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How many work hours are in a year?
Most people use 2,080: 40 hours a week times 52 weeks. 2027 actually has 261 weekdays, so a Monday-to-Friday job is 2,088 scheduled hours. A 12-hour rotation comes to about 2,184 hours, and a firefighter on a 24/48 works about 2,928.
By Asier Fernández ·
Work hours by year
A year is 52 weeks and one day, or 52 weeks and two days in a leap year. Those extra days decide whether a year has 260, 261 or 262 weekdays. At 8 hours a day:
| Year | Weekdays | Work hours | Without federal holidays (observed days off) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 261 | 2,088 | 250 days, 2,000 hours |
| 2027 | 261 | 2,088 | 249 days, 1,992 hours |
| 2028 | 260 | 2,080 | 250 days, 2,000 hours |
The last column takes away the weekdays that federal employees have off for the 11 federal holidays. A holiday on a Saturday is observed on the Friday before, so New Year's Day 2028 (a Saturday) is a day off on Friday, December 31, 2027: 2027 ends up with 12 holiday weekdays and 2028 with 10. Your own employer's holiday list may be longer or shorter.
Why 2,080 hours?
2,080 is 40 hours × 52 weeks. It is a handy round number for turning an hourly wage into a salary, and most payroll and HR tools use it. A real calendar year has one or two days more than 52 weeks, so in most years a full-time weekday job has 2,088 scheduled hours, and 2,096 in a leap year that starts on a Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday. Years that start on a Saturday, such as 2028, have 260 weekdays, exactly 2,080 hours.
The federal government splits the difference. To turn an annual salary into an hourly rate it divides by 2,087, the average number of weekday hours over a long run of years (5 U.S.C. 5504(b)).
Work hours in each month of 2027
| Month | Weekdays | Hours at 8 a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 21 | 168 |
| February | 20 | 160 |
| March | 23 | 184 |
| April | 22 | 176 |
| May | 21 | 168 |
| June | 22 | 176 |
| July | 22 | 176 |
| August | 22 | 176 |
| September | 22 | 176 |
| October | 21 | 168 |
| November | 22 | 176 |
| December | 23 | 184 |
On average a month has 173.3 work hours (2,080 ÷ 12). March and December 2027 have the most, with 23 and 23 weekdays; February has the fewest, 20.
Federal holidays in 2027
All 11 federal holidays of 2027 fall on or are observed on a weekday. Two of them move: Juneteenth (Saturday, June 19) is observed on Friday, June 18, and Christmas (Saturday, December 25) on Friday, December 24. New Year's Day 2028 is also a Saturday, so federal employees get Friday, December 31, 2027 off. That gives them 12 weekday holidays inside calendar year 2027 and 249 working days (1,992 hours). Holidays move to Friday or Monday under 5 U.S.C. 6103(b) and Executive Order 11582.
Work hours in a year on shift schedules
Rotating shifts do not follow the 5-day week, so their yearly hours come from the cycle: hours in one cycle × 365 ÷ days in the cycle. For one crew in 2027:
| Schedule | Hours in 2027 | How |
|---|---|---|
| Monday to Friday, 8 hours | 2,088 | 261 weekdays in 2027 |
| 4/10 (four 10-hour days) | 2,080 | 208 shifts of 10 hours |
| Pitman, Panama, DuPont (12 hours) | 2,184 | 182 shifts of 12 hours |
| 2 on 2 off (12 hours) | 2,196 | 183 shifts of 12 hours |
| Southern swing (8 hours, rotating) | 2,184 | 273 shifts of 8 hours |
| 24/72 (24 hours, four platoons) | 2,184 | 91 shifts of 24 hours |
| 24/48 (24 hours, three platoons) | 2,928 | 122 shifts of 24 hours |
| 48/96 (24 hours) | 2,928 | 122 shifts of 24 hours |
| Kelly (24 hours) | 2,904 | 121 shifts of 24 hours |
One crew, cycle starting Monday, January 4, 2027, before overtime, leave, Kelly days and swaps. Another crew or start date can move the total by one shift.
Four-crew 12-hour schedules average 42 hours a week, which is 2,184 a year: about 100 hours more than a weekday job, usually paid as overtime in the weeks with four shifts. Three-platoon fire schedules average 56 hours a week. Put your own pattern and start date in the shift calendar to count your year, or see the pay in the shift pay calculator.
Part-time and other weekly hours
| Hours a week | Hours a year (× 52) |
|---|---|
| 20 | 1,040 |
| 24 | 1,248 |
| 30 | 1,560 |
| 32 | 1,664 |
| 36 | 1,872 |
| 37.5 | 1,950 |
| 40 | 2,080 |
| 42 | 2,184 |
| 48 | 2,496 |
Three 12-hour shifts a week, the usual hospital contract, is 36 hours: 1,872 a year. For what counts as full time, see 12-hour shift schedules and the nurse schedules.
From hourly pay to a yearly salary
Multiply your hourly rate by your yearly hours. At $25 an hour, 2,080 hours is $52,000; 2,088 hours is $52,200; a 12-hour rotation at 2,184 hours is $54,600 before any overtime premium. If you are paid every two weeks, 2027 can also bring a 27th paycheck: see the 2027 pay period calendar.
More guides
Figures are worked out from each cycle; rules checked against official sources on . How we calculate
Questions
Is there 2,080 working hours in a year?
2,080 is the standard figure: 40 hours × 52 weeks. A calendar year has 52 weeks and one or two days, so most years have 2,088 weekday hours (261 weekdays × 8). 2027 has 2,088 and 2028 has 2,080.
How many working days are there in 2027?
261 weekdays. Without the 11 federal holidays, 253. Federal employees also get Friday, December 31, 2027 off for New Year's Day 2028, which leaves 249 working days.
How many hours are there in the year 2027?
8,760 hours: 365 days × 24 hours. 2028 is a leap year, with 8,784.
How many work hours are in a month?
173.3 on average (2,080 ÷ 12). A month with 23 weekdays has 184 hours at 8 a day, and February 2027, with 20 weekdays, has 160.
How many hours a year is a 12-hour shift schedule?
About 2,184 on four-crew schedules such as the Pitman, Panama and DuPont: 182 shifts of 12 hours, or 42 hours a week on average.
Why does the federal government divide by 2,087?
Because 2,087 is the long-run average of weekday hours in a year. 5 U.S.C. 5504(b) uses it to turn an annual salary into an hourly rate.