To count business days between two dates, count the weekdays (Monday through Friday), subtract any federal holidays that land on those weekdays using their observed dates, and decide up front whether the start and end dates are included. Done that way, 2026 has 250 business days: 261 weekdays minus 11 federal holidays.
That is the standard US definition, but it is not the only one. Banks, courts and individual contracts each bend the rule in their own way, and the differences can move a deadline by a day or more.
What counts as a business day
In everyday US usage, a business day is a weekday that is not a federal holiday. The 11 annual federal holidays are listed in the table below this guide, and the federal holidays guide explains each one.
Two details trip people up:
- Observed dates. When a fixed-date holiday falls on a Saturday, federal employees get the Friday before off; when it falls on a Sunday, they get the Monday after. In 2026, Independence Day is a Saturday, so Friday, July 3 is the day removed from the business-day count.
- Days that feel like holidays but are not. The day after Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve are not federal holidays. Under the federal definition, Black Friday is a business day even though many offices close.
Inauguration Day and state holidays are also left out of the standard count. If your deadline is set by a state agency or a contract, use the holiday list that agency or contract names.
Step by step: counting business days by hand
The fastest manual method works in whole weeks, because every full week contains exactly five weekdays.
- Decide what is included. Write down whether the first day counts, the last day counts, or both.
- Count the calendar days in the range.
- Split them into full weeks and leftover days. Multiply the full weeks by 5.
- Add the leftover days that are weekdays.
- Subtract federal holidays whose observed dates fall on weekdays inside the range.
Worked example: January 5 to March 27, 2026
Count both dates. January 5, 2026 is a Monday and March 27, 2026 is a Friday.
- Calendar days: 27 in January (5 through 31), 28 in February and 27 in March (1 through 27), for 82 days.
- 82 days is 11 full weeks (77 days) plus 5 days. Eleven weeks give 11 × 5 = 55 weekdays.
- The 5 leftover days are Monday, March 23 through Friday, March 27, all weekdays. Running total: 60.
- Two federal holidays fall inside the range: Martin Luther King Jr. Day on Monday, January 19 and Washington’s Birthday on Monday, February 16.
- Result: 60 − 2 = 58 business days.
Worked example: November 2026
November 1, 2026 is a Sunday. The month’s 30 days contain four full weeks from Monday, November 2 through Friday, November 27 (20 weekdays), plus Monday, November 30, for 21 weekdays. Veterans Day (Wednesday, November 11) and Thanksgiving (Thursday, November 26) come out, leaving 19 business days. The 2026 calendar shows the same month with both holidays marked.
Adding business days to find a deadline
Many “within X business days” promises start counting on the next business day after the triggering day, so the order date itself is day zero.
Take an order placed on Wednesday, December 23, 2026 that ships “within 5 business days”:
| Count | Date | Note |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Thursday, December 24 | Christmas Eve is not a federal holiday |
| skip | Friday, December 25 | Christmas Day |
| skip | December 26 and 27 | Weekend |
| 2 | Monday, December 28 | |
| 3 | Tuesday, December 29 | |
| 4 | Wednesday, December 30 | |
| 5 | Thursday, December 31 | Deadline |
The deadline is Thursday, December 31, 2026. If the shipment slips by one business day, it lands on Monday, January 4, 2027, because New Year’s Day 2027 is a Friday. One business day becomes four calendar days.
A second check: 10 business days after Friday, November 20, 2026 runs through Thanksgiving week (skipping Thursday the 26th but counting Friday the 27th) and ends on Monday, December 7, 2026.
Court deadlines usually count calendar days
Federal civil court deadlines stated in days do not use business days at all. Rule 6(a) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure says to exclude the day of the triggering event, count every day including weekends and legal holidays, and include the last day. If the last day is a Saturday, Sunday or legal holiday, the period runs to the end of the next day that is not.
A 2009 amendment created that single method. Before it, periods shorter than 11 days skipped weekends and holidays while longer ones did not, and many short deadlines were lengthened, often to 14 days, to make up for the change.
Example: a 14-day period triggered on Monday, August 24, 2026 reaches its 14th day on Monday, September 7, 2026. That is Labor Day, so the deadline moves to Tuesday, September 8. State courts and agencies have their own rules, so always read the rule that governs your case.
Banking days and the Federal Reserve schedule
The Federal Reserve observes the same 11 holidays but treats Saturday holidays differently. When a holiday falls on a Sunday, all Federal Reserve offices close the following Monday. When it falls on a Saturday, the Federal Reserve Banks and Branches stay open on the Friday before, even though the Board of Governors closes.
That changes the count:
- 2026: Federal employees have Friday, July 3 off for Independence Day, but Reserve Banks are open. Result: 250 federal business days, 251 Federal Reserve banking days.
- 2027: Juneteenth (June 19), Christmas (December 25) and New Year’s Day 2028 (January 1) all fall on Saturdays. Federal employees get June 18, December 24 and December 31, 2027 off, but Reserve Banks open on all three. Result: 249 federal business days, 252 Federal Reserve banking days.
Many banks plan payment processing around the Federal Reserve schedule, but each bank sets its own branch hours. For a payment deadline, check your bank’s own holiday calendar.
How many working days are in a US year
A year always contains 52 full weeks (260 weekdays) plus one extra day, or two in a leap year. Those extra days decide the total:
- A common year has 261 weekdays if it starts on a weekday and 260 if it starts on a Saturday or Sunday.
- A leap year has 262 if it starts Monday through Thursday, 261 if it starts on Friday or Sunday, and 260 if it starts on Saturday.
After federal holidays come out, every year from 1990 to 2035 lands between 249 and 252 business days, most often 250 or 251.
| Year | Weekdays | Federal days off | Business days |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 261 | 12 | 249 |
| 2022 | 260 | 10 | 250 |
| 2023 | 260 | 11 | 249 |
| 2024 | 262 | 11 | 251 |
| 2025 | 261 | 11 | 250 |
| 2026 | 261 | 11 | 250 |
| 2027 | 261 | 12 | 249 |
The years with 12 days off pick up an extra observed New Year’s Day. January 1, 2022 and January 1, 2028 were Saturdays, so federal employees had December 31, 2021 and December 31, 2027 off. The following years (2022 and 2028) lose that holiday from their own count. Each year page, such as the 2027 calendar, lists its exact business-day total.
For federal pay, the Office of Personnel Management turns this variation into a single number. A 1981 study found that a 28-year calendar cycle holds 4 years with 262 workdays, 17 with 261 and 7 with 260. That averages about 2,087.14 hours of 8-hour days, so 5 U.S.C. 5504(b) sets 2,087 hours as the divisor for converting an annual salary into an hourly rate.
Payroll calendars and holiday paydays
Pay frequency decides how many paydays a year holds: 52 for weekly pay (53 in some years), 26 for biweekly pay (27 in some years), 24 for semimonthly pay and 12 for monthly pay.
The 27th biweekly payday appears when a year has 53 of the payday weekday and the schedule hits the first one. 2027 starts on a Friday and has 53 Fridays. A biweekly schedule with a payday on Friday, January 1, 2027 would have 26 more, ending on Friday, December 31, 2027, which is exactly 364 days later.
When a payday falls on a weekend or holiday, many employers pay on the previous business day. With a semimonthly payday on the 15th, August 15, 2026 is a Saturday, so that payday would typically move to Friday, August 14. Your employer’s written pay policy is the final word.
Counting business days in a spreadsheet
Excel’s NETWORKDAYS function takes a start date, an end date and an optional list of holidays, and it counts both the start and end dates. Microsoft’s own example runs from October 1, 2012 to March 1, 2013 and returns 110 working days, or 109 when Thanksgiving (November 22, 2012) is listed as a holiday.
Three habits prevent most errors:
- Enter holidays as real dates, not text, and use observed dates.
- Use NETWORKDAYS.INTL when the workweek is not Monday to Friday.
- Use WORKDAY to add a number of business days to a date, as in the shipping example above.
If you would rather skip the formulas, the days between dates calculator reports calendar days, weeks and business days, skipping the 11 federal holidays on their observed weekdays from 1990 to 2035. By default it counts elapsed days, so the start date is not counted and the end date is, with an option to include both.
Frequently asked questions
How many business days are in 2026?
There are 250 federal business days in 2026. The year has 261 weekdays, and all 11 federal holidays fall on weekdays once observed dates are applied; Independence Day lands on a Saturday, so federal employees have Friday, July 3 off instead. Federal Reserve Banks stay open that Friday, which gives 2026 251 Federal Reserve banking days.
Is the day after Thanksgiving a business day?
Under the federal definition, yes. The Friday after Thanksgiving is not one of the 11 legal public holidays, so it counts as a business day for federal deadline purposes even though many employers and schools close. A contract or company policy can treat it differently, so check the definition that applies to your deadline.
Do you count the first day when counting business days?
It depends on the rule you are following. Many shipping and processing promises start counting on the next business day after the order or request. Excel's NETWORKDAYS counts both the start and end dates. Federal court rules exclude the day of the triggering event and include the last day.
Are banks open when a federal holiday falls on a Saturday?
Federal Reserve Banks and Branches stay open on the Friday before a Saturday holiday, even though most federal employees have that Friday off. When a holiday falls on a Sunday, all Federal Reserve offices close the following Monday. Individual banks set their own branch hours, so confirm with your bank.
How many working hours are in a year?
For federal pay, the Office of Personnel Management uses 2,087 hours. A 1981 study found that over a 28-year calendar cycle there are 4 years with 262 workdays, 17 with 261 and 7 with 260, which averages about 2,087.14 hours of 8-hour days. Federal law fixes 2,087 as the divisor for converting annual pay to an hourly rate.
Sources
- Holidays Observed by the Federal Reserve System - Federal Reserve Board
- Federal Holidays - US Office of Personnel Management
- Computing Hourly Rates of Pay Using the 2,087-Hour Divisor - OPM
- Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, Rule 6: Computing and Extending Time - Cornell LII
- NETWORKDAYS function - Microsoft Support
Calculated examples were checked against the Old Calendars date engine. See our editorial policy for how we research and correct pages.