How Many Biweekly Pay Periods Are in 2024?

Biweekly pay periods are a common payroll schedule in the United States, where employees receive compensation every two weeks. This frequency is preferred for its balance of regular income for employees and manageable processing for employers. The number of pay periods in a given year can vary, especially when the calendar shifts.

Number of Biweekly Pay Periods in 2024

In 2024, many businesses and their employees will experience 27 biweekly pay periods instead of the typical 26. This occurs because 2024 is a leap year, adding an extra day (February 29th), and due to how January 1st falls on the calendar. If the first pay period begins on a Monday or Tuesday and aligns with a biweekly schedule, it can trigger this additional pay period by year-end.

How Biweekly Pay Periods Are Calculated

A standard calendar year has 365 days. Since a biweekly pay period spans 14 days, dividing 365 by 14 results in approximately 26.07 pay periods. In a leap year, with 366 days, this calculation yields approximately 26.14 pay periods. These fractional amounts accumulate over time, eventually leading to an extra pay period.

This additional pay period occurs when “extra” days from consecutive years, including leap year adjustments, accumulate to form a full 14-day cycle. The exact occurrence depends on the specific day the year starts and the chosen payday. While most years have 26 biweekly periods, approximately every 11 years, calendar alignment results in a 27th pay period.

Financial Implications of Extra Pay Periods

A 27th biweekly pay period has financial considerations for both employees and employers. For employees on an annual salary, their total yearly compensation remains the same, but it is distributed across an additional paycheck. This means individual biweekly paychecks might be slightly smaller than in a typical 26-pay-period year, as the annual salary is divided by 27 instead of 26. For example, a $52,000 annual salary usually yields $2,000 per biweekly check, but with 27 periods, each check would be approximately $1,925.93.

Employers must budget for this additional payroll run, which increases their total wage expenses for the year. This extra pay period also impacts payroll tax liabilities, such as Social Security and Medicare contributions, and potential adjustments for benefits and retirement plan contributions to avoid exceeding annual limits. Communicating these adjustments to employees early in the year helps manage expectations and financial planning.