Shipping estimates, contract notice periods, payroll cycles and project plans all run on working days, not calendar days. This business days calculator counts the Monday-to-Friday days between two dates, removes observed US federal holidays, and lists every holiday it took out so you can check the result against your own calendar.
How to use the business days calculator
- Enter the start date and end date. If the end comes first, the dates are swapped.
- Leave Count both the start and end date ticked for an inclusive count, the usual way to count working days in a period.
- Keep Exclude US federal holidays ticked to remove observed holidays, or untick it to count weekdays only.
- Pick which days make up the weekend if your week is not Monday to Friday.
The tape shows the business-day total, calendar days, weekend days, holidays removed, and the equivalent work hours at eight hours a day.
How business days are counted
The calculator walks through each date in the range, sets aside the weekend days you chose, then removes any observed federal holiday that lands on a remaining workday. A holiday that is observed on a weekend day under a non-standard weekend is not removed twice.
Worked example
How many working days are in October 2026?
- October 1 to October 31 inclusive is 31 calendar days.
- It contains 9 weekend days (four full weekends plus Saturday the 31st), leaving 22 weekdays.
- Columbus Day falls on Monday, October 12, so 21 business days remain, or 168 work hours.
For November 2 to November 30, 2026 the count is 29 days − 8 weekend days − 2 holidays (Veterans Day and Thanksgiving) = 19 business days.
US federal holidays, 2026 and 2027
Federal holidays are set by 5 U.S.C. 6103. Five have fixed dates; the rest fall on a set Monday or Thursday.
| Holiday | Rule | 2026 observed | 2027 observed |
|---|---|---|---|
| New Year’s Day | January 1 | Thu, Jan 1 | Fri, Jan 1 |
| Martin Luther King Jr. Day | 3rd Monday of January | Mon, Jan 19 | Mon, Jan 18 |
| Washington’s Birthday | 3rd Monday of February | Mon, Feb 16 | Mon, Feb 15 |
| Memorial Day | Last Monday of May | Mon, May 25 | Mon, May 31 |
| Juneteenth | June 19 | Fri, Jun 19 | Fri, Jun 18 |
| Independence Day | July 4 | Fri, Jul 3 | Mon, Jul 5 |
| Labor Day | 1st Monday of September | Mon, Sep 7 | Mon, Sep 6 |
| Columbus Day | 2nd Monday of October | Mon, Oct 12 | Mon, Oct 11 |
| Veterans Day | November 11 | Wed, Nov 11 | Thu, Nov 11 |
| Thanksgiving Day | 4th Thursday of November | Thu, Nov 26 | Thu, Nov 25 |
| Christmas Day | December 25 | Fri, Dec 25 | Fri, Dec 24 |
New Year’s Day 2028 falls on a Saturday, so it is observed on Friday, December 31, 2027. The calculator handles that cross-year case automatically.
Rules that changed over time
The Uniform Monday Holiday Act moved several holidays to Mondays starting in 1971, and the calculator applies federal rules from that year on. Martin Luther King Jr. Day was first observed in 1986 and Juneteenth in 2021. From 1971 through 1977 Veterans Day was the fourth Monday in October before returning to November 11.
Tips for planning with business days
- Check the wording. “Within 10 business days” and “within 10 days” can differ by a week or more.
- Know your employer’s extra days. Many companies close the Friday after Thanksgiving or Christmas Eve, which are not federal holidays.
- Counting forward instead? To find the date that is a set number of business days away, use the date calculator in business-day mode. For plain calendar days between two dates, the date difference calculator is quicker.
Frequently asked questions
How many business days are in 2026?
There are 261 weekdays in 2026. All eleven federal holidays are observed on weekdays that year (Independence Day falls on a Saturday and is observed on Friday, July 3), so the federal business-day count is 250.
Does the count include the start and end dates?
By default, yes: both dates are counted if they are workdays, the way people count the working days in a month or a project. Untick the box to count from the start date up to, but not including, the end date.
What if a holiday falls on a weekend?
Federal rules move it to a weekday. A Saturday holiday is observed on the Friday before and a Sunday holiday on the Monday after, and that observed weekday is the one the calculator removes.
Can I use a different weekend?
Yes. Choose Sunday only for a six-day work week, or Friday and Saturday for the weekend used in much of the Middle East. Holidays are still the US federal list.
Are state or bank holidays included?
No. Only the eleven federal holidays are removed. Days such as the day after Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve or state holidays like Cesar Chavez Day are not, so subtract them yourself if your employer observes them.