This business days calculator counts the weekdays from a start date through an end date, and it can remove US federal holidays. Both ends count when they are business days. That is the inclusive convention used by a weekday network count, and it is not the elapsed-day count on the days-between-dates page. The sample runs from 1 January 2026 through 31 December 2026 and excludes federal holidays. The headline is 250 business days.
The holidays are the eleven named in 5 U.S.C. § 6103. For a Monday-to-Friday schedule, a holiday that falls on Saturday is observed the preceding Friday, and a holiday that falls on Sunday is observed the following Monday. Those are the rules in section 6103(b) and Executive Order 11582, and they are the dates on the Office of Personnel Management’s 2026 holiday list. State holidays, company shutdowns, and a Tuesday-to-Saturday tour are not removed.
How to use this calculator
- Enter the start date and the end date. If you reverse them, the count uses the earlier date first and says so.
- Leave the holiday choice on “Exclude US federal holidays” unless you want every weekday, including holidays, to count.
- Press Calculate. The headline is the business-day count. Weekdays, weekend days, and inclusive calendar days are listed under it.
- Read the observed-date line when it appears. It names each federal holiday whose observed date falls inside the span, up to a dozen of them.
How federal business days are counted
The count walks the calendar one date at a time and keeps Monday through Friday. Saturday and Sunday are weekend days. They are reported, and they are not business days. A span that is only a weekend is zero. 3 January 2026 is a Saturday and 4 January 2026 is a Sunday, so that pair is 0 business days, 0 weekdays, 2 weekend days, and 2 inclusive calendar days.
Federal holidays are generated from the statute rather than from a list that only exists for 2026. New Year’s Day, Juneteenth, Independence Day, Veterans Day, and Christmas are fixed dates. Martin Luther King Jr. Day is the third Monday in January. Washington’s Birthday is the third Monday in February. Memorial Day is the last Monday in May. Labor Day is the first Monday in September. Columbus Day is the second Monday in October. Thanksgiving is the fourth Thursday in November. Each of those legal dates is then moved to the observed weekday when it falls on a weekend.
In 2026, Independence Day falls on Saturday 4 July, so most federal employees observe it on Friday 3 July. The other ten holidays already fall on a weekday, so their observed dates are the legal dates. The year runs from Thursday 1 January through Thursday 31 December. It has 365 dates, 104 weekend days, and 261 weekdays. All eleven observed holidays are among those weekdays, so excluding them leaves 250 business days. Choosing “Count every weekday” on the same dates leaves the headline at 261. The days-between-dates page, which does not include the end date and does not drop weekends, shows 364 elapsed days from 1 January to 31 December. Three different questions, three different numbers.
A single date is an inclusive span of one. If that date is a weekday and not an observed holiday, the result is 1 business day. If it is the holiday, the result is 0 when holidays are excluded. 1 January 2026 is New Year’s Day, a Thursday, so the headline is 0 business days, with 1 weekday and 1 holiday removed. The same date with holidays kept would be 1 business day. The form will not count a span longer than 50 years.
Formula
Inclusive Monday-to-Friday count, optionally minus observed US federal holidays. Business days = weekdays in the closed interval [start, end] − observed federal holidays in that interval A holiday on Saturday is observed on the preceding Friday. A holiday on Sunday is observed on the following Monday. Weekdays = dates in the interval whose weekday is Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday Inclusive calendar days = every date from the start through the end 2026, 1 January through 31 December, holidays excluded: 365 inclusive dates 104 weekend days 261 weekdays 11 observed federal holidays 250 business days
The eleven observed dates in 2026 are 1 January, 19 January, 16 February, 25 May, 19 June, 3 July, 7 September, 12 October, 11 November, 26 November, and 25 December. OPM lists Independence Day on Friday 3 July because 4 July is a Saturday. Christmas is Friday 25 December and is not moved. Veterans Day is Wednesday 11 November and is not moved to a Monday.
Monday 29 June 2026 through Friday 3 July 2026 is five weekdays and no weekend days. One of those weekdays, 3 July, is the observed Independence Day. The headline is 4 business days. Reverse the two dates and the count is the same 4, with a line that the dates were ordered. Thanksgiving week, Monday 23 November through Friday 27 November, is also 4 business days, because Thursday 26 November is removed and the other four weekdays remain.
A span that crosses New Year is not limited to the 2026 list. Thursday 24 December 2026 through Monday 4 January 2027 has 12 inclusive dates, 4 weekend days, and 8 weekdays. Christmas Day and New Year’s Day 2027, which is a Friday, are both removed. The headline is 6 business days. Count every weekday on that same span and the headline is 8. The holiday generator looks one year past each end so a Saturday New Year observed on the previous Friday is not missed.
Worked business-day examples
All of 2026, with federal holidays removed
The sample headline is 250 business days. Weekdays in the span are 261, weekend days are 104, and inclusive calendar days are 365. Federal holidays removed are 11, and the result names each observed date from New Year’s Day through Christmas Day. Leave the holiday switch off and the headline becomes 261 business days. Nothing else in the span changes. The 11 holidays are still sitting inside those 261 weekdays. They are simply no longer subtracted.
The days-between-dates calculator answers a different question about the same year. From 1 January 2026 to 31 December 2026 it shows 364 elapsed days, because it stops short of the end date and it keeps the weekends. Adding one makes the inclusive 365. Neither 364 nor 365 is a business-day count. 261 is the weekday count. 250 is the weekday count after the federal holidays.
