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How to use the working days in a year
- Choose the year and, if you want one month, the month.
- Choose which days are off each week and whether US federal holidays are taken out.
- Enter hours a day, an unpaid break, paid days off and an hourly rate if you want hours and pay.
- Read the working days, the month-by-month table and the holidays taken out, then copy or print it.
How many working days are in a year?
The tool counts every calendar date in the year or month, takes out the weekend days you choose (Saturday and Sunday, Sunday only, or Friday and Saturday) and, if you choose them, the 11 US federal holidays. A holiday that falls on a Saturday is observed on the Friday before and one on a Sunday on the Monday after; a holiday on a day off is not counted twice. Paid days off you enter are subtracted from the working days. Hours are days worked times hours a day less any unpaid break, and pay is hours times the hourly rate. Your employer may observe a different holiday list, so use the no-holidays option and take out your own days if it does.
For example, 2026 has 365 days and 261 weekdays. Taking out the 11 US federal holidays leaves 250 working days, which is 2,000 hours at 8 hours a day. July 2026 has 23 weekdays, and because July 4 is a Saturday it is observed on Friday, July 3, which leaves 22 working days. The year and hours are examples; yours come from what you choose.
Who should use the working days in a year
- Payroll staff and HR working out hours or pay for a year or a month
- Employees and managers checking how many days they will work
- Anyone planning a project, a contract or leave against the working calendar
Who should not use this
- Anyone who needs the working days between two exact dates; use the working days calculator
- Employers with a different holiday list or shift pattern, unless they adjust it with the no-holidays option
- Anyone who needs a legally binding count; contracts and courts define business days their own way
Limitations
- Only the 11 US federal holidays are built in. State holidays and company closures are not included.
- Years 2024 to 2030 are supported.
- Pay is hours times the hourly rate before tax; it ignores overtime, shift pay and bonuses.
- Results are estimates, not legal, tax or payroll advice.
- Nothing is uploaded or stored on a server. Clearing your browser data also removes the saved profile.
How many working days are in a year?
2026 has 365 days and 261 weekdays (Monday to Friday). With the 11 US federal holidays taken out, that leaves 250 working days, or 2,000 hours at 8 hours a day. 2027 has 261 weekdays but 12 federal holidays fall on weekdays, so 249 working days.
| Year | Days | Weekdays | Holidays | Working days | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 365 | 261 | 11 | 250 | 2,000 |
| 2026 | 365 | 261 | 11 | 250 | 2,000 |
| 2027 | 365 | 261 | 12 | 249 | 1,992 |
| 2028 | 366 | 260 | 10 | 250 | 2,000 |
| 2029 | 365 | 261 | 11 | 250 | 2,000 |
| 2030 | 365 | 261 | 11 | 250 | 2,000 |
The number moves from year to year because of where weekends fall. A year that starts on a Thursday, such as 2026, has 261 weekdays. A leap year that starts on a Monday, such as 2024, has 262. The federal holidays then come out of whichever weekdays they fall on.
How do you calculate the working days in a year?
Count the days in the year, take out the weekend days, then take out the holidays that fall on a working day. For 2026 that is 365 − 104 weekend days = 261 weekdays, then 261 − 11 holidays = 250 working days. A holiday that lands on a weekend does not count twice.
With no holidays at all, 2026 has 261 working days. In a six-day week with only Sunday off it has 302, before holidays.
Working days calculatorTo count the working days between two dates, or add working days to a date, use the working days calculator.How many working days are in each month?
Months vary from 19 to 22 working days in 2026. July 2026 has 23 weekdays, and because July 4 is a Saturday the holiday is observed on Friday, July 3, which leaves 22 working days.
| Month | Weekdays | Holidays | Working days | Hours at 8 a day |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 22 | 2 | 20 | 160 |
| February | 20 | 1 | 19 | 152 |
| March | 22 | 0 | 22 | 176 |
| April | 22 | 0 | 22 | 176 |
| May | 21 | 1 | 20 | 160 |
| June | 22 | 1 | 21 | 168 |
| July | 23 | 1 | 22 | 176 |
| August | 21 | 0 | 21 | 168 |
| September | 22 | 1 | 21 | 168 |
| October | 22 | 1 | 21 | 168 |
| November | 21 | 2 | 19 | 152 |
| December | 23 | 1 | 22 | 176 |
Which holidays are taken out?
