Average PTO days per year represents the mean number of Paid Time Off days, encompassing vacation, sick, personal, and other forms of leave, that employees receive annually. This metric reflects typical employer offerings and employee tenure-adjusted policies. It provides a critical lens through which both organizations and workers understand time-off equity, workplace well-being, and how PTO evolves over a career.
U.S. Benchmarks: Tracking Average PTO Days Per Year Over Time
Understanding how average PTO days per year are structured in the U.S. provides valuable context for both employees and employers. PTO offerings often vary based on tenure, company size, and industry, and this section breaks down how time off typically accrues throughout a career.
PTO Growth by Tenure and Employer Type
Understanding how average PTO days per year evolve with tenure is essential for setting expectations and comparing offers across industries. In the private sector, most employers follow a structured accrual model based on years of service:
After 1 year of employment, the average vacation-only allotment is around 11 days.
By the 5-year mark, this increases to about 15 days.
With 10 years of service, most employees receive approximately 17–18 days.
After 20+ years, long-term employees may earn 20+ vacation days per year.
However, many organizations, especially larger ones, consolidate vacation, sick, and personal time into a single PTO policy. In those cases, the average PTO days per year tend to be higher due to combined benefits.
Consolidated PTO: Vacation + Sick Days
According to data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, here’s how total average PTO (including sick and personal leave) typically accumulates over time:
| Years of Service | Average PTO Days Per Year (Combined) |
|---|---|
|
After 1 year |
~14 days
|
|
After 5 years |
~17 days
|
|
After 10 years |
~20 days
|
|
After 20 years |
~23+ days
|
This consolidated approach is increasingly common, especially in industries with dynamic work schedules or remote flexibility.
Public Sector: A Slightly More Generous Outlook
Government and public-sector employees often enjoy more favorable leave benefits. The average PTO days per year in these roles tend to exceed those in the private sector:
After 1 year: ~13 vacation days (often excluding generous sick leave, which is counted separately)
After 10 years: ~19 vacation days, with separate sick leave entitlements that can exceed 10–12 days annually
Public roles often feature greater predictability and job security, allowing for more structured time-off policies. Combined with holiday leave and floating days, many public-sector professionals accumulate 25–30 days of total PTO annually by mid-career.
Global Comparison: Where Does the U.S. Stand?
When evaluating the average PTO days per year, the United States consistently ranks among the lowest of developed nations. While PTO in the U.S. is typically based on employer discretion and tenure, many other countries mandate paid leave by law, creating a more uniform and generous leave environment.
Global PTO Standards vs. U.S. Norms
In much of the world, paid vacation is a legal right rather than a discretionary benefit. This means employees are guaranteed a minimum number of paid leave days regardless of the company or industry they work in.
Here’s a snapshot of average PTO days per year in selected countries:
| Country | Statutory Paid Vacation Days | Notes |
|---|---|---|
|
United States |
0 (no federal requirement) |
Employers offer ~10–14 days on average, not legally mandated
|
|
European Union |
20 (minimum) |
Applies across all EU member states
|
|
France |
25 |
Often extended through additional RTT (reduction in working time) days
|
|
Sweden |
25 |
Can increase with age or collective bargaining
|
|
Egypt |
21 |
Legally required under Egyptian labor law
|
|
New Zealand |
20 |
Applies after 12 months of continuous employment
|
|
Vietnam |
12 |
Can increase with years of service
|
|
Australia |
20 |
Standard for full-time workers
|
|
Brazil |
30 |
One of the most generous PTO policies globally
|
The U.S. in Perspective
While U.S. employers may voluntarily offer vacation, there is no federal mandate for paid vacation or holidays. On average:
Private-sector employees start with around 11 days of vacation after one year.
Combined leave (vacation + sick + personal) totals around 14–23 days over a career.
Federal holidays are separate and vary by employer, unlike many countries where they’re included in statutory PTO.
Why the Disparity Matters
This global disparity underscores a broader cultural difference in how time off is valued:
In the U.S., time off is treated as a perk that must be negotiated, accrued, and sometimes “earned.”
In contrast, most other nations view paid time off as a basic labor right, integral to health, productivity, and family life.
Therefore, when measuring the average PTO days per year, the U.S. not only ranks low numerically but also lacks the structural protections that ensure equitable time off across the workforce.
The PTO Gap: Why Allotted Time Isn’t Fully Used
While the average PTO days per year in the U.S. may appear reasonable on paper, ranging from 14 to over 23 days depending on tenure, data shows that many employees fail to actually use all their available time off. This “PTO gap” between what is offered and what is taken reveals a deeper issue embedded in workplace culture, perceptions of performance, and organizational norms.
The Numbers Behind the PTO Gap
According to multiple studies and surveys over the past decade, American workers consistently leave large amounts of paid time off unused:
In 2018, U.S. workers collectively left 768 million vacation days unused, with 27% of earned PTO going entirely unclaimed. On average, each employee forfeited approximately 6.5 days of PTO that year.
