How many working days are in a year? (2024, 2025, and 2026) 📆-
Introduction 👋
Understanding the number of working days are in a year can be really important for planning your year.
Knowing how many working days there are can help with things like:
- planning your holidays 🏖️
- setting work schedules 📆
- working out your pay 💷
- setting targets for your work 🎯
The number of working days in a year can be different depending on the country, the specific year, and the number of public holidays in place for your country.
Here’s how to figure it out! 📆
Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal or professional advice. The number of working days may vary based on specific holidays, employment contracts, and individual circumstances. Please verify calculations based on your personal situation and consult relevant resources or professionals for precise information.
What are working days? 💼
Working days are the days of the week, typically Monday to Friday, when most people go to work.
Your working days don’t include weekends or public holidays e.g. Boxing day.
How to calculate working days 📆
A normal year has 365 days, and a leap year (which happens every 4 years) has 366 days.
Most people work Monday to Friday, with weekends off, so:
- In a regular year, there are 52 weeks, which gives us 260 working days (52 weeks × 5 workdays).
- In a leap year, we usually still have 260 working days because February 29 also falls on a weekday.
This is the basic number, but it doesn’t consider public holidays yet.
Public holidays 🏖️
Public holidays are different between the UK and USA, and even within regions of these countries. 🗺️
These holidays are important to take away from the total number of working days, since most people don’t work on public holidays.
- UK (England and Wales) usually has 8 public holidays each year.
- USA typically has 10 federal holidays each year, although some states or employers may allow more or less than this.
So, let’s calculate the actual working days for 2024, 2025, and 2026 for both the UK and the USA.
2024: total working days 💼
2024 is a leap year, meaning there are 366 days.
UK (England and Wales):
- Total weekdays: 260
- Public holidays: 8 (New Year’s Day, Good Friday, Easter Monday, Early May Bank Holiday, Spring Bank Holiday, Summer Bank Holiday, Christmas Day, Boxing Day)
- Working days:
260 – 8 = 252 working days
USA:
- Total weekdays: 260
- Federal holidays: 10 (New Year’s Day, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Presidents’ Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Veterans Day, Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day, Juneteenth)
- Working days:
260 – 10 = 250 working days
2025: total working days 💼
2025 is a normal year with 365 days.
UK (England and Wales):
- Total weekdays: 260
- Public holidays: 8
- Working days:
260 – 8 = 252 working days
USA:
- Total weekdays: 260
- Federal holidays: 10
- Working days:
260 – 10 = 250 working days
2026: total working days💼
2026 is also a normal year with 365 days.
UK (England and Wales):
- Total weekdays: 260
- Public holidays: 8
- Working days:
260 – 8 = 252 working days
USA:
- Total weekdays: 260
- Federal holidays: 10
- Working days:
260 – 10 = 250 working days
Holiday days/annual leave ✈️
On top of public holidays, most full-time workers in both countries receive “annual leave” or “vacation” days.
- In the UK, employees are usually entitled to 28 days of leave per year (which may include public holidays).
- In the USA, the amount of vacation time varies by employer, but many offer about 10–15 days of paid leave.
Let’s see how this affects the total number of working days.
UK (with annual leave):
- 252 working days minus 28 days of leave = 224 actual working days in a year (for those who take the full amount of leave).
USA (with vacation days):
- 250 working days minus 15 days of vacation = 235 actual working days in a year (for those with 15 vacation days).
Summary of working days for 2024, 2025, and 2026 💼
| Year | UK (Calculated working days) | USA (Calculated working days) |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 252 days | 250 days |
| 2025 | 252 days | 250 days |
| 2026 | 252 days | 250 days |
These numbers represent the typical number of working days after considering public holidays, but before factoring in holiday days or annual leave. 📆
The actual number of days you’ll work each year will be lower if you take your full entitlement of holidays/annual leave. ✈️
By knowing the number of working days in the year, you can better plan your year, manage your workload, and make the most of your time! ⌚
Conclusion 👍
So that’s it!
Hopefully this article has helped you to understand how many working days there are in a year.
If you know any friends or family members who would benefit from learning how many working days there are in a year, share this post with them!
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