The calculator takes out the 11 US federal holidays. When one falls on a Saturday it is observed on the Friday before, and when one falls on a Sunday it is observed on the Monday after. Your employer may observe a different list, so use the no-holidays option and take out your own days if it does.
| Date | Holiday |
|---|---|
| January 1 | New Year's Day |
| January 19 | Martin Luther King Jr. Day |
| February 16 | Washington's Birthday |
| May 25 | Memorial Day |
| June 19 | Juneteenth |
| July 3 | Independence Day (observed) |
| September 7 | Labor Day |
| October 12 | Columbus Day |
| November 11 | Veterans Day |
| November 26 | Thanksgiving Day |
| December 25 | Christmas Day |
Are work days, working days and business days the same?
In everyday use, yes: work days, working days and business days all mean the days a business is normally open, which is Monday to Friday without public holidays. A weekday is any Monday to Friday, holiday or not. So 2026 has 261 weekdays, and 250 work days or business days once the 11 federal holidays are out.
Contracts and laws sometimes define a business day differently, for example by excluding a bank holiday that a company still works. Read the wording that applies to you.
How many working days are in a leap year?
A leap year has 366 days, which is one extra day, so it can add a weekday or not. 2024 had 262 weekdays and 251 working days with federal holidays out. 2028 has 260 weekdays and 250 working days: 2028 starts on a Saturday, so New Year’s Day is observed on Friday, December 31, 2027 and does not take a day out of 2028.
How do vacation days, sick days and PTO change the count?
Work days are counted in three steps. Take the weekends out of the year, take the federal holidays out, then take out the vacation days, sick days, personal days and other paid time off (PTO) you expect to use. 2026 has 250 working days; with 15 vacation days and 5 sick days that leaves 230 days worked, or 1,840 hours at 8 hours a day.
Unpaid time off comes out the same way. Enter the total days off in the calculator and it subtracts them from the working days, never below zero.
How do you use working days for planning and capacity?
Working days are the base for capacity, forecasts and deadlines. A person with 230 days worked has 1,840 hours of capacity in 2026. If, for example, 75% of those hours are billable, that is 1,380 billable hours; the 75% is an assumption for the example, so use your own figure. Multiply the billable hours by a rate to forecast income, and divide a project’s hours by the hours in a working day to estimate how many days it needs.
How do working days turn into hours and pay?
Multiply working days by hours a day. 250 days at 8 hours is 2,000 hours. The common 2,080-hour figure is 260 weekdays at 8 hours and does not take the holidays out, so it is a paid-year figure for someone paid for holidays. Taking 15 days of paid time off leaves 235 days worked, 1,880 hours.
| Hourly rate | All 250 working days | After 15 days off | At 2,080 hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| $15 | $30,000 | $28,200 | $31,200 |
| $20 | $40,000 | $37,600 | $41,600 |
| $25 | $50,000 | $47,000 | $52,000 |
| $35 | $70,000 | $65,800 | $72,800 |
Sources and review
Reviewed on 02 Nov 2026 against the published sources below. Rules and prices change, so check the current position before you rely on a figure.
- U.S. Office of Personnel Management: Federal holidays (observed dates when a holiday falls on a weekend)
- 5 U.S.C. 6103: Holidays (the federal holidays and the Saturday and Sunday observance rule)
Common questions
How many working days are in a year?
How many working days are in 2027?
How many working days are in a month?
How many working hours are in a year?
Are weekends counted as working days?
Does the count include public holidays?
How do I count working days when I take time off?
Why does the number of working days change each year?
How many business days are in a year?
How many working days are in a leap year?
How many work days are in a year after vacation and sick days?
Related tools
Results are estimates, not legal, tax, payroll or financial advice. They follow the rules and rates named under Sources, leave out anything the page does not mention (such as other income, credits, local rules or your employer’s own policy), and can differ from a payroll run, a tax return or an agency’s decision. See the disclaimer. Found a mistake? Report an error in a calculation.