Pick a month to see its business days, weekdays, and days off. U.S. federal holidays are removed, and you can change the weekly days off.
Weekdays vs. business days: how the month count works
This calculator counts the days you work in a month. It starts with the weekdays, which are the days that are not one of your weekly days off, and then takes away U.S. federal holidays and any dates you mark yourself. What is left is the number of business days.
The year view below the calendar lists all 12 months at once, with the total, the monthly average, and how many of each weekday the year contains. You can copy that summary or download it as a text file.
When you need a month's business days
Splitting monthly targets
Spread a sales goal or production quota across the months using each month's real number of working days.
Prorating pay or rent
Find how many working days fall in a partial period, or divide a monthly amount by the month's business days.
Planning sprints and deadlines
See how many working days a team really has in a month, and how many are left from today.
Shift and part-week schedules
Change the weekly days off for a Sunday to Thursday week, a six-day week, or a single day off.
How to count business days in a month in 4 steps
- Choose the month and year. The calendar and the count update right away.
- Under Weekly days off, select the days your week skips. Saturday and Sunday are selected by default.
- Leave Exclude U.S. federal holidays on, or switch it off, and use Choose holidays to drop any holiday your workplace does not observe.
- Click dates in the calendar to add your own days off, such as company holidays or vacation. Read the totals, or open the year view for all 12 months.
Note: Your settings are saved in this browser, so you only need to set them once.
How the counts are worked out
- Weekdays and business days: weekdays are the days that are not a weekly day off, with holidays left in. Business days are weekdays minus holidays and your own days off. Days off are the rest of the month.
- Holiday dates: the 11 federal holidays are worked out from their rules for each year from 2000 to 2099, such as the last Monday in May for Memorial Day. Juneteenth is counted from 2021.
- Observed dates: with the option on, a Saturday holiday moves to the Friday before and a Sunday holiday to the Monday after. The moved day can fall in the neighboring month or year, and the tool counts it there.
- Days by weekday: these are plain calendar counts and do not change with your days off or holidays.
- Left this month: when you view the current month, the result line shows the business days remaining, counting today, using your device's date.
- Saved settings: weekly days off, your own days off, holiday choices, hours per day, and the year start month are stored in this browser only.
Weekdays and business days by month, 2026 and 2027
Saturday and Sunday off, all 11 federal holidays excluded, observed dates on. These match the tool's default settings.
| Month | 2026 weekdays | 2026 business days | 2027 weekdays | 2027 business days |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 22 | 20 | 21 | 19 |
| February | 20 | 19 | 20 | 19 |
| March | 22 | 22 | 23 | 23 |
| April | 22 | 22 | 22 | 22 |
| May | 21 | 20 | 21 | 20 |
| June | 22 | 21 | 22 | 21 |
| July | 23 | 22 | 22 | 21 |
| August | 21 | 21 | 22 | 22 |
| September | 22 | 21 | 22 | 21 |
| October | 22 | 21 | 21 | 20 |
| November | 21 | 19 | 22 | 20 |
| December | 23 | 22 | 23 | 21 |
| Total | 261 | 250 | 261 | 249 |
Holidays that move. In 2026 Independence Day falls on Saturday, July 4, so the day off is Friday, July 3. In 2027 Juneteenth moves to Friday, June 18, Independence Day to Monday, July 5, and Christmas to Friday, December 24. New Year's Day 2028 also falls on a Saturday, so Friday, December 31, 2027 is counted in December 2027.
Your numbers may differ. If your employer does not observe every federal holiday, or adds its own, change the holiday choices or click dates in the calendar.
NETWORKDAYS, observed holidays, and the shortest months
How the same count is built in a spreadsheet, why a holiday can change the neighboring month, and which months run short.
NETWORKDAYS in Excel and Google Sheets
=NETWORKDAYS(start, end, holidays) counts the days from start to end, both included, that are not Saturday or Sunday and not in the holidays range. For a whole month, use =NETWORKDAYS(DATE(2026,3,1),EOMONTH(DATE(2026,3,1),0),Holidays).
For a week with different days off, use NETWORKDAYS.INTL. Compare a few months against this calculator to check your holiday list.
When a holiday falls on a weekend
Under the federal rule for a Monday to Friday schedule, a Saturday holiday is observed on Friday and a Sunday holiday on Monday. That is why 2026 loses Friday, July 3 and why December 2027 includes Friday, December 31 for New Year's Day 2028.
Switch off Use observed dates to see the count when only the holiday's own date is marked.
