December 2026 at a Glance
December runs on two calendars at once: a compressed working month with year-end deadlines, and a social month full of gatherings, school performances and travel. Printing December early is the single most useful planning habit of the year, because the free days disappear faster than expected.
| Month | December 2026 — month 12 of 12 |
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| Number of days | 31 days |
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| First day | Tuesday, December 1, 2026 |
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| Last day | Thursday, December 31, 2026 |
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| Weekend days | 8 Saturdays and Sundays |
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| Calendar weeks | Spans 5 rows (ISO weeks 49–53) |
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| Season | Winter in the Northern Hemisphere |
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| Birthstone | Turquoise, Zircon & Tanzanite |
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| Birth flower | Narcissus & Holly |
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| Zodiac signs | Sagittarius (until Dec 21) & Capricorn (from Dec 22) |
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Holidays and Observances in December 2026
December 2026 contains 1 federal holiday: Christmas Day on Friday, December 25.
The rest of December fills quickly: Christmas Eve on the 24th, Hanukkah on dates set by the Hebrew calendar, Kwanzaa beginning on the 26th, the winter solstice around the 21st and New Year's Eve on the 31st. The final two weeks run at reduced staffing across most industries.
| Date | Day | Holiday | Type |
|---|
| December 21, 2026 | Monday | First Day of Winter | Observance |
| December 24, 2026 | Thursday | Christmas Eve | Observance |
| December 25, 2026 | Friday | Christmas Day | Federal holiday |
| December 26, 2026 | Saturday | Kwanzaa Begins | Observance |
| December 31, 2026 | Thursday | New Year's Eve | Observance |
See every date for the year on our 2026 holidays page, or browse the full
2026 calendar.
Planning Tips for December 2026
Count your real working days
Between holidays, closures and reduced staffing, December typically offers far fewer usable working days than its 31-day length suggests. Counting them on the grid changes what you commit to.
Fix the gathering dates first
School concerts, office parties and family meals compete for the same three weekends. Locking the fixed ones in before the month begins is what prevents the mid-December double-booking.
Set up January before the year ends
The last week of December is quiet enough to prepare the year ahead — print January, mark the known dates, and start the new year with a calendar that is already working.
How Many Working Days Are in December 2026?
December 2026 contains 22 working days once weekends and federal holidays are
removed from its 31 calendar days. The 1 federal holiday that falls on a weekday is: Christmas Day. These figures assume a standard Monday-to-Friday schedule;
shift and weekend workers will count differently.
31Total days
23Weekdays
8Weekend days
22Working days
| Calendar days | 31 |
|---|
| Weekdays (Mon–Fri) | 23 |
|---|
| Weekend days | 8 |
|---|
| Federal holidays on a weekday | 1 |
|---|
| Working days | 22 |
|---|
Payroll periods, project estimates and billable-hour targets all depend on this number, and it varies by
several days from month to month — which is why estimating "about 22 days" every month quietly
distorts a quarter's planning.
Week Numbers in December 2026
December 2026 spans ISO week 49 through week 53. Under the ISO 8601 standard used across Europe and by
most project-management and payroll software, weeks run Monday to Sunday and week 1 is the week containing the
first Thursday of the year.
| Week number | Starts (Monday) | Ends (Sunday) |
|---|
| Week 49 | November 30 | December 6 |
| Week 50 | December 7 | December 13 |
| Week 51 | December 14 | December 20 |
| Week 52 | December 21 | December 27 |
| Week 53 | December 28 | January 3 |
If your workplace refers to "week 49" or "W53", these are the dates it means.
Our guide to how many weeks are in a year explains why some years
carry 53 numbered weeks and how the ISO rule decides where week 1 begins.
Note that American calendars usually start the week on Sunday, so a US week-of-the-year count can differ by one
from the ISO numbering above — you can switch the grid between Sunday and Monday starts using the
Week starts menu above.
How to Print Your December 2026 Calendar
1
Choose your month
Use the arrows or the month and year menus to open any month between 2024 and 2030. The grid updates instantly.
2
Add your plans
Click straight into any date box and start typing. Appointments, shifts, birthdays and reminders are saved
automatically in your browser, so nothing is lost if you close the page.
3
Print or download
Hit Print for a clean paper copy, PDF to save a document, or
Image for a PNG you can share. All three are free and never watermarked.
For the clearest printed result, choose landscape orientation and
enable background graphics in your printer settings so the header row and holiday highlights appear. If you
prefer a calendar you fill in by hand, our blank calendar templates give you the
same layout without any dates.
Other Calendars You Might Need
You can also open the evergreen December calendar hub for
templates covering every year, or browse all 2026 months in one place.