diff --git a/app/api/v1/endpoints/admin_metadata.py b/app/api/v1/endpoints/admin_metadata.py
index 81c9a1c..a69579e 100644
--- a/app/api/v1/endpoints/admin_metadata.py
+++ b/app/api/v1/endpoints/admin_metadata.py
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ from sqlalchemy.engine.url import make_url
 from sqlalchemy.exc import IntegrityError, SQLAlchemyError
 from sqlalchemy.ext.asyncio import create_async_engine
 
+from app.api.pagination import PaginatedList
 from app.auth.metadata_dependencies import (
     get_current_metadata_admin,
     get_metadata_repository,
@@ -236,7 +237,9 @@ async def list_metadata_users(
     metadata_repo: MetadataRepository = Depends(get_metadata_repository),
 ) -> List[MetadataUserResponse]:
     users = await metadata_repo.list_users(skip=skip, limit=limit)
-    return [MetadataUserResponse.model_validate(user) for user in users]
+    total = await metadata_repo.count_users()
+    items = [MetadataUserResponse.model_validate(user) for user in users]
+    return PaginatedList(items, total=total)
 
 
 @router.get("/admin/projects", response_model=List[AdminProjectResponse])
diff --git a/app/infra/db/metadb/repositories/metadata_repository.py b/app/infra/db/metadb/repositories/metadata_repository.py
index 469683f..b75240f 100644
--- a/app/infra/db/metadb/repositories/metadata_repository.py
+++ b/app/infra/db/metadb/repositories/metadata_repository.py
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ from typing import Optional, List
 from uuid import UUID, uuid4
 
 from cryptography.fernet import InvalidToken
-from sqlalchemy import delete, select
+from sqlalchemy import delete, func, select
 from sqlalchemy.ext.asyncio import AsyncSession
 
 from app.core.encryption import (
@@ -122,6 +122,12 @@ class MetadataRepository:
         )
         return list(result.scalars().all())
 
+    async def count_users(self) -> int:
+        result = await self.session.execute(
+            select(func.count()).select_from(models.User)
+        )
+        return int(result.scalar() or 0)
+
     async def upsert_user_from_keycloak(
         self,
         *,
diff --git a/tests/api/test_admin_metadata_endpoints.py b/tests/api/test_admin_metadata_endpoints.py
index 70161dc..3db355c 100644
--- a/tests/api/test_admin_metadata_endpoints.py
+++ b/tests/api/test_admin_metadata_endpoints.py
@@ -7,8 +7,9 @@ import pytest
 from fastapi import HTTPException
 from fastapi import Response
 
-from app.auth.metadata_dependencies import get_current_metadata_admin
 from app.api.v1.endpoints import admin_metadata
+from app.api.pagination import PaginatedList
+from app.auth.metadata_dependencies import get_current_metadata_admin
 from app.domain.schemas.admin_metadata import (
     AdminProjectCreateRequest,
     MetadataUsersBatchSyncRequest,
@@ -83,6 +84,28 @@ def test_to_async_sqlalchemy_url_preserves_password():
     assert "***" not in url
 
 
+@pytest.mark.anyio
+async def test_list_metadata_users_returns_page_with_real_total():
+    users = [_user(username="alice"), _user(username="bob")]
+    repo = SimpleNamespace(
+        list_users=AsyncMock(return_value=users),
+        count_users=AsyncMock(return_value=7),
+    )
+
+    response = await admin_metadata.list_metadata_users(
+        skip=2,
+        limit=2,
+        current_user=_user(role="admin", is_superuser=True),
+        metadata_repo=repo,
+    )
+
+    assert isinstance(response, PaginatedList)
+    assert response.total == 7
+    assert [item.username for item in response] == ["alice", "bob"]
+    repo.list_users.assert_awaited_once_with(skip=2, limit=2)
+    repo.count_users.assert_awaited_once_with()
+
+
 @pytest.mark.anyio
 async def test_sync_metadata_user_upserts_without_password(monkeypatch):
     keycloak_id = uuid4()