May 2026 at a Glance
May closes the school year across much of the country and opens the summer season socially. Graduations, recitals, sports finals and Memorial Day travel crowd into four short weeks, and families often find that May holds more individual commitments than any other month.
| Month | May 2026 — month 5 of 12 |
|---|
| Number of days | 31 days |
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| First day | Friday, May 1, 2026 |
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| Last day | Sunday, May 31, 2026 |
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| Weekend days | 10 Saturdays and Sundays |
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| Calendar weeks | Spans 6 rows (ISO weeks 18–22) |
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| Season | Late Spring in the Northern Hemisphere |
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| Birthstone | Emerald |
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| Birth flower | Lily of the Valley & Hawthorn |
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| Zodiac signs | Taurus (until May 20) & Gemini (from May 21) |
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Holidays and Observances in May 2026
May 2026 contains 1 federal holiday: Memorial Day on Monday, May 25.
The rest of May belongs to the calendar's social side: Mother's Day on the second Sunday, Cinco de Mayo on the 5th, and graduation ceremonies clustering through the second half of the month. It is also when summer camp registrations and vacation bookings need to be locked in.
| Date | Day | Holiday | Type |
|---|
| May 1, 2026 | Friday | May Day | Observance |
| May 5, 2026 | Tuesday | Cinco de Mayo | Observance |
| May 10, 2026 | Sunday | Mother's Day | Observance |
| May 25, 2026 | Monday | Memorial Day | Federal holiday |
See every date for the year on our 2026 holidays page, or browse the full
2026 calendar.
Planning Tips for May 2026
Capture graduation and recital dates early
These are fixed, non-negotiable events announced weeks in advance and easy to forget until the invitation arrives. Adding them the moment they are announced avoids double-booking a Saturday.
Book Memorial Day travel well ahead
The last Monday of May is one of the busiest travel weekends of the American year. Marking the weekend in advance is the difference between a planned trip and an expensive last-minute one.
Bridge the school-year gap
Summer camps, childcare and holiday programs fill up while school is still in session. Use a printed May calendar to map June through August coverage before the term ends.
How Many Working Days Are in May 2026?
May 2026 contains 20 working days once weekends and federal holidays are
removed from its 31 calendar days. The 1 federal holiday that falls on a weekday is: Memorial Day. These figures assume a standard Monday-to-Friday schedule;
shift and weekend workers will count differently.
31Total days
21Weekdays
10Weekend days
20Working days
| Calendar days | 31 |
|---|
| Weekdays (Mon–Fri) | 21 |
|---|
| Weekend days | 10 |
|---|
| Federal holidays on a weekday | 1 |
|---|
| Working days | 20 |
|---|
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 May 2026
May 2026 spans ISO week 18 through week 22. 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 18 | April 27 | May 3 |
| Week 19 | May 4 | May 10 |
| Week 20 | May 11 | May 17 |
| Week 21 | May 18 | May 24 |
| Week 22 | May 25 | May 31 |
If your workplace refers to "week 18" or "W22", 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 May 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 May calendar hub for
templates covering every year, or browse all 2026 months in one place.