How Many Working Weeks Are In A Year?
How many work weeks are in a year?
There are 52 work weeks per year. Said differently, most companies are open every week of the year. However, the answer can change depending on a few factors:
- If you exclude US federal holidays, there are 50 work weeks per year
- If you exclude an average amount of time off for employees, it is 49-50 work weeks
You’re trying to plan out your business’s next quarter or year. You need some trustworthy data so you can plan employee schedules, know when holidays fall throughout the year, and more: How many work weeks are in a year? How many work days are in a year? How many work hours in a year? What about for specific years like 2023, 2024, 2025?
You’ll find all of the information you need to answer a (surprisingly) complicated question:
- Work weeks per year
- How many if you exclude holidays?
- How many for an average employee (with PTO)?
- Work week calculator
Work Weeks Per Year
There is no straightforward answer to the question, “How many working weeks are in a year?” That sounds ridiculous, but it really depends on how you count work weeks, when your business is open, and if you count holidays and employee time off in the answer.
In the table below, we’ve included the amount of work weeks in a year based on a number of scenarios:
| Work Weeks Per Year | Description | |
|---|---|---|
| Open Every Week | 52 | Most businesses are open every week of the year. |
| Excluding 11 Federal Holidays | 50 | There are 11 US federal holidays throughout the year. That removes two working weeks total from the calendar. |
| Excluding 10-14 PTO Days | 49-50 | If you want to remove 10-14 paid time off (vacation) days for each employee, that takes out 2-3 working weeks per year. |
| Excluding Both (Federal Holidays & 10-14 PTO Days) |
47-48 | If you want to remove 11 federal holidays and 10-14 PTO days for each employee, that takes out 4-5 working weeks per year. |
| Excluding 15-21 PTO Days | 48-49 | If you want to remove 15-21 paid time off (vacation) days for each employee, that takes out 3-4 working weeks per year. |
| Excluding Both (Federal Holidays & 15-21 PTO Days) |
46-47 | If you want to remove 11 federal holidays and 15-21 PTO days for each employee, that takes out 5-6 working weeks per year. |
See Also: Work Week Calculator Between Two Dates
How many working weeks are in a year if you exclude holidays?
50. There are 11 US federal holidays per year which removes about two total working weeks from the calendar. If you remove those holidays, there are 50 working weeks per year.
If you are trying to figure out how many weeks per year your employees will be working, you should remove holidays from the total. To do that, divide your number of paid company holidays by five, then subtract that number from 52.
How many working weeks are in year for an average individual employee?
47-48. A typical, full-time employee will receive 11 federal holidays off plus 10-14 paid time off (PTO) days. That removes 21-25 working days per year or 4-5 working weeks per year.
Your business may be open 52 weeks per year. But any individual, full-time contributor to your company will work for fewer weeks than 52. After excluding holidays and days for paid time off, an average employee in the United States might work for 47-48 weeks out of the year.
What are the US federal holidays?
There are 11 federal holidays each year. If you are trying to plan out further into the future, remember that the observed holidays change each year. Here are the US federal holidays for 2024:
- New Year’s Day: Monday, January 1
- Martin Luther King, Jr. Birthday: Monday, January 15
- President’s Day: Monday, February 19
- Memorial Day: Monday, May 27
- Juneteenth: Wednesday, June 19
- Independence Day: Thursday, July 4
- Labor Day: Monday, September 2
- Columbus Day: Monday, October 14
- Veterans Day: Monday, November 11
- Thanksgiving: Thursday, November 28
- Christmas: Wednesday, December 25
Here are some other popular holidays many companies offer as paid days off:
- Friday after Independence Day (Friday, July 5)
- Friday after Thanksgiving (Friday, November 29)
- Christmas Eve (Tuesday, December 24)
- New Year’s Eve (Tuesday, January 31)
Work Week Calculator
Want to figure out how many work weeks occur between any two dates? Use our work week calculator.
Spreadsheet: 2023 – 2032 Work Calendar Dataset
We have created a Google Sheets workbook with a tab for each year from 2023 – 2032 and summary tabs for working hours and working days per year. Within each tab, you’ll find total days, federal holidays, weekend days, work days, and work hours by month.
To use the spreadsheet, you have two options:
- Log into your Google account, then click “File” and “Make a copy.”
- Download the workbook to Excel by clicking “File” and “Download.”
2024 Work Calendar
Additional Work Week Resources
View the work days per month for 2023, 2024, 2025.
Click those links to view the same data for specific years. Or, continue reading our series about work week schedule options.
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