Are you ready to work this year? Are you wanting to earn more money? Then you could be wondering, “How many work hours are in a year?”
When pondering these questions, some simple math calculations can be performed to determine how many work hours are in a standard year.
Of course, it would be nice to win the lottery and not have to worry about work anymore, but if you are one of the hard-working Americans out there, looking to find out how much you make per hour keep reading.
It will help to first determine how many hours are in a year?
To find the answer to your question, keep reading.
This post contains affiliate links. This means if you click a link and make a purchase, I will receive a small commission at no cost to you, so thank you. This site uses cookies for a better user experience. For more information read our disclosure policy here.
How Many Work Hours are in a Standard Year and How is it Calculated?
According to Clockify Me, the average American works 37.5 hours per week and 1,801 hours per year.
In general, most people work 40-hour workweeks but this can vary depending on your job. Moreover, this can vary from person to person and will be less if you work a part-time job, or more if you often work overtime.
Also, some offices work longer (or shorter) days on a specific day of the week. For example, my dentist’s office stays open until 7:00 P.M. on Wednesdays.
Although your punch card may look different from your neighbor’s, for this calculation, we will use the standard 40-hour workweek.
This again is a simple calculation and we can multiply 40 times 52 weeks in a year (40 x 52 = 2080) to get our average number which equals 2080 work hours per year. And if we want to get really specific, there are 2088 work hours in a leap year.
How Many Hours are in a Year?
To calculate how many hours are in a year, we can start with 365 days and multiply that by 24 hours per day. We get 8,760 hours per year total. This is an estimate since we must take into account a leap year every four years.
How Many Work Days Are in a Year?
Since there are 52 weeks and on average, most of us work five days per week, there are a total of 260 workdays per year.
How Many Hours are in a Leap Year?
Keep in mind, that the above is an estimate, since every four years, we have a leap year. This will add time to your “work hours” as we have an extra day added to our calendar. (Side note… I used to teach Science and this day is added to make up for the 6 extra hours it takes the earth to travel around the sun each year, adding in the final six on the fourth year, equalling 24 hours.)
Since there is an extra day, we can add 24 hours to our 8,760 and we get 8,784 hours in a leap year. Therefore, adding 7-8 hours to your work hour average, making it 2087 or 2088 respectively.
We must also take into account, which day falls on specific dates each year. For example, having two Saturdays begin and end the year, will lessen the hours you can work, assuming you are working a typical Monday through Friday schedule.
To Summarize:
- 260 workdays per year
- 2080 work hours per year
- 2088 work hours per leap year
- 8,760 hours per year
Hours Worked in a Year?
Of course, just because there are 2080 work hours per year, doesn’t mean you worked that many hours last year. Although some people work a set schedule, others only work part-time or have hours that vary from week to week. Yet, others work overtime and although they are not punched in, may take work home with them.
I like to use teachers as an example. They often take-home papers to grade and complete lesson plans at home. Nonetheless, they have summers off, so their hours will look a bit different. Depending on your work situation, you had the potential to work 2080 hours per year.
Calculating Paid Holidays and Sick Leave
There are also 10 bank holidays in a calendar year and if you are lucky enough to get paid on these dates or actually have the day off, you can subtract 80 (10 x 8 = 80) from your work hours, which leaves you with 2000 work hours per year.
You can check with your employer or human resources department to find out how many paid sick days you have and how much paid time off you have earned for vacations. When you find this number, subtract it from your total of 2080. For example, if you had five days of paid sick leave and five vacation days, you can subtract 80 from 2080 (2080-80 = 2000) which is 2000. If you have the above holidays off, that will lower your work hours per year to 1990.
If you want to figure out your exact hours worked per year, use this formula:
(# of hours per week x 52) – [( # of hours of PTO =+ # of hours paid holiday) x # of hours in your work day] = Your specific total of hours worked per year
Why worry about How Many Hours are in a Year?
If you want to calculate how much you make each year, this number will help determine your calculations.
For example, if you make $15 per hour, you can determine your annual income which would be 31,200 per year. Or if you make $40,000 you may be wondering if this is a good salary to live off of, or if you can make more in your free time.
Here are some other examples:
- $18 per hour is $37,440 per year
- $19 per hour is $39,520 per year
- $20 per hour is $41,600 per year
- $21 per hour is $43,680 per year
- $22 per hour is $45,760 per year
- $23 per hour is $47,840 per year
- $24 per hour is $49,920 per year
- $25 per hour is $52,000 per year
- $26 per hour is $54,080 per year
- $27 per hour is $56,160 per year
- $28 per hour is $58,240 per year
- $29 per hour is $60,320 per year
- $30 per hour is $62,400 per year
If you need to calculate further, multiply how much you make per hour by 2080 (or use the number from the formula above) work hours per year. This will give you an estimate of how much you make per year.
If you are paid a salary, you can devise your salary to determine how much you make an hour and this number can help you learn how to save more when being paid on salary.
Although calculating your salary may be your main reason for determining how many work hours are in a year, you may want to check on any of the following:
- Calculate annual income
- Calculate annual salary
- Find a work-life balance
- Find your hourly rate
- Do a time audit
- Decide if you can take a job
- volunteer more
- work on yourself and your personal development
- exercise more
How Many Hours do you Sleep Each Year?
After determining how many hours we can work each year, let’s take a look at how many hours we sleep as well. If there are 365 days per year and we sleep a total of 8 hours each night (again an estimate because some sleep more or less), then we sleep a total of 2920 hours per year. (365 x 8 = 2920)
How much free time do we have each year?
Let’s do the math!
- 8760 hours per year
- 2920 hours sleeping
- 2080 hours working
To figure this out start by subtracting 2920 and 2080 from 8760. This equals 3760 hours of free time. Again, these vary depending on “workdays” extra weekend days, and leap year.
8760 – (2920 + 2080) = 3760
This number can make you think about how you are spending money and how much time you had to work for let’s say, a new purse or phone. You may be spending hours of your time paying for certain material things, and you may think twice before making an impulse purchase.
In fact, if you are looking to become a better saver and budget your money, these numbers will help you determine your take-home pay and you can use this as a starting point for budgeting your money better.
Will I make more money during certain months?
In short, yes, you will make more on certain months because depending on your pay dates, there may be extra pay included. When I was paid on salary, there were certain months where extra pay was included depending on how the timing worked out. So a few times per year I was given an extra payment amount, which I usually used to pay down debt or save.
In fact, April of 2022, the month I am writing this post, has five Fridays, since April 1st is a Friday. This would be a month that you could receive an extra salary paycheck, depending on your pay schedule.
Grab your freebie budget planner and spending tracker here:
How Many Work Hours are in a Year Final Thoughts…
If you are working a 40-hour week, during a non-leap year, you are able to work roughly 2080 hours per year also depending on how many “weekend days” are in that particular year. You may be trying to determine your net worth or how much you make during the year. And if you are budgeting, you can use these calculations to figure out if you have enough for expenses. Seeing these figures will also make you think about what you buy and how many hours you are working to pay for certain items. You can ask yourself if it is worth your time. You can also decide if you want to side hustle during your free time instead of watching television or spending time on hobbies.
Remember, we all get the same 24 hours. It is up to your what you do with it.
Source: Clockifyme.com
