When Is the Next Leap Year?
The next leap year is 2028, and the next leap day is Tuesday, February 29, 2028. After that come 2032, 2036 and 2040. The calculator above counts down to the next February 29 and checks any year you enter.
Leap Year Rules
In the Gregorian calendar used in most of the world, a year is a leap year if:
- it is divisible by 4,
- unless it is also divisible by 100, in which case it is not a leap year,
- unless it is also divisible by 400, in which case it is a leap year after all.
So 2024 and 2028 are leap years, 1900 and 2100 are not, and 2000 was. A leap year has 366 days, with the extra day added as February 29.
Why Do We Have Leap Years?
Earth takes about 365.2422 days to go around the Sun from one spring equinox to the next. A 365-day calendar would drift by almost a quarter of a day every year, putting the seasons about a month out of step within 120 years. Adding a day every four years brings the average to 365.25 days, which is slightly too long, so skipping three leap days every 400 years trims the average to 365.2425 days. That rule was introduced with the Gregorian calendar in 1582 and keeps the calendar within about a day of the seasons for over 3,000 years.
List of Leap Years
| Century | Leap years |
|---|---|
| 1900–1999 | 1904, 1908, 1912, 1916, 1920, 1924, 1928, 1932, 1936, 1940, 1944, 1948, 1952, 1956, 1960, 1964, 1968, 1972, 1976, 1980, 1984, 1988, 1992, 1996 |
| 2000–2099 | 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012, 2016, 2020, 2024, 2028, 2032, 2036, 2040, 2044, 2048, 2052, 2056, 2060, 2064, 2068, 2072, 2076, 2080, 2084, 2088, 2092, 2096 |
| 2100–2199 | 2104, 2108, 2112, 2116, 2120, 2124, 2128, 2132, 2136, 2140, 2144, 2148, 2152, 2156, 2160, 2164, 2168, 2172, 2176, 2180, 2184, 2188, 2192, 2196 |
Born on February 29?
People born on a leap day are called leaplings or leapers. The chance of being born on February 29 is about 1 in 1,461. In common years most leaplings celebrate on February 28 or March 1. For legal purposes many places treat March 1 as the birthday in non-leap years, but the rule varies by country. Count down to the next one with the birthday countdown, or see the day of the week you were born.