The months with the fewest business days
With the default settings, 2026 has its fewest business days, 19, in February and November. In 2027 the fewest, also 19, are in January and February. A month with 22 business days can sit right next to one with 19, so a flat 20 or 21 days per month misleads.
Common business day counting mistakes
Treating weekdays as business days
You use 261 weekdays for 2026 as the working days in the year, but 11 of them are federal holidays that fall on weekdays.
💡 See the solution▼
Assuming your workplace observes all 11 holidays
Some employers close on only a few federal holidays, and some add days such as the day after Thanksgiving. A count built on all 11 is then too low or too high.
💡 See the solution▼
Missing the observed day when a holiday lands on a weekend
Independence Day 2026 is on a Saturday, so the day off is Friday, July 3. Counting only July 4 leaves July with one business day too many.
💡 See the solution▼
Planning every month as 20 days
A flat 20 days per month looks close, but in 2026 the real figure runs from 19 to 22 with the default settings, and a 19-day month can leave a deadline short by a full day or more.
💡 See the solution▼
Business days in a month FAQ
Q.How many business days are in a month?
A. A month has between 20 and 23 weekdays: 20 in a 28-day February, 20 or 21 in a leap-year February, 20 to 22 in a 30-day month, and 21 to 23 in a 31-day month. Each holiday that falls on a weekday takes one more day off that count.
Q.How many business days are in 2026 and 2027?
A. With the default settings (Saturday and Sunday off, U.S. federal holidays excluded, observed dates on), 2026 has 261 weekdays and 250 business days, and 2027 has 261 weekdays and 249 business days. 2027 has one fewer because New Year's Day 2028 falls on a Saturday and is observed on Friday, December 31, 2027.
Q.What is the difference between weekdays and business days here?
A. Weekdays are the days that are not one of your weekly days off, and holidays are not removed. Business days are those weekdays minus holidays and any days off you add yourself. With Saturday and Sunday off, weekdays are Monday to Friday.
Q.Which holidays does it exclude?
A. The 11 U.S. federal holidays: New Year's Day, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Presidents' Day, Memorial Day, Juneteenth, Independence Day, Labor Day, Columbus Day, Veterans Day, Thanksgiving Day, and Christmas Day. The dates are worked out from the holiday rules, such as the third Monday in January, and Juneteenth is counted from 2021. Many employers observe fewer or different days, so use Choose holidays to switch any of them off.
Q.What does Use observed dates do?
A. For employees on a Monday to Friday schedule, a federal holiday that falls on a Saturday is observed on the Friday before, and one that falls on a Sunday is observed on the Monday after. With this option on, the tool marks the observed day instead of the weekend date. Turn it off to mark only the holiday's own date. The observed day can land in the neighboring month or year, for example Friday, July 3 in 2026.
Q.Do banks and markets use the same days off?
A. Not always. The federal schedule is the one used for federal employees. Some institutions, such as the Federal Reserve Banks, treat a Saturday holiday differently. Check the schedule you actually follow, then use Choose holidays or click dates in the calendar to match it.
Q.Can I count a different work week, such as Sunday to Thursday?
A. Yes. Under Weekly days off, select the days that are off in your week. For a Sunday to Thursday week, select Friday and Saturday. For a six-day week, select only Sunday.
Q.How do I add company holidays or vacation days?
A. Click any date in the calendar to mark it as your own day off, and click it again to remove it. Your days off appear in the list under Settings and are included in the month and year totals.
Q.How do I find the working hours in a month?
A. Enter your hours per day under Settings. The result line shows the business days multiplied by that number. It does not subtract breaks, part-time schedules, or shifts that differ by day.
Q.Can I see a fiscal year instead of a calendar year?
A. Yes. Choose the month your year starts in. The year view then shows the 12 months from that month, labeled FY with the year it ends in, such as FY2027 for October 2026 to September 2027.
Q.What is the Excel formula for business days in a month?
A. Use NETWORKDAYS with the first and last day of the month, for example =NETWORKDAYS(DATE(2026,3,1),EOMONTH(DATE(2026,3,1),0),Holidays), where Holidays is a range of holiday dates. For a week with different days off, use NETWORKDAYS.INTL.
Q.Are my settings saved, and is anything sent to a server?
A. Your days off, holiday choices, and other settings are saved in this browser on this device, so they are there next time you visit. They are not saved on a server, and the calculation runs in your browser. Clearing your browser data or using another device starts you over with the defaults.
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