How many business days are in a year?

About 250. A year has 365 or 366 days, of which roughly 104 are weekend days, leaving about 261 weekdays. Subtract the eleven federal holidays and you land near 250 — though the exact figure moves by a day or two each year depending on how the weekends fall and how many holidays land on a weekend.

Are both the start and end dates counted?

Yes. This calculator counts inclusively, so Monday to Friday is five business days. That matches how leave and processing windows are normally described. If you need the plain gap between two dates instead, subtract one.

Do business days include federal holidays?

No, not when the holiday exclusion is on. Weekends and observed federal holidays are both removed. You can turn the holiday exclusion off if you only want to exclude weekends, which is how some contracts define a working day.

How many business days are in a month?

Between 19 and 23, most commonly 21 or 22. February in a non-leap year starting on a Monday has exactly 20; a 31-day month starting on a Friday can reach 23. This is why monthly capacity planning based on a flat "22 working days" drifts over the course of a year.

Business Days Calculator (Excludes Weekends & US Holidays)

Calculate the number of business days between two dates, excluding weekends and observed US federal holidays.

Start Date

End Date

Exclude US Federal Holidays

Both the start and end dates are counted. Business days, weekends and holidays add up to the calendar total.

Business Days

Calendar Days

Weekends

Holidays

2026 US Federal Holidays (observed)

New Year's Day (Jan 1)

MLK Day (Jan 19)

Presidents Day (Feb 16)

Memorial Day (May 25)

Juneteenth (Jun 19)

Independence Day (Jul 3, observed)

Labor Day (Sep 7)

Columbus Day (Oct 12)

Veterans Day (Nov 11)

Thanksgiving (Nov 26)

Christmas (Dec 25)

Calculations also cover 2025 and 2027. When a holiday falls on a Saturday it is observed the preceding Friday; on a Sunday, the following Monday.

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What is Business Days Between Dates?

A business day count answers a different question from a calendar day count: not how much time has passed, but how much working time. For anything measured in delivery windows, processing times, notice periods or project schedules, that is the number that matters.

The count here excludes Saturdays, Sundays and observed US federal holidays. Both the start and end dates are included, so a Monday-to-Friday range is five business days rather than four.

The rule of thumb is that a calendar span contains about five business days for every seven days, minus roughly eleven holidays a year. Over a full year: 365 calendar days, about 261 weekdays, about 250 business days.

The formula — how to calculate Business Days Between Dates

Business days = Σ days in range where day is Monday–Friday AND day is not an observed federal holiday Calendar days = Business days + Weekend days + Holidays

Range: = inclusive of both the start and end dates
Observed holiday: = the day the holiday is actually taken, which shifts when it falls at a weekend

Because the range is inclusive, the three categories add up exactly to the calendar total. If they do not, something is being counted twice or dropped.

Step-by-step example

01From Monday 1 June 2026 to Friday 3 July 2026.
02Calendar days, counting both ends: 33.
03Weekend days in that span: 8 — four Saturdays and four Sundays.
04Observed holidays: 2 — Juneteenth on Friday 19 June, and Independence Day observed on Friday 3 July because 4 July falls on a Saturday.
05Business days: 33 − 8 − 2 = 23.
06So a "20 business day" processing window opened on 1 June would close on Monday 29 June. Someone reading it as 20 calendar days would have expected 20 June — nine days early, and on a Saturday at that.

The eleven federal holidays

Federal holidays fall into two kinds, and the difference determines whether the date moves.

US federal holidays

Holiday	Rule	Moves?
New Year's Day	1 January	Yes, if at a weekend
Martin Luther King Jr. Day	Third Monday in January	No — always a Monday
Presidents Day	Third Monday in February	No
Memorial Day	Last Monday in May	No
Juneteenth	19 June	Yes
Independence Day	4 July	Yes
Labor Day	First Monday in September	No
Columbus Day	Second Monday in October	No
Veterans Day	11 November	Yes
Thanksgiving	Fourth Thursday in November	No
Christmas Day	25 December	Yes

Fixed-date holidays falling on a Saturday are observed the preceding Friday; on a Sunday, the following Monday. Six of the eleven are pinned to a weekday and never move.

A quirk worth knowing

When 1 January falls on a Saturday, it is observed on the preceding Friday — which is 31 December of the previous year. So a year can contain a federal holiday for a New Year's Day that has not happened yet. It catches out both people and code.

Where business day counts are used

Shipping and fulfilment —: "ships in 3-5 business days" excludes weekends, so an order placed Friday afternoon may not move until the following Wednesday.
Payment settlement —: ACH transfers and cheque clearing count business days because the banking system does not run at weekends or on federal holidays.
Contractual notice —: many commercial agreements specify business days for cure periods and objections, precisely so the recipient gets working time to respond.
Employment —: notice periods, probation reviews and statutory response windows are frequently expressed in working days.
Project scheduling —: effort estimates are in working days; a 40-day project is eight weeks of calendar time, not six.

What this count does not know

Federal holidays are a floor, not the whole picture.

State holidays are additional and vary widely — Patriots' Day in Massachusetts and Maine, Cesar Chavez Day in California, Emancipation Day in Washington DC, which notably shifts the federal tax filing deadline in some years.

Company holidays vary again. Many employers close between Christmas and New Year, observe Good Friday, or grant floating days that appear on no public calendar.

Neither does this account for a five-day week that is not Monday to Friday. Some industries and some countries run different working weeks; in much of the Middle East the weekend falls on Friday and Saturday.

For anything where the exact day matters legally or financially, count with the relevant calendar rather than a generic one.

Common mistakes to avoid

Counting only the days between the endpoints when the period is meant to include both.
Using the nominal holiday date rather than the observed one.
Assuming federal holidays are the complete list. State and company holidays are not included.
Reading "3-5 business days" as "3-5 days" — the difference is often the whole weekend plus part of a week.
Building a schedule on 260 working days a year without deducting the holidays, overstating capacity by about two weeks.

Frequently asked questions

Sources & references

Written and fact-checked by the CalcProLabs Editorial Team. Read our calculation methodology and editorial policy.

Last updated August 7, 2026