Guide
27 Pay Periods: Years With an Extra Payday
If you're paid every two weeks, most years have 26 paydays, but roughly once every 11 years there are 27. It happens because a year is 365 days (366 in a leap year) and 26 two-week periods only cover 364. The leftover day or two slowly add up until a payday falls on January 1 or 2, and then the same weekday comes around 27 times. Whether that means an extra paycheck or 27 slightly smaller ones depends on how you're paid.
Which years have 27 biweekly paydays?
It depends on your payday weekday and which of the two possible "every other week" cycles your employer uses. Find your first payday of January 2026 in the table to see your next 27-payday year:
| Payday | First payday in January 2026 | Next year with 27 paydays |
|---|---|---|
| Monday | Jan 5 | 2029 |
| Monday | Jan 12 | 2035 |
| Tuesday | Jan 6 | 2030 |
| Tuesday | Jan 13 | 2036 |
| Wednesday | Jan 7 | 2031 |
| Wednesday | Jan 14 | 2036 |
| Thursday | Jan 1 | 2026 (this year) |
| Thursday | Jan 8 | 2032 |
| Friday | Jan 2 | 2027 |
| Friday | Jan 9 | 2032 |
We worked these out by stepping each cycle forward 14 days at a time through 2036 and counting the paydays in each calendar year. A 27th payday happens when the cycle lands on January 1, or on January 1 or 2 in a leap year.
Holidays can move the 27th paycheck into a different year
A payday that falls on January 1 is a bank holiday, and many employers pay on the previous business day instead. That moves the paycheck into December:
- Thursday cycle (January 1, 2026): if that payday was brought forward to Wednesday, December 31, 2025, the 27th paycheck landed in 2025, and 2026 has 26.
- Friday cycle (January 1, 2027): if that payday is brought forward to Thursday, December 31, 2026, the 27th paycheck lands in 2026, and 2027 has 26.
For taxes, what matters is the date you're actually paid, so this also decides which tax year the money counts in. Ask payroll how they handle a January 1 payday.
Does a 27th payday mean extra money?
It depends on how your pay is set:
| How you're paid | What the 27th payday means |
|---|---|
| Hourly | Nothing changes per paycheck. You're paid for the hours in each two-week period, so the year simply includes one more period's pay. |
| Salary, paid as a fixed amount per paycheck | The employer pays the usual amount 27 times, so your earnings for that calendar year are one paycheck higher. |
| Salary, annual amount divided across the paychecks in the year | The employer divides your salary by 27, so each paycheck that year is about 3.7% smaller and the annual total stays the same. |
Example. On a $65,000 salary, a normal biweekly paycheck is $65,000 ÷ 26 = $2,500.00 before tax. If the employer divides by 27 instead, each paycheck is $65,000 ÷ 27 = $2,407.41, which is $92.59 less every payday. If it keeps paying $2,500.00, you receive $67,500 for the year, $2,500 more than your salary.
Both approaches are common. Your offer letter or payroll policy should say which applies; if it doesn't, ask before January so a smaller paycheck isn't a surprise.
Deductions and benefits in a 27-paycheck year
- Per-paycheck deductions (health premiums, 401(k) contributions set as a dollar amount) may be taken 27 times. Some employers skip a deduction on one paycheck to keep the annual total right. Check your stub for the extra one.
- 401(k) limits: if you contribute a fixed amount per paycheck to reach the annual limit exactly, a 27th paycheck can push you over. Most payroll systems stop at the limit, but it's worth checking.
- Withholding: federal withholding is calculated per paycheck from your pay frequency, so it doesn't break; the extra paycheck is simply withheld like the others.
Budgeting: months with three paydays
With biweekly pay, two months of a normal year have three paydays. In a 27-payday year, three months do. For the Friday cycle that starts on January 2, 2026:
- 2026 (26 paydays): three paydays in January and July.
- 2027 (27 paydays): three paydays in January, July and December.
If you budget on two paychecks a month, those months are when the extra money arrives. More on this in biweekly vs semimonthly pay.
Weekly pay: 53 paydays
Weekly pay has the same quirk: a year has 53 of a weekday when it starts on that weekday; in a leap year, the following weekday gets 53 too. The next 53-payday years are:
| Weekly payday | Years with 53 paydays (2026–2036) |
|---|---|
| Monday | 2029, 2035 |
| Tuesday | 2030, 2036 |
| Wednesday | 2031, 2036 |
| Thursday | 2026, 2032 |
| Friday | 2027, 2032 |
Semimonthly (24 a year) and monthly (12 a year) pay always have the same number of paydays, which is one reason some employers prefer them. See what is a pay period?
Calculate your paychecks
The Salary to Hourly Calculator converts a salary to weekly, biweekly, semimonthly and monthly amounts. To see the take-home, use the Paycheck Calculator: choose "An annual salary" and every two weeks. In a year where your employer divides by 27, enter your salary ÷ 27 as a set amount per paycheck instead.
Sources
- Payday counts and three-payday months: TinyTools calculation, stepping each biweekly and weekly cycle through the calendar for 2026–2036.
- IRS Publication 15-T — Federal income tax withholding methods (pay-period based withholding)
- IRS — 401(k) contribution limits