Independence Day week, and Thanksgiving week
29 June 2026 through 3 July 2026 is 4 business days. The span is five inclusive dates, all of them weekdays, and 3 July is the only holiday. Someone who still has 4 July circled as the day off will double-count, or miss the Friday, because the legal date and the observed date are not the same in 2026. In a year when 4 July is a weekday, the observed date is 4 July and 3 July is an ordinary Friday.
23 November 2026 through 27 November 2026 is also 4 business days. Thanksgiving is Thursday 26 November, and it is not moved. The Friday after Thanksgiving is not a federal holiday under section 6103. This calculator counts Friday 27 November as a business day. An employer that closes that Friday has a company holiday, not a federal one, and the form does not know about it. Enter a shorter span, ending on Wednesday 25 November, if that Friday should not count.
A single holiday, a weekend, and the week of New Year 2027
1 January 2026 by itself is 0 business days when holidays are excluded. It is one inclusive calendar day and one weekday, and that weekday is New Year’s Day. 3 January through 4 January is also 0 business days, for the opposite reason: both dates are weekend days, and no holiday has to be removed. A project plan that starts on a Saturday does not gain a business day from the Saturday.
24 December 2026 through 4 January 2027 is 6 business days. Eight weekdays sit in the twelve inclusive dates, and two of them are holidays, Christmas and New Year’s Day. The result names both observed dates. The count is not 2026’s 250, and it is not the eleven-holiday list printed for the calendar year. Each span builds its own holiday set from the statute.
US federal holidays observed in 2026
| Holiday | Observed date | Weekday |
|---|---|---|
| New Year's Day | 1 January 2026 | Thursday |
| Birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr. | 19 January 2026 | Monday |
| Washington's Birthday | 16 February 2026 | Monday |
| Memorial Day | 25 May 2026 | Monday |
| Juneteenth National Independence Day | 19 June 2026 | Friday |
| Independence Day | 3 July 2026 | Friday |
| Labor Day | 7 September 2026 | Monday |
| Columbus Day | 12 October 2026 | Monday |
| Veterans Day | 11 November 2026 | Wednesday |
| Thanksgiving Day | 26 November 2026 | Thursday |
| Christmas Day | 25 December 2026 | Friday |
What this business-day count leaves out
The holiday set is the federal list for a Monday-to-Friday employee. A worker whose tour is Tuesday through Saturday observes a Sunday holiday on the next scheduled workday, which can be Tuesday, and observes some Saturday holidays on a different day than the Friday this page uses. OPM’s in-lieu fact sheet covers those tours. This calculator does not. State holidays, bank holidays that are not federal, and the day after Thanksgiving are not removed.
The count includes both the start date and the end date when they qualify. It is not the elapsed-day difference. A deadline that should exclude the start date, or exclude the end date, needs one day added or removed by hand. The days-between-dates page is the elapsed count, and adding one to it produces an inclusive calendar count that still contains weekends. Neither substitution equals this headline.
Dates are calendar dates with no time of day. A shift that starts at 11 p.m. and crosses midnight is not split. The span is capped at 50 years so a mistyped year does not walk the calendar for centuries. An impossible date, such as 31 February, is rejected. Swapped dates are reordered and the result says so. The count is never negative.
Nothing here is a payroll rule about holiday premium pay. OPM’s holiday-pay guidance decides whether an employee who works on the observed date is paid a premium, and for how many hours. This page only counts dates. It also does not know school calendars in the UK, Canada, or Australia, and it does not remove provincial or bank holidays in those countries.
Frequently asked questions
How many US business days are in the 2026 calendar year?
250, if federal holidays are removed. The year has 261 weekdays and 11 observed federal holidays, and all 11 fall on weekdays. Leave the holidays in and the same dates produce 261. The inclusive calendar count is 365.
Why does the calculator treat July 3 2026 as the Independence Day holiday?
4 July 2026 is a Saturday. For most federal employees on a Monday-to-Friday schedule, the preceding Friday is the observed holiday. The week of 29 June through 3 July is therefore 4 business days, not 5.
Does the business-day calculator include both the start date and the end date?
Yes, when each of them is a business day. 1 January 2026 alone is 0 business days because that Thursday is New Year’s Day. A non-holiday weekday standing alone is 1 business day. The days-between-dates page does not include the end date.
Why is 250 business days not the same as 364 days between January and December?
The day counter’s 364 is an elapsed count from 1 January to 31 December. It keeps weekends and drops the end date. Adding one makes 365 calendar dates. Removing 104 weekend days leaves 261 weekdays. Removing 11 federal holidays leaves 250 business days.
Are state holidays or the Friday after Thanksgiving removed?
No. Only the eleven federal holidays are removed, and only when you ask for that. Friday 27 November 2026 is a business day on this page. A state holiday or a company shutdown has to be handled by shortening the dates you enter.
Related ClearCalc pages
- Canada business days calculator Ontario 2026 is 253 business days, British Columbia is 250, and Alberta is 252. Canada does not move a Saturday holiday to Friday the way this federal list does.
- UK working days calculator Inclusive weekdays with UK bank holidays removed. England and Wales in 2026 have 253 working days, not these 250 US business days.
- Days between two dates Elapsed calendar days, including weekends. 1 January to 31 December 2026 is 364 on that page and 250 business days here.
- Exact age calculator Completed years, months, and days from a birthday. It does not drop weekends or holidays.
- Hourly to salary calculator Turns an hourly rate and a number of weeks into annual pay. It does not count the dates.