A 2025 report revealed that nearly 48% of U.S. employees anticipated they would not use all of their vacation days by the end of the year.
These patterns have remained consistent over time, with minimal signs of improvement, even in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, which briefly reshaped how time off was perceived and used.
This widespread underuse means that the average PTO days per year, even when generous, often remain theoretical benefits, rather than fully utilized tools for recovery and balance.
Demographic Differences: Not All Workers Use PTO Equally
Studies also show stark variations in PTO usage across different demographics:
Women take approximately 10% fewer PTO days than men, potentially due to higher pressure to balance work with caregiving responsibilities or internalized expectations around performance.
Younger workers, especially Gen Z and younger Millennials, use about one week less PTO per year compared to older generations, driven by job insecurity, ambition, or unclear boundaries in early careers.
These trends suggest that the underutilization of PTO isn’t just about policy, it’s also about perceptions, priorities, and power dynamics in the workplace.
Why Workers Don’t Take Time Off
The reasons behind the PTO gap are as cultural as they are structural. Commonly cited barriers include:
Fear of falling behind on work or returning to a backlog
Guilt about leaving colleagues to pick up the slack
Lack of explicit encouragement from managers or leadership
Cultural norms that equate taking time off with being less committed
Pressure in “unlimited PTO” environments, where ambiguity about what’s acceptable leads many to take even less time
In other words, even when average PTO days per year are in line with best practices, organizational culture can discourage actual usage.
The Cost of Unused Time Off
Leaving PTO on the table comes with consequences, for individuals and companies alike:
For workers, unused PTO leads to burnout, decreased engagement, and poorer mental and physical health.
For employers, the PTO gap can result in reduced productivity, lower retention, and even financial liabilities if unused days roll over or are paid out.
Ultimately, a strong PTO policy is only effective if employees feel empowered, and encouraged, to use it. Closing the PTO gap requires not just generous time-off allowances but a work culture that normalizes rest as a necessary and respected part of professional life.
Day Off: Your All-in-One PTO & Leave Management Tool
Day Off is a powerful and user-friendly leave tracking system designed for businesses of all sizes. It allows HR managers to effortlessly set up, manage, and monitor team leave, complete with policy customization and real-time insights.
Trusted by organizations across the globe, including McDonald’s, State Farm, Vodafone, and Johnson Controls, Day Off supports streamlined PTO handling with intuitive workflows and scalable features
Key Features
Leave Policy Flexibility & Workflow
Day Off gives you full control over how leave policies are structured and applied across your organization. You can create multiple leave types, such as vacation, sick leave, maternity or paternity leave, sabbaticals, and even custom categories unique to your business.
Each policy can be tailored based on factors like employee tenure, role, location, or department. You can also choose how leave accrues, monthly, yearly, or by hours worked, ensuring complete alignment with internal HR standards and compliance needs.
More importantly, approval workflows are fully customizable. Whether you prefer single-level approvals for small teams or multi-step workflows with managerial oversight, Day Off adapts easily to your process.
Smart Integrations for Seamless Workflows
Day Off connects effortlessly with the tools your team already uses. Approved leave requests automatically sync with calendar platforms like Google Calendar or Microsoft Outlook, helping teams stay aligned and reducing the chance of scheduling conflicts.
You can also manage requests directly within collaboration tools like Slack or Microsoft Teams. This makes leave management a natural part of your daily workflow; there’s no need to log into separate systems or chase down approvals via email.
These integrations eliminate friction in communication and allow teams to focus more on productivity and less on administrative overhead.
Real-Time Dashboards & Insightful Reporting
A major strength of Day Off is its real-time visibility into team availability and time-off trends. Its shared calendar view, available in daily, weekly, or monthly formats, helps managers anticipate absences and ensure coverage during critical periods.
Advanced reporting tools go beyond just who is off and when. HR and leadership teams can access detailed insights like PTO balance status, usage trends, carryovers, and historical leave data for each employee or department.
This data isn’t just informational; it becomes strategic. It helps prevent leave imbalance, supports compliance audits, and allows organizations to make informed decisions on staffing, budgeting, and employee wellness initiatives.
Global Flexibility and Multi-Team Scalability
Day Off is built to scale. Whether you’re operating a local business or managing multiple offices across different time zones and regions, the platform allows you to manage each unit independently.
You can assign different calendars, holiday schedules, and time-off rules based on country, region, or even specific teams. That includes configuring distinct workweeks (e.g., Sunday–Thursday in some countries) or applying unique holiday sets per location.
This flexibility makes Day Off particularly useful for distributed and remote-first teams, giving each office or unit the structure they need while keeping everything centralized under one system.
Employee-Friendly Mobile Access and Self-Service
Day Off is designed to empower employees just as much as it supports HR. With full mobile app access on iOS and Android, team members can submit leave requests, check their balance, review past time-off history, and stay informed, all on the go.
No more printing forms, sending follow-up emails, or guessing how much PTO is left. Employees can manage everything directly from their phones or desktops, freeing up HR from routine questions and improving transparency.
The platform also supports automatic notifications, so team members are alerted when requests are approved, denied, or need further review, helping everyone stay in the loop without micromanagement.
Simple Onboarding & Intuitive Management Interface
Getting started with Day Off is refreshingly simple. Admins can onboard employees in minutes, create user profiles, assign them to specific teams or locations, and apply relevant policies.
The interface is clean, well-organized, and requires minimal training; even non-technical users can navigate it with ease. You can edit leave balances, reassign team roles, or adjust leave policies without digging through layers of settings.
Its usability makes it ideal for fast-moving teams that need to implement systems quickly and with minimal overhead.
Built-In Trust, Reliability, and Team Transparency
One of Day Off’s most valuable contributions is how it fosters transparency across your organization. By giving everyone, from executives to interns, access to the same live calendar and leave information, it helps prevent miscommunication and ensures fairness.
Managers can easily coordinate coverage during peak periods, employees can see who’s out before booking leave, and HR can stay ahead of burnout or leave imbalances.
The result is a more collaborative, respectful, and well-coordinated team environment, where taking time off is seen not as a disruption, but as a healthy and encouraged part of work life.
The Shift from Unlimited to Structured PTO Models
Once a buzzworthy benefit, unlimited PTO is declining rapidly; by mid-2025, just 2.9% of U.S. job listings offered it, down from 8.8% in 2022.
Why? Because in practice, many employees under unlimited PTO take less time off, not more. The lack of clear limits creates uncertainty, guilt, and pressure to be always available, especially in competitive work environments.
To address this, some companies are blending flexibility with structure. For example, Olipop mandates at least one week off in summer and offers a $1,000 stipend to encourage real disconnection, even within an unlimited PTO model.
This shift signals that the average PTO days per year may be best supported by clear, structured policies that promote usage and well-being.
Why “Average PTO Days Per Year” Truly Matters
For Employees:
Consistent, protected time off helps prevent burnout, supports mental health, and boosts long-term productivity. Yet only 18% of workers fully use their PTO, even though many feel the need for a break every 110 days.
For Employers:
Offering a competitive average PTO days per year improves recruitment, retention, and morale. Ignored PTO, on the other hand, can lead to disengagement, reduced performance, and growing liability.
Ultimately, it’s not just about how much time off is offered, it’s about how effectively it’s used.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
What’s the difference between PTO and vacation leave?
PTO (Paid Time Off) is an umbrella term that includes vacation, sick days, and personal leave, sometimes even holidays. Vacation leave is a subset of PTO, specifically used for rest and relaxation. Some companies offer separate banks for vacation and sick time, while others combine them under a unified PTO policy.
Is PTO legally required in the U.S.?
No, there is no federal law in the United States that requires employers to provide paid time off. However, many states and local jurisdictions have their mandates, especially concerning sick leave. Despite the lack of a national requirement, most employers offer PTO as a standard benefit to attract and retain talent.
How is PTO usually accrued?
PTO is typically accrued based on time worked. Common methods include accrual per pay period, monthly accumulation, or annual allotments at the start of each calendar or anniversary year. Some companies also offer front-loaded PTO, especially for salaried roles or new hires.
Can employers cap or expire unused PTO?
Yes. Employers can legally place caps on how much PTO can be accrued and may implement “use-it-or-lose-it” policies, though these must comply with state laws, which vary. Some states require employers to pay out unused PTO upon termination, while others allow expiration under specific conditions.
What’s a good PTO policy for remote teams?
For distributed or remote teams, a good PTO policy should emphasize flexibility, time zone fairness, and clear expectations. Consider offering additional wellness days, asynchronous communication tools to avoid burnout, and strong encouragement to actually use PTO. Clear visibility into team calendars is essential to prevent overlaps and maintain balance.
How does PTO impact payroll and finances?
Unused PTO can represent a financial liability for businesses, especially if it must be paid out when an employee leaves. Accruals should be tracked accurately to manage these costs. On the other hand, encouraging regular PTO use can reduce long-term health costs, increase engagement, and improve retention.
What’s the ideal amount of PTO to offer?
While there’s no one-size-fits-all number, many competitive companies offer between 15–20 days of PTO annually, plus holidays. What matters more than the number is a culture that encourages employees to take full advantage of their time off without guilt or disruption.
Conclusion
Understanding the average PTO days per year is essential for building fair, productive, and sustainable workplaces. While U.S. standards often fall behind global benchmarks, the real challenge lies not just in the number of days offered, but in whether employees feel empowered to use them.
From cultural norms to unclear policies, the PTO gap continues to affect well-being and performance. Tools like Day Off can help close this gap by simplifying leave tracking, encouraging usage, and ensuring transparency across teams.
As the nature of work continues to evolve, organizations that prioritize structured, thoughtful PTO policies and a culture that supports rest will lead the way in employee satisfaction, retention, and long-term success.