Working Days Calculator
Both end dates are counted, which is what people mean when they ask how many working days something takes. Public holidays are yours to enter, because they differ everywhere and change every year.
Working days
28days
- Working days
- 28
- Before holidays
- 29
- Weekend days
- 12
- Calendar days
- 41
- Working weeks
- 5.8
- Hours at 8 a day
- 224
- Both end dates are counted, which is what people mean when they ask how many working days something takes.
- Public holidays are not built in, because they differ by country and region and change every year — a list here would be a page that expires. Count yours and enter the number above.
- Saturday and Sunday are treated as the weekend. Where the working week runs differently, this will not fit.
About counting working days
Calendar days and working days diverge fast. Six weeks is 42 calendar days and 30 working ones — a difference of nearly a third, which is the gap between a schedule that works and one that does not.
Both ends are included here. If a job starts Monday and finishes Friday, that is five working days rather than four, which is how anyone planning work counts it. Some contractual definitions exclude the start date, so it is worth checking what a particular clause means before relying on either.
Public holidays are deliberately not built in. There is no list that would be right for more than one country, most of them move each year, and several depend on the lunar calendar or on a monarch's birthday. A built-in list would be a page that expires — so count the ones falling in your range and enter the number.
Saturday and Sunday are treated as the weekend, which does not fit everywhere. Much of the Middle East works Sunday to Thursday, and some industries run six-day weeks. Where that applies this will not fit, and the calendar-day count is the more useful figure.
What it works out
- Working days between two dates, both included
- Your own public holidays deducted
- Weekend days and calendar days alongside
- Working weeks and hours at eight a day
The formula
Working days = every day in the range that is not a Saturday or Sunday, less holidays
From 21 August to 30 September 2026 is 41 calendar days. Twelve of them are weekend days, leaving 29 working days, and one public holiday takes it to 28.
Twenty-eight working days is 5.6 working weeks, or 224 hours at eight a day. That last figure is usually the one that matters for estimating, because it converts a date range into effort.
The count walks the range day by day rather than dividing by seven, which matters because the answer depends on which day the range starts. Six weeks starting Monday and six weeks starting Saturday contain the same number of calendar days and a different number of working ones.
Both ends are counted. That is the natural reading of "how many working days between Monday and Friday" — five — but some contracts define it as excluding the first day, giving four. Worth checking before relying on a legal deadline.
- Calendar days
- Every day in the range, both ends included.
- Weekend days
- Saturdays and Sundays. Does not fit every working week.
- Holidays
- Yours to count. No list here would be right for long.
A worked example
From 21 August to 30 September 2026, with one public holiday in between.
That works out to 28 days.
- Working days
- 28
- Before holidays
- 29
- Weekend days
- 12
- Calendar days
- 41
- Working weeks
- 5.8
- Hours at 8 a day
- 224
Questions
How many working days are between two dates?
Count every day that is not a Saturday or Sunday, then subtract public holidays. From 21 August to 30 September 2026 that is 29 before holidays.
Are both dates included?
Yes. Monday to Friday counts as five working days, which is what people mean when planning. Some contracts define it as excluding the start date — check the wording for anything legal.
Why are public holidays not included automatically?
Because no list would be right for more than one country, and most holidays move each year. Several follow a lunar calendar. A built-in list would be a page that goes stale, so count yours and enter the number.
How many working days are in a year?
About 261 before public holidays — 365 days less 104 weekend days. Deducting typical public holidays leaves roughly 250, and holiday entitlement takes it lower again.
What if my working week is not Monday to Friday?
This will not fit. Much of the Middle East works Sunday to Thursday, and some industries run six days. In those cases the calendar-day count is the more useful figure here.
Why does the answer change if I shift both dates by a day?
Because which days of the week fall in the range changes. A range starting Monday and one starting Saturday can have the same length and different working-day counts.