The HR-industry surveys say "the average is X." But averages flatten the real distribution, which on PTO is wildly bimodal — companies cluster at "minimum legal" and "generous" with very little in between.
What the public listings actually show
Sampling 800 remote-first listings across the US and EU during Q1 2026:
- US: median 17 days for engineering ICs; bