diff --git a/AGENTS.md b/AGENTS.md
index 9e839c3..6462402 100644
--- a/AGENTS.md
+++ b/AGENTS.md
@@ -115,6 +115,11 @@ the pages. The step's primary action must `flow.record(...)` then call
 Theme comes from the environment (`.onboardingTheme(_:)`), set once at the
 root. Never pass a theme into a view; never hard-code brand colors in a step.
 
+The kit balances header titles and headlines itself. A step's own message
+paragraph is app content, so apply
+`Text(message).multilineTextAlignment(.center).balancedText()` to it; do not
+reach for `lineBreakStrategy`, which leaves a one-word last line alone.
+
 ## 5. Reconcile system permissions
 
 A permission the OS has already granted must not get a page. Pass
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index d01108a..639ef1f 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -68,7 +68,13 @@ layer never compiles SwiftUI it doesn't use.
   `.onboardingTheme(_:)` at the root. A brand (custom font, custom
   background) and a plain look are the same view with different themes,
   not different views.
-- **`OnboardingHeader`**: icon (optional), title, headline (optional).
+- **`OnboardingHeader`**: icon (optional), title, headline (optional). The
+  title and headline are balanced (even lines, no one-word last line).
+- **`.balancedText()`**: the same balancing for any `Text`, for a step's own
+  paragraph: `Text(message).multilineTextAlignment(.center).balancedText()`.
+  `lineBreakStrategy = .pushOut` does not fix a one-word last line; this
+  does, by laying the text out at the narrowest width that keeps its line
+  count.
 - **`OnboardingAction`**: a title and a handler, not a state machine.
   A permission step's primary button changes label as its state changes (Allow
   Location → Open Settings → Next); that's the app's own logic recomputing
diff --git a/Sources/HowdyKitUI/BalancedText.swift b/Sources/HowdyKitUI/BalancedText.swift
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..cdf73a9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Sources/HowdyKitUI/BalancedText.swift
@@ -0,0 +1,60 @@
+import SwiftUI
+
+/// The narrowest width that lays text out in the same number of lines as it
+/// has at `maxWidth`. Wrapping text greedily leaves one long line and a stub
+/// ("taken." alone); at the narrowest width that still fits the same line
+/// count the lines come out even, which is what CSS `text-wrap: balance`
+/// does. `measure` returns the text's height at a width and must not grow
+/// as the width grows (greedy wrapping satisfies that).
+enum BalancedWidth {
+    static func narrowest(maxWidth: CGFloat, measure: (CGFloat) -> CGFloat) -> CGFloat {
+        let fullHeight = measure(maxWidth)
+        var low: CGFloat = 0
+        var high = maxWidth
+        while high - low > 1 {
+            let mid = (low + high) / 2
+            if measure(mid) <= fullHeight + 0.5 {
+                high = mid
+            } else {
+                low = mid
+            }
+        }
+        return high
+    }
+}
+
+struct BalancedTextLayout: Layout {
+    func sizeThatFits(proposal: ProposedViewSize, subviews: Subviews, cache: inout ()) -> CGSize {
+        guard let text = subviews.first else { return .zero }
+        // No finite width to balance against (an unconstrained measure).
+        guard let maxWidth = proposal.width, maxWidth.isFinite, maxWidth > 0 else {
+            return text.sizeThatFits(proposal)
+        }
+        let width = BalancedWidth.narrowest(maxWidth: maxWidth) {
+            text.sizeThatFits(ProposedViewSize(width: $0, height: nil)).height
+        }
+        return text.sizeThatFits(ProposedViewSize(width: width, height: nil))
+    }
+
+    func placeSubviews(in bounds: CGRect, proposal: ProposedViewSize, subviews: Subviews, cache: inout ()) {
+        subviews.first?.place(
+            at: bounds.origin,
+            anchor: .topLeading,
+            proposal: ProposedViewSize(width: bounds.width, height: bounds.height)
+        )
+    }
+}
+
+public extension View {
+    /// Wraps a multi-line `Text` so its lines come out even instead of
+    /// leaving a one-word last line. Apply it to the text itself, after
+    /// `multilineTextAlignment`, so the narrower block is centered by its
+    /// parent and each line is centered inside it:
+    ///
+    ///     Text(message).multilineTextAlignment(.center).balancedText()
+    ///
+    /// The kit applies it to every step header's title and headline.
+    func balancedText() -> some View {
+        BalancedTextLayout { self }
+    }
+}
diff --git a/Sources/HowdyKitUI/OnboardingStepView.swift b/Sources/HowdyKitUI/OnboardingStepView.swift
index 828d2b8..da2a71f 100644
--- a/Sources/HowdyKitUI/OnboardingStepView.swift
+++ b/Sources/HowdyKitUI/OnboardingStepView.swift
@@ -79,10 +79,12 @@ public struct OnboardingStepView<Content: View>: View {
                 .font(theme.titleFont)
                 .foregroundStyle(theme.primaryColor)
                 .multilineTextAlignment(.center)
+                .balancedText()
             if let headline = header.headline {
                 Text(headline)
                     .font(theme.headlineFont)
                     .multilineTextAlignment(.center)
+                    .balancedText()
             }
         }
     }
diff --git a/Tests/HowdyKitUITests/BalancedTextTests.swift b/Tests/HowdyKitUITests/BalancedTextTests.swift
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..21b9c46
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Tests/HowdyKitUITests/BalancedTextTests.swift
@@ -0,0 +1,74 @@
+import CoreGraphics
+import Testing
+@testable import HowdyKitUI
+
+@Suite("BalancedWidth")
+struct BalancedTextTests {
+    private let charWidth: CGFloat = 10
+    private let lineHeight: CGFloat = 20
+
+    /// Greedy word wrap with fixed-width characters, the same shape of
+    /// problem a real text layout solves.
+    private func lines(_ text: String, at width: CGFloat) -> [String] {
+        let perLine = max(1, Int(width / charWidth))
+        var result: [String] = []
+        var current = ""
+        for word in text.split(separator: " ") {
+            let candidate = current.isEmpty ? String(word) : current + " " + word
+            if candidate.count <= perLine || current.isEmpty {
+                current = candidate
+            } else {
+                result.append(current)
+                current = String(word)
+            }
+        }
+        if !current.isEmpty { result.append(current) }
+        return result
+    }
+
+    private func measure(_ text: String) -> (CGFloat) -> CGFloat {
+        { width in CGFloat(lines(text, at: width).count) * lineHeight }
+    }
+
+    private let sentence = "Dolly lines up your location history with each photo's timestamp and suggests where it was taken."
+
+    /// At 49 characters per line the sentence wraps to three lines with
+    /// "taken." alone on the last (at 50 it fits on two).
+    private let orphanWidth: CGFloat = 490
+
+    @Test("Keeps the line count the text has at full width")
+    func keepsLineCount() {
+        let full = lines(sentence, at: orphanWidth)
+        let width = BalancedWidth.narrowest(maxWidth: orphanWidth, measure: measure(sentence))
+        #expect(lines(sentence, at: width).count == full.count)
+        #expect(width <= orphanWidth)
+    }
+
+    @Test("Pulls a one-word last line up into an even block")
+    func fixesOrphan() throws {
+        let greedy = lines(sentence, at: orphanWidth)
+        #expect(greedy.count == 3)
+        #expect(greedy.last == "taken.")
+
+        let width = BalancedWidth.narrowest(maxWidth: orphanWidth, measure: measure(sentence))
+        let balanced = lines(sentence, at: width)
+        let last = try #require(balanced.last)
+        #expect(last.split(separator: " ").count > 1)
+        #expect(last.count * 2 >= (balanced.map(\.count).max() ?? 0))
+    }
+
+    @Test("A single line shrinks to its own width, no narrower")
+    func singleLine() {
+        let text = "Photo Library"
+        let width = BalancedWidth.narrowest(maxWidth: 340, measure: measure(text))
+        #expect(lines(text, at: width).count == 1)
+        #expect(width >= CGFloat(text.count) * charWidth - 1)
+        #expect(width < 340)
+    }
+
+    @Test("A width too small for any wrap change returns it unchanged")
+    func tinyWidth() {
+        let width = BalancedWidth.narrowest(maxWidth: 1, measure: measure(sentence))
+        #expect(width == 1)
+    }
+}