How many work hours are in a year?
A standard full-time year is 2,080 work hours — 40 hours a week × 52 weeks. Counting the real weekdays in 2026 gives 261 days, or 2,088 scheduled hours at 8 hours a day. After 11 public holidays and 15 days of PTO, the hours actually worked come to about 1,880.
2,080 is a convention, not a count — and it is the wrong number for anyone part-time, on a compressed week, or with more than the statutory minimum leave. Set the sliders to your own schedule for the figure that actually applies to you.
8.0 hours per working day
11 is the US federal standard
Term-time, seasonal or shutdown weeks
2026 has 261 weekdays
The usual shorthand is 2,080 hours — 40 hours × 52 weeks, with nothing taken off. Your schedule comes to 2,088 scheduled hours, 8 more than the shorthand — and 1,880 once holidays and PTO come off.
Work days and hours by year
The weekday count is not the same every year. A year starting mid-week, or a leap year, shifts it between 260 and 262 — which is worth knowing when you are budgeting salaried capacity, because a 262-day year is a full extra day of payroll against the same salary.
| Year | Total days | Weekend days | Weekdays | After 11 holidays | Hours at 8h/day |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 365 | 104 | 261 | 250 | 2,000 |
| 2027 | 365 | 104 | 261 | 250 | 2,000 |
| 2028 | 366 | 106 | 260 | 249 | 1,992 |
| 2029 | 365 | 104 | 261 | 250 | 2,000 |
| 2030 | 365 | 104 | 261 | 250 | 2,000 |
| 2031 | 365 | 104 | 261 | 250 | 2,000 |
| 2032 | 366 | 104 | 262 | 251 | 2,008 |
Weekday counts are exact. The holiday column assumes the 11 US federal holidays; adjust for your own calendar, and note that some fall at weekends in some years.
Why 2,080 is almost never your real number
The figure comes from a single multiplication: 40 × 52. Three things it quietly gets wrong:
- A year is 52.14 weeks, not 52. The extra day — two in a leap year — is why the weekday count drifts between 260 and 262 and why most years are slightly over 2,080 scheduled hours.
- Holidays and PTO are inside the number, not on top. 2,080 is what you are paid for. With 11 holidays and 15 PTO days, the hours you actually work are nearer 1,880 — about 10% less than the headline.
- It assumes five eight-hour days. Four tens, nine nines, term-time, or any part-time pattern produces a different annual total even at identical weekly hours.
The federal government uses 2,087 rather than 2,080 for pay computation, which is the average across the full 28-year calendar cycle. Both are conventions. The point of a shared number is that everyone divides by the same thing, not that it describes anyone in particular.
Hours in a month, and why payroll ignores the real one
The standard monthly figure is 173.33 hours — 2,080 ÷ 12. Actual months swing widely: a 23-weekday month is 184 hours at 8 hours a day, a 20-weekday month only 160. Salaried pay uses the average so the monthly amount stays flat, which is exactly why a salaried employee and an hourly employee doing identical work get paid differently in a short month. If you are reconciling the two, the time card calculator totals the real hours for a given period.
Full-time equivalent (FTE) from annual hours
FTE is annual hours ÷ 2,080, or more simply weekly hours ÷ 40. It is the unit for sizing a team where people work different patterns: four people on 20 hours a week are 2.0 FTE, not four headcount. The calculator returns FTE alongside the hours, because the two questions are almost always asked together — someone working out annual hours is usually costing a role or checking a benefits threshold.
Where the number stops being theoretical
Everything above is a projection from a schedule. The figure that matters at payroll is the one people actually worked, and the gap between the two is where the money goes — unplanned overtime, absence that was never logged, shifts that ran long. A schedule says 2,088 hours; the timesheet says something else.
ClockIt records the actual hours as your team clocks in and out, then reports them against the schedule so you can see the variance rather than guess at it. If you want to plan the schedule first, the work schedule templates cover the common patterns, and the free online time clock records punches in your browser with no signup.
Work hours in a year — FAQs
How many work hours are in a year?
A standard full-time year is 2,080 hours — 40 hours a week × 52 weeks. That figure is a convention rather than a count: it ignores public holidays, paid time off and the fact that a year is 52.14 weeks, not 52. Counting the actual weekdays in 2026 gives 261, which at 8 hours a day is 2,088 scheduled hours; take off 11 federal holidays and 15 days of PTO and the hours actually worked drop to about 1,880.
How many work days are in a year?
There are 261 weekdays in 2026 and 261 in 2027, varying between 260 and 262 depending on how the calendar falls and whether it is a leap year. After the 11 US federal holidays, a typical full-time employee is scheduled for around 250 days, and after two or three weeks of PTO, closer to 235.
How many work weeks are in a year?
52 work weeks, or more precisely 52.14 — 365 days divided by 7. That extra fraction is why the actual weekday count drifts between 260 and 262 from year to year, and why 2,080 is slightly under the true scheduled hours in most years. A leap year adds another 0.14 of a week.
How many work hours are in a month?
About 173.33 hours, which is 2,080 ÷ 12. Individual months vary a lot — a month with 23 weekdays is 184 hours at 8 hours a day, while a 20-weekday month is only 160. Payroll usually uses the 173.33 average rather than the real monthly count, which is why monthly salary stays flat while the number of working days changes.
Why is 2,080 hours the standard?
It is the arithmetic behind converting a salary to an hourly rate: 40 hours × 52 weeks. The US federal government uses 2,087 for pay computation, which is the average across the 28-year calendar cycle and slightly more accurate. Both are conventions — the point of a standard number is that everyone divides by the same thing, not that it matches any individual's year.
Does 2,080 hours include vacation and holidays?
Yes, and this is the most common misreading. 2,080 is the number of hours you are paid for, not the number you spend working. Paid holidays and PTO are inside that figure, not on top of it. With 11 holidays and 15 PTO days, a full-time employee is paid for 2,080 hours but actually works roughly 1,880.
How do I calculate full-time equivalent (FTE)?
Divide the employee's weekly hours by the full-time standard, normally 40. Someone on 20 hours a week is 0.5 FTE; 32 hours is 0.8 FTE. Annually, divide their yearly hours by 2,080. To size a team, add every employee's FTE together — four people on 20 hours a week is 2.0 FTE, not four headcount.
How many hours a year is part-time?
There is no single legal definition in the US. The ACA treats 30 hours a week or more as full-time for employer coverage purposes, which puts part-time below roughly 1,560 hours a year. The BLS uses under 35 hours a week. Your own policy decides which applies to benefits, so set the threshold explicitly rather than assuming.