[1] Average rates of annual leave usage by company size
The Survey was conducted on companies with 50 or more employees between December 2022 and January 2023. Asked about regular employees’ average usage rate of annual leave, the largest 41.3% said “50% or higher and less than 75%,” while 33.3% said “25% or higher and less than 50%.” Companies that answered “75% or higher” made up 16.8%.
Analysis of the result by the number of employees showed, companies with more employees were likelier to answer “50% or higher and less than 75%” or “75% or higher.”

Average PTO In The US & Other PTO Statistics (2024)

If you’re a small business in the U.S., you’re not required to provide paid time off (PTO) to your employees. However, you may still choose to offer it anyway. PTO gives workers the chance to take a break from work and avoid burnout. It can also raise their morale and improve their productivity.

With the PTO statistics below, you can get a better idea of how much time off employees in America and other countries take and even determine what type of PTO policy makes sense for your unique business.

Key PTO Statistics and Trends

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Here’s a look at some of the most noteworthy PTO statistics and trends. You may find some of them to be quite surprising.

Twenty-eight million Americans don’t get any paid vacation or paid holidays

The United States is the only advanced economy in the world that does not guarantee its workers paid vacation days and paid holidays.1 This means that employees can work for months or even years without any break, lacking the work-life balance that is important for their physical and mental well-being.

Nearly a third (31%) of U.S. employees do not have access to PTO

Job type and industry can often determine whether or not workers have the option of PTO. If an employee is in a position where they are constantly in front of clients or customers, for example, their chance of PTO may be lower than a worker whose job requires a lot of back end or behind-the-scenes work.1

Over half (52%) of employees report working while on PTO

Just because workers take PTO doesn’t mean they sit back, relax and completely forget about their jobs. In fact, more than half of them say they work when they’re supposed to be off the clock.2 Some might check their emails or hop on conference calls every so often while others may put in hours and hours of work.

Over 765 million vacation days have gone unused by Americans

While vacation days are designed for U.S. workers to take time off and recharge, not everyone takes advantage of them.3 This may be because they forget to use them, don’t want to use them or believe they can’t use them because they’re overwhelmed with work or feel like they have too much to get done.

Average Vacation Days per Year

When it comes to annual vacation days, numbers vary greatly. There is no hard and fast number employers in the United States must follow.

The average American worker gets 11 days of paid vacation per year

In the private sector, the average number of paid vacation days after five years of service increases to 15 days.4 After 10 years of service, it rises again to 17 days. For employees with 20 years of service or more, the average number of paid vacation days is 20. Keep in mind that these are strictly averages as there is no guaranteed PTO in the U.S.

On average, U.S. workers get eight days of sick leave per year

There is often a connection between how many sick days an American worker gets and their employment status. In general, the more often they work and longer they’ve been in their position, the more sick days they receive. The average number of paid sick days is as follows:4

Average Vacation Days per Year

When it comes to annual vacation days, numbers vary greatly. There is no hard and fast number employers in the United States must follow.

The average American worker gets 11 days of paid vacation per year

In the private sector, the average number of paid vacation days after five years of service increases to 15 days.4 After 10 years of service, it rises again to 17 days. For employees with 20 years of service or more, the average number of paid vacation days is 20. Keep in mind that these are strictly averages as there is no guaranteed PTO in the U.S.

On average, U.S. workers get eight days of sick leave per year

There is often a connection between how many sick days an American worker gets and their employment status. In general, the more often they work and longer they’ve been in their position, the more sick days they receive. The average number of paid sick days is as follows:4

Eight days per year for full-time workers

• Six days per year for part-time workers
• Eight days per year for workers who received a fixed number of paid sick days after one year of service
• Ten days per year for union workers, after one year of service
• Seven days per year for nonunion workers, after one year of service

The average employee in the U.S. receives an average of 7.6 paid holidays

Though the national average is 7.6, statistics show that 21% of U.S. employees receive six paid holidays per year.4 The most common paid holidays in the United States are Thanksgiving, Christmas, Independence Day, New Year’s Day, Memorial Day and Labor Day. Of course, some employers give their workers more or less paid holidays. They may even offer floating holidays, which are paid days off that workers can take at any time during the year.

Federal employees have 11 annual paid holidays

While PTO is optional, there are certain paid holidays that are legally required for federal workers in the U.S. These holidays for federal employees include:5

• New Year’s Day (January 1)
  
• Birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr. (Third Monday in January)
  
• Washington’s Birthday (Third Monday in February)
  
• Memorial Day (Last Monday in May)
  
• Juneteenth National Independence Day (June 19)
  
• Day (July 4)
  
• Labor Day (First Monday in September)
  
• Day (Second Monday in October)
  
• Day (November 11)
  
• Thanksgiving Day (Fourth Thursday in November)
  
• Christmas Day (December 25)
  

Men and women are entitled up to eight weeks of parental leave per child1

In 2018, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics found that only 17% of companies offered paid parental leave and 89% offered unpaid.6 The state of New York, which has the most generous program, allows parents to take up to 12 weeks of Paid Family Leave at 67% of their pay, up to a cap.7

PTO Usage Statistics

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The reality is that despite the benefits of PTO, not all workers take it. If you don’t think employees are using enough of their hard-earned time off, make sure that your payroll service of choice can track what they’ve used and send reminders to rest and recharge.

Below are some interesting statistics on how often PTO gets used.

Employees take an average of 20.3 days off per year