December 31, 2026 falls on a Thursday
December 31, 2026 is a Thursday. It is 98 days from today, September 24, 2026. The date is day 365 of 365 in 2026, it sits in ISO week 53, and it is the 31st of a 31-day month with 0 days after it. December 31 is also New Year's Eve, a observance.
What day of the week is December 31?
In 2026 it is a Thursday. The weekday is not a property of the date itself, it is a property of the date in a given year, so the honest answer always names the year. A common year is 365 days, which is 52 weeks plus one spare day, so a fixed date moves forward one weekday from one year to the next. A leap year inserts a second spare day, so the step is two whenever 29 February falls inside the gap. That is why December 31 works its way around the week rather than repeating on a tidy schedule.
December 31 in the next few years
| Year | Weekday | Day of year | ISO week | Leap year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Thursday | 365 | 53 | no |
| 2027 | Friday | 365 | 52 | no |
| 2028 | Sunday | 366 | 52 | yes |
| 2029 | Monday | 365 | 1 | no |
| 2030 | Tuesday | 365 | 1 | no |
| 2031 | Wednesday | 365 | 1 | no |
| 2032 | Friday | 366 | 53 | yes |
| 2033 | Saturday | 365 | 52 | no |
Between 2026 and 2027 the weekday moves from Thursday to Friday, a step of 1. The day-of-year column also moves: December 31 is day 365 in a common year and day 366 in a leap year, because it sits after 29 February.
How often does December 31 fall at a weekend?
Counting the 28 occurrences from 2026 to 2053, December 31 lands on a Saturday 4 times and on a Sunday 4 times, so 8 of those 28 years put it at a weekend. Over a full 28-year stretch the Gregorian calendar repeats itself, and a fixed date visits each weekday four times, so the long-run answer is two weekend years in every seven.
Where December 31 sits in the calendar
December 31 is the 31st day of December, a month of 31 days in 2026, leaving 0 days of the month after it. Measured from 1 January it is 364 days into the year, and 0 days remain to 31 December, which puts it 100.0% of the way through 2026. In December 2026 the other Thursdays are the 3rd, 10th, 17th, 24th, because weekdays repeat every seven days inside a month just as they do across one.
What else happens around December 31?
| Date | Occasion | Type | Days from December 31 |
|---|---|---|---|
| December 31 | New Year's Eve | observance | same day |
| January 1 | New Year's Day | federal holiday | 1 after |
What day was December 31 in a past year?
The table above looks forward. Going back, December 31 fell on a different weekday in each earlier year, and each of those has its own page.
How far away is December 31?
The next December 31 is Thursday, December 31, 2026, 98 days from today. That is 14 whole weeks and 0 days, or 14.0 weeks written as a decimal. To count towards it second by second, use the date calculator.
Questions
- What day of the week is December 31, 2026?
- A Thursday. It is day 365 of 365 and falls in ISO week 53.
- What day of the week is December 31 next year?
- In 2027 it is a Friday.
- What number day of the year is December 31?
- Day 365 in a common year and day 366 in a leap year. See day 365 for more.
- Which week of the year is December 31 in?
- ISO week 53 in 2026. The week 53 page lists every date in it.
Nearby dates
The 31st of other months
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