz | 16 US fl oz | 19.22 US fl oz | UK: +3.22 US fl oz |
| Expressed in UK fl oz | 16.65 UK fl oz | 20 UK fl oz | UK: +3.35 UK fl oz |
When converting between pint recipes: if a British recipe calls for “1 pint of milk,” use 20 US fl oz (not 16). If a US recipe calls for “1 pint of broth,” a UK cook should use 16 US fl oz worth (about 4/5 of a UK pint).
US Dry Pint — the Farmers’ Market Unit
There’s a third pint: the US dry pint = 550.61 mL = 18.62 US fl oz. It’s about 16.4% larger than the US liquid pint, and is used commercially in the US for dry goods sold by volume — most visibly at farmers’ markets (berries, mushrooms, cherry tomatoes, etc.) where “a pint of strawberries” or “a pint of blueberries” refers to this larger dry unit.
Recipes never use the dry pint. If a recipe says “a pint of blueberries,” it typically means a 1-pint container from the store (dry pint, ~12 oz by weight for blueberries), but any further conversions done in the recipe will assume the liquid pint for volume math.
US Liquid Measurement Hierarchy
1 quart = 2 pints = 4 cups = 32 fl oz = 946 mL
1 pint = 2 cups = 16 fl oz = 473 mL
1 cup = 8 fl oz = 16 tbsp = 48 tsp = 237 mL
1 tablespoon = 3 tsp = ½ fl oz = 15 mL
1 teaspoon = ⅓ tbsp = 5 mL
How to Measure Accurately
Liquid ingredients
- Use a clear liquid measuring cup on a flat surface. Pour in the liquid, then crouch to read the meniscus at eye level. Reading from above can add 5–15% error.
- For sticky liquids (honey, syrup, molasses), lightly oil the cup first — the ingredient slides out cleanly with no residue.
Dry ingredients
- Spoon the ingredient into the cup, then level the top with the flat edge of a knife. Do not pack it down unless the recipe explicitly says so (packed brown sugar is the common exception).
- Flour scooped directly from the bag compacts and adds up to 25% more than intended — the #1 cause of dry, dense baked goods.
Pro tip: for baking, a kitchen scale beats any measuring cup. 1 US cup of all-purpose flour ≈ 120 g, but this varies by brand and technique — weighing eliminates the variance entirely.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many ounces are in a pint?
There are 16 fluid ounces in 1 US pint (2 cups, 473 mL).
How many ounces in a UK (Imperial) pint?
20 Imperial fluid ounces in 1 UK pint (568 mL) — about 20% larger than the US pint. A pint of beer in the UK is noticeably bigger than a pint of beer in the US.
How many ounces in half a pint?
8 fluid ounces in ½ US pint — exactly 1 cup (237 mL). In the UK, a half-pint is 10 Imperial fl oz (284 mL).
Is a pint 16 ounces or 20 ounces?
Both — it depends on where you are. US pint = 16 fluid ounces. UK (Imperial) pint = 20 Imperial fluid ounces. This has caused trans-Atlantic drinking confusion since 1824, when Britain redefined the Imperial gallon and made both systems incompatible.
Related Cooking Conversions
- How many cups in a pint? — 2 cups
- How many ounces in a quart? — 32 fl oz
- How many ounces in a gallon? — 128 fl oz
- How many ounces in a cup? — 8 fl oz
- How many cups in a quart? — 4 cups
- How many cups in a gallon? — 16 cups
- How many teaspoons in a tablespoon? — 3 tsp
- How many tablespoons in a cup? — 16 tbsp
- Volume to Weight (ingredients) — how much does 1 pint of milk weigh?
- Weight to Volume (ingredients) — convert 500 g of yogurt to pints
- All Cooking Measurement Tools
All values use US customary measurements unless noted. 1 US pint = 473 mL = 16 US fl oz. The Imperial (UK) pint = 568 mL = 20 Imperial fl oz, about 20% larger. US dry pint (551 mL) is used at farmers markets, not recipes.