diff --git a/parquet/src/arrow/arrow_writer/levels.rs b/parquet/src/arrow/arrow_writer/levels.rs
index 1f66de349df0..7222bffe1196 100644
--- a/parquet/src/arrow/arrow_writer/levels.rs
+++ b/parquet/src/arrow/arrow_writer/levels.rs
@@ -153,6 +153,13 @@ enum LevelInfoBuilder {
     Struct(Vec<LevelInfoBuilder>, LevelContext, Option<NullBuffer>),
 }
 
+/// Minimum sub-range length before the bulk-fill fast path in `write_leaf`
+/// becomes profitable for null-heavy leaf columns. Below this, per-call
+/// slice + popcount overhead regresses list/struct paths that call
+/// `write_leaf` many times with tiny ranges. Picked via threshold sweep;
+/// see <https://github.com/apache/arrow-rs/pull/9967> for the rationale.
+const BULK_FILL_MIN_LEN: usize = 64;
+
 impl LevelInfoBuilder {
     /// Create a new [`LevelInfoBuilder`] for the given [`Field`] and parent [`LevelContext`]
     fn try_new(field: &Field, parent_ctx: LevelContext, array: &ArrayRef) -> Result<Self> {
@@ -645,20 +652,43 @@ impl LevelInfoBuilder {
             match &info.logical_nulls {
                 Some(nulls) => {
                     assert!(range.end <= nulls.len());
-                    let nulls = nulls.inner();
-                    info.def_levels.extend_from_iter(range.clone().map(|i| {
-                        // Safety: range.end was asserted to be in bounds earlier
-                        let valid = unsafe { nulls.value_unchecked(i) };
-                        max_def_level - (!valid as i16)
-                    }));
-                    info.non_null_indices.reserve(len);
-                    info.non_null_indices.extend(
-                        BitIndexIterator::new(nulls.inner(), nulls.offset() + range.start, len)
-                            .map(|i| i + range.start),
-                    );
+                    // Bulk-fill is profitable only on null-heavy ranges long enough to
+                    // amortize the slice/popcount cost; see `BULK_FILL_MIN_LEN` and the
+                    // PR description for the threshold sweep. The gate uses the cached
+                    // buffer-wide `null_count` (O(1)) to stay cheap on the cold path.
+                    if len >= BULK_FILL_MIN_LEN && nulls.null_count() * 2 >= nulls.len() {
+                        let range_nulls = nulls.slice(range.start, len);
+                        let valid_in_range = len - range_nulls.null_count();
+                        let null_def_level = max_def_level - 1;
+                        let buf = info
+                            .def_levels
+                            .materialize_mut()
+                            .expect("definition levels present");
+                        let base = buf.len();
+                        buf.resize(base + len, null_def_level);
+                        for i in range_nulls.valid_indices() {
+                            buf[base + i] = max_def_level;
+                        }
+                        info.non_null_indices.reserve(valid_in_range);
+                        info.non_null_indices
+                            .extend(range_nulls.valid_indices().map(|i| i + range.start));
+                    } else {
+                        let bits = nulls.inner();
+                        info.def_levels.extend_from_iter(range.clone().map(|i| {
+                            // Safety: range.end was asserted to be in bounds earlier
+                            let valid = unsafe { bits.value_unchecked(i) };
+                            max_def_level - (!valid as i16)
+                        }));
+                        info.non_null_indices.reserve(len);
+                        info.non_null_indices.extend(
+                            BitIndexIterator::new(bits.inner(), bits.offset() + range.start, len)
+                                .map(|i| i + range.start),
+                        );
+                    }
                 }
                 None => {
                     info.append_def_level_run(max_def_level, len);
+                    info.non_null_indices.reserve(len);
                     info.non_null_indices.extend(range.clone());
                 }
             }