Payroll schedules: weekly, biweekly and the 2026 payroll calendar

Weekly, biweekly, semimonthly and monthly payroll compared

Weekly payroll is common for hourly crews, restaurants and construction, and some states require it for manual workers. It costs the most to run if your provider charges per pay run, and it doubles the number of tax deposits to track.

Biweekly payroll is the most common choice for small businesses because every workweek falls inside one pay period, which keeps overtime simple, and it meets the twice-a-month rules most states have.

Semimonthly payroll lines up with monthly bookkeeping and benefit deductions, but paydays move around the week and a workweek can be split across two periods, which makes hourly overtime harder to get right.

Monthly payroll is the cheapest to run but is not allowed for most hourly workers in many states (see the state table below).

What the schedule does to your payroll bill

Most flat-fee payroll software (Gusto, OnPay, QuickBooks, Patriot, Square) prices per month plus per person, so the schedule does not change the bill. Providers that bill per pay run do. Third-party estimates for ADP RUN Essential put it at $2.50 per employee per weekly pay run on top of a base fee (Fit Small Business, May 2025, more than a year old), and Paycom at $4 to $6 per employee per pay run (Fit Small Business, July 2026, from a quote). Neither company publishes prices.

At $4 per employee per run, 10 employees cost $2,080 a year on weekly payroll (52 x 10 x $4) and $1,040 on biweekly (26 x 10 x $4). Ask for the per-run price before you pick weekly. Our payroll cost guide has the full fee list, and the payroll software rankings compare the flat-fee providers.

Faster funding also costs extra on some plans: Gusto Simple charges $15 a month plus $3 per person for next-day pay (included on Plus), and $90 per payroll for same-day pay (Gusto pricing page, checked October 16, 2026).

2026 biweekly payroll calendar: Fridays starting January 2

If your first 2026 payday was Friday, January 2, you have 26 paydays this year. The last is Friday, December 18, and the next one falls on Friday, January 1, 2027, which is New Year’s Day.

Payday 13 (June 19) is Juneteenth. Direct deposits usually do not settle on bank holidays, so most employers move that payday to Thursday, June 18. Payday 14 (July 3) is the observed Independence Day holiday for federal offices because July 4 falls on a Saturday; ask your bank or payroll provider whether deposits settle that day before you keep it. Check your state’s rule on early or late paydays before you move one.

2026 biweekly payroll calendar: Fridays starting January 9

The other Friday cycle starts January 9 and also has 26 paydays in 2026. Its last payday, December 25, is Christmas Day, so plan to pay on Thursday, December 24 and tell employees early.

Payday 24 (November 27) is the day after Thanksgiving, which is not a federal holiday, but many offices close. Submit that payroll earlier in the week.

When a biweekly year has 27 pay periods

A Friday biweekly schedule has 26 paydays in 2026 on both cycles, because 2026 has 52 Fridays. There is no 27th payday this year.

A 27th payday matters for salaried staff. If you divide an annual salary by 26, a 27-payday year pays one extra check: $2,000 more on a $52,000 salary. The two common fixes are to divide the salary by 27 for that year ($1,925.93 per check on $52,000) or to keep 26 and budget the extra check. Tell employees in writing before January, and check benefit deductions, which are often set per check on a 26-check year.

Weekly payroll has the same effect with a 53rd payday in 2027 if your payday is Friday.

State pay frequency rules: where you cannot pay monthly

Federal law does not set a pay frequency, but most states do. These are the states with the strictest rules, from our state research and the Department of Labor’s state payday table (revised January 1, 2023):

The 16-day limits in Arizona and Maine can trip up a semimonthly schedule when weekends move paydays: in 2026, paying the 15th early on Friday, March 13 and the 31st on Tuesday leaves 18 days between paydays. A biweekly schedule is always 14 days apart. Some states also cap how long after a period closes you can pay: Colorado within 10 days, Delaware within 7 days, Iowa within 12 days excluding Sundays and holidays. The other states’ rules are on each state payroll page.

Changing schedules also has rules. Nebraska requires 30 days’ written notice; Vermont requires notice before moving off weekly pay; New Hampshire needs written permission for semimonthly or monthly.

2026 weekly, semimonthly and monthly calendars

Weekly, Friday payday: 52 paydays in 2026, from Friday, January 2 to Friday, December 25. Paydays on June 19, July 3 (Independence Day observed) and December 25 fall on federal holidays. In 2027 a Friday weekly payroll has 53 paydays.

Semimonthly, 15th and last day: 24 paydays. When a date lands on a weekend, most employers pay the business day before. In 2026 that moves the 15th in February (Sunday), March (Sunday), August (Saturday) and November (Sunday), and the last day in January (Saturday), February (Saturday the 28th), May (Sunday) and October (Saturday).

Monthly: 12 paydays. Check the state table first; monthly pay is limited to salaried or exempt staff in most states that set a rule.

How the pay schedule ties into tax deposits

Your payday sets the federal deposit date if you are a semiweekly depositor: tax on a Wednesday, Thursday or Friday payday is due the following Wednesday, and tax on a Saturday to Tuesday payday is due the following Friday (IRS Topic 757). Monthly depositors, which includes most new employers, deposit all of a month’s payroll tax by the 15th of the next month, so a weekly schedule means four or five paydays in each deposit.

The first payroll of the year also restarts every wage base: Social Security ($184,500 in 2026), FUTA ($7,000) and your state unemployment base all count from January 1 by payday, not by the period worked. A December 2026 period paid on January 1, 2027 counts as 2027 wages. Details are in our payroll taxes guide.

Common pay schedule mistakes

• Paying hourly staff monthly in a state that bans it. Check the table above or your payroll compliance checklist.
• Dividing salary by 26 in a 27-payday year without telling anyone, then finding the payroll budget is one check short.
• Moving a holiday payday later. Paying early is the safe direction in most states; paying late can break a state deadline.
• Splitting workweeks on semimonthly pay and missing overtime for hourly staff. See exempt vs non-exempt rules.
• Forgetting final pay rules. Some states require final wages faster than your normal cycle, for example California on the day of discharge.