How Many Days in a Year?

A standard year in the Gregorian calendar has 365 days. A leap year, which occurs every 4 years, has 366 days — the extra day is February 29. The year 2026 has 365 days and is not a leap year.

Quick Answer

Common Year

365

days — e.g. 2025, 2026, 2027

Leap Year

366

days — e.g. 2024, 2028, 2032

Key fact: A mean tropical year is exactly 365.2422 days. The Gregorian calendar compensates for the ~0.25 fractional day by inserting a leap day every 4 years (with century exceptions).

Days in 2026

2026 has 365 days. It is a common (non-leap) year. It starts on Thursday, January 1, 2026 and ends on Thursday, December 31, 2026.

Days by Month (2026)

MonthDaysCumulative
January3131
February2859
March3190
April30120
May31151
June30181
July31212
August31243
September30273
October31304
November30334
December31365

February has 28 days in 2026 (non-leap year). In a leap year it has 29.

Year-by-Year Days (2024–2030)

YearDaysLeap Year?Starts On
2024366YesMonday
2025365NoWednesday
2026Current365NoThursday
2027365NoFriday
2028366YesSaturday
2029365NoMonday
2030365NoTuesday

How Many Working Days in a Year?

In 2026, there are 261 working days (weekdays) and 104 weekend days. After subtracting 11 US federal holidays that fall on weekdays, there are approximately 250 net working days.

365

Total days

261

Weekdays (Mon–Fri)

250

Net working days (–11 US holidays)

Working day counts vary by country. The 250-day figure applies to the United States. Countries with more public holidays (e.g. India, Germany) will have fewer net working days.

What Is a Leap Year?

A leap year has 366 days instead of 365. The extra day — February 29 — is added to keep the calendar synchronized with Earth's orbit around the Sun.

Gregorian Leap Year Rules

  1. A year is a leap year if it is divisible by 4 — e.g. 2024, 2028.
  2. Exception: Years divisible by 100 are not leap years — e.g. 1900, 2100 are not leap years.
  3. Exception to the exception: Years divisible by 400 are leap years — e.g. 2000 was a leap year.

2024

Divisible by 4 → Leap year

2100

Divisible by 100 → Not a leap year

2000

Divisible by 400 → Leap year

Days in Different Calendar Systems

CalendarDays per YearNotes
Gregorian (civil)365 / 366Most widely used worldwide; leap year every ~4 years
Islamic (Hijri)354 / 355Lunar calendar; 12 lunar months; no intercalation
Hebrew (Jewish)353–385Lunisolar; 7-month leap year adds an extra month
Persian (Solar Hijri)365 / 366Solar calendar used in Iran and Afghanistan

Frequently Asked Questions

How many days in a year exactly?

A mean tropical year — the time Earth takes to complete one orbit around the Sun — is approximately 365.2422 days. The Gregorian calendar rounds this to 365 days in a common year and adds one extra day (366 days) every four years in a leap year to stay aligned with the astronomical year.

Is 2026 a leap year?

No. 2026 is not a leap year. It has 365 days. The next leap year is 2028, which will have 366 days.

How many days in a year without weekends?

In 2026, there are 261 weekdays (Monday through Friday) and 104 weekend days (Saturday and Sunday). After subtracting 11 US federal holidays that fall on weekdays, there are approximately 250 net working days.

How many days are in each month?

January 31, February 28 (29 in a leap year), March 31, April 30, May 31, June 30, July 31, August 31, September 30, October 31, November 30, December 31.

Why do we have leap years?

We have leap years to keep the calendar aligned with Earth's orbit around the Sun. Because Earth takes approximately 365.2422 days to orbit the Sun, adding one extra day every four years compensates for the roughly 0.25-day discrepancy that would otherwise accumulate — causing the calendar to drift out of sync with the seasons over time.

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Last updated March 2026. Day counts based on the Gregorian calendar. Working day calculations use the US federal holiday calendar. Leap year rules per the Gregorian calendar reform (1582).