How many work hours are in a year?

Work hours by year, 2026 to 2030

Full-time, 8 hours a day, Monday to Friday. “Federal holidays” are the days federal employees get off, which most often matches what employers with paid holidays observe.

2027 is the year to watch: Juneteenth and Christmas fall on Saturdays (observed on the Fridays before) and Independence Day on a Sunday (observed Monday, July 5), and New Year's Day 2028 falls on a Saturday, so it is observed on Friday, December 31, 2027 (see the 2027 federal holiday list). That gives 2027 12 federal holidays on weekdays and 2028 only 10.

2,080 or 2,087 hours?

2,080 is the textbook figure, but it assumes a year of exactly 52 weeks, 364 days. Real years have 365 or 366 days, so most have 261 weekdays, not 260. The federal government changed its formula because of this:

“Until 1984, an hourly rate of basic pay was computed by dividing the employee's annual rate of basic pay by 2,080 hours (the number of hours in 52 workweeks of 40 hours).” “A General Accounting Office study published in 1981 demonstrated that over a 28-year period (the period of time it takes for the calendar to repeat itself) there are, on average, 2,087 work hours per calendar year. This average results from the fact that there are usually 4 years with 262 workdays (2,096 hours), 17 years with 261 workdays (2,088 hours), and 7 years with 260 workdays (2,080 hours).”— U.S. Office of Personnel Management, Computing Hourly Rates of Pay Using the 2,087-Hour Divisor

“Hourly rates of basic pay are computed by dividing an employee's annual rate of basic pay by 2,087 hours.”— U.S. Office of Personnel Management

For a quick salary-to-hourly conversion, 2,080 is fine and is what most people use. For exact numbers for one year, use the calculator above: a 2026 salary spread over 2,088 scheduled hours gives a slightly lower hourly rate than ÷ 2,080. Convert either way with the salary calculator.

Work hours by month, 2026

Part-time and other schedules

“Exact 2026” spreads the weekly hours over Monday to Friday for all 261 weekdays in 2026, before holidays.

26 or 27 paydays

Paid every two weeks? The same calendar quirk means some years have an extra payday.

“There are usually 26 pay dates each year. Over a period of several years, employees can expect to experience 27 pay days in a calendar year.”— U.S. Office of Personnel Management

For your own hours week by week, use the timesheet calculator; for business days between two dates, the working days calculator; for paid time off, the PTO accrual calculator.