Business days between dates
Count working days between two dates, skipping weekends and U.S. federal holidays.
Holiday calendar & counting rules
Count from the earlier date, excluding the later date. Include end date includes both eligible endpoints, even after swapping. Reversed ranges are negative.
Holiday exclusions remove both actual dates and standard Monday through Friday federal observed dates: Saturday holidays also exclude Friday; Sunday holidays also exclude Monday. Overlapping exclusions count once. Holidays only counts weekends unless a holiday is excluded.
U.S. nationwide recurring federal holidays, 2011 to 9999; Juneteenth starts in 2021. Earlier holiday calendars are not supported; turn off holiday exclusions to use years 0001 to 9999. Future years project current rules, not guaranteed future closures. No DC only Inauguration Day, state holidays or one off employer closures.
How to count business days between two dates
A business day is a weekday that is not a public holiday. This calculator counts them between two dates, lists the holidays it skipped and marks every skipped day on a calendar, so you can check a contract deadline, a notice period or a shipping estimate.
Step by step
- Enter the Start date and End date.
- Tick Include end date if the last day should count too.
- Choose what to Exclude: weekends and U.S. federal holidays (the default), weekends only, holidays only, or custom days of the week.
- Press Calculate business days.
Worked examples
- A deadline over Thanksgiving: Friday, November 20 to Friday, December 4, 2026 is 14 calendar days but 9 business days. Four weekend days and Thanksgiving are skipped, and the result lists them.
- Days until Christmas: October 19 to December 25, 2026 is 67 calendar days and 47 business days, because weekends, Veterans Day and Thanksgiving are skipped.
Common uses
- Contract and legal deadlines. Many agreements and court rules count business days rather than calendar days. Enter the trigger date and the due date to check how many business days you really have.
- Shipping and delivery estimates. "Ships in 3 to 5 business days" starts from the order date and skips weekends and holidays, so a Thursday order can arrive the following Thursday.
- Payroll and HR. Working days in a pay period, days of notice served, or how many working days a leave request covers.
- Project planning. The number of working days between two milestones is the figure to put into a plan or a quote.
Reading the result
The left side of the result restates both dates, says what was excluded and gives the number of business days. The right side explains the difference between calendar days and business days: how many Saturdays and Sundays were skipped and which holidays, each with its date. The calendars mark skipped days in pink, the first day in blue and the last counted day in yellow, so you can check the count against your own wall calendar in seconds.
Counting rules in plain words
- Start counts, end does not, unless you tick Include end date. A range that starts on a Saturday starts counting on the Monday.
- Observed holidays. When a holiday falls on a Saturday, the Friday before is also skipped. When it falls on a Sunday, the Monday after is skipped. This matches how federal offices observe holidays.
- Which holidays. The eleven U.S. federal holidays: New Year's Day, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Washington's Birthday, Memorial Day, Juneteenth (from 2021), Independence Day, Labor Day, Columbus Day, Veterans Day, Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day. State holidays, Inauguration Day and one off closures are not included. Holiday dates run from 2011 to 9999.
Questions people ask
Can I count business days for a contract or a notice period?
Yes, but read the contract: some define business days differently, some count calendar days, and courts and agencies have their own rules. When in doubt, ask the other party or a lawyer.
My office closes on the day after Thanksgiving. Can I include that?
Not as a named holiday. Count with the default exclusions, then subtract one for each extra closure.
Does a holiday on a weekend change the count?
Yes, through the observed day. If Independence Day falls on a Saturday, federal offices close on Friday, July 3, and that Friday is skipped. If it falls on a Sunday, Monday, July 5 is skipped. The weekend day itself was already excluded, so the holiday still costs exactly one business day.
What is the difference between this and the days between dates calculator?
The plain days between dates counter includes every day. This one skips the days you exclude. Use both together to see how many of the calendar days in a period are working days.
Why is the count negative?
The end date is before the start date. Press Swap dates to turn it around.
Is my date sent anywhere?
No. All date math runs in your browser.