Pickleball Court Size: Exact Dimensions and Space Needed

A regulation pickleball court is 20 feet (6.10 m) wide and 44 feet (13.41 m) long, measured to the outside of the lines. Those numbers are identical for singles and doubles, so the playing surface is always 880 square feet. A net splits it into two halves, with a 7-foot non-volley zone, the “kitchen,” on each side. That is the whole answer to court size. What actually trips people up is the run-off space around the court and how it compares to the tennis and badminton courts it gets confused with.

Official pickleball court dimensions

The playing rectangle is 20 feet wide by 44 feet long. Under the USA Pickleball rulebook, that footprint does not change between singles and doubles, one of the sport’s most beginner-friendly features. Every sanctioned court, from a backyard slab to a national final, uses the same measurements.

Here is how the length breaks down from the net outward:

Section	Distance from net (each side)
Non-volley zone (kitchen)	7 ft (2.13 m)
Baseline	22 ft (6.71 m)
Service area (kitchen line to baseline)	15 ft (4.57 m)

Each half of the court is 22 feet from the net to the baseline. A centerline splits the area behind the kitchen into two 10-foot-wide service courts. There is no doubles alley and no extra tramline, which keeps the layout simple to paint.

How big is the kitchen (non-volley zone)?

The kitchen extends 7 feet back from the net on both sides and spans the full 20-foot width. Add the two together and 14 of the court’s 44 feet are non-volley zone. You cannot volley (hit the ball out of the air) while standing in it or touching its line, and that single rule shapes the entire game. It stops players camping at the net and smashing every return, which is why pickleball rewards placement and patience over raw power.

For the full rule set and the faults that come with it, our explainer on the kitchen in pickleball breaks down exactly what counts as a violation.

How high is the pickleball net?

A pickleball net is 36 inches (91.4 cm) high at the sidelines and 34 inches (86.4 cm) at the center. The 2-inch dip in the middle is deliberate and written into the rules, so the net is lowest where most balls cross it. Posts sit 22 feet apart, centered on the sidelines.

That is lower than a tennis net, which the ITF Rules of Tennis set at 42 inches (1.07 m) at the posts and 36 inches (0.914 m) at the center. The lower pickleball net, combined with the kitchen, is why dinks and drop shots dominate rather than serves.

Court lines and how they are measured

Every line on a regulation court is 2 inches (5.08 cm) wide and should be one solid color that contrasts with the surface. All measurements are taken to the outside edge of the lines, so when you mark out 20 by 44 feet, that is the outer boundary, not the center of the paint.

A ball touching any line is in, with one exception: on a serve, a ball landing on the non-volley zone line (or anywhere in the kitchen) is a fault. That is the one line where “on the line” does not count in your favor.

How much total space do you actually need?

This is where most guides stop short. The 20-by-44-foot court is only the painted area. You need run-off room to chase balls and stop safely, and USA Pickleball recommends a minimum total playing area of 30 by 60 feet, with 34 by 64 feet preferred for tournaments and comfortable recreational play.

Build spec	Total footprint	Area	Side run-off	Baseline run-off
Playing lines only	20 x 44 ft	880 sq ft	0 ft	0 ft
USA Pickleball minimum	30 x 60 ft	1,800 sq ft	5 ft	8 ft
Preferred / tournament	34 x 64 ft	2,176 sq ft	7 ft	10 ft

The practical takeaway: budget for the 30-by-60 footprint at an absolute minimum, and go to 34 by 64 if the space allows. That extra 4 feet each way is the difference between a court players enjoy and one where every deep lob ends with someone in the fence. If you are pricing out a real build, our pickleball court construction cost guide runs the surfacing, fencing and net numbers in current dollars.

Ready to actually play on it? Sort the surface first, then the gear. Start with the right paddle in our guide to the best pickleball paddles for beginners, or browse everything in the racket sports hub.

Pickleball vs tennis vs badminton court size

Pickleball is constantly compared to tennis, but its footprint is identical to a badminton doubles court, which is no accident: the game was invented on a badminton court in 1965. Per Olympics.com, a doubles badminton court is 20 by 44 feet, the exact pickleball footprint. What changes everything is the net height and how the middle of the court gets used.

Spec	Pickleball	Tennis (doubles)	Badminton (doubles)
Length	44 ft	78 ft	44 ft
Width	20 ft	36 ft	20 ft
Playing area	880 sq ft	2,808 sq ft	880 sq ft
Net height (center)	34 in	36 in	60 in
Width changes for singles?	No	Yes (27 ft)	Yes (17 ft)

Same rectangle as badminton, but a net roughly half the height and a hard ball instead of a shuttle. Against tennis, a pickleball court is less than a third of the surface area, which is exactly why one aging tennis court can be reborn as several pickleball courts.

How many pickleball courts fit on a tennis court?

A standard tennis court is 78 by 36 feet, about 2,808 square feet of playing surface plus its own run-off. In practice, facilities fit two full pickleball courts on one tennis court when they run the same direction with shared side space, and dedicated conversions can pack in up to four by rotating them. For casual blended-line courts where tennis is still played, one or two overlay pickleball courts is the realistic number before the lines turn into a confusing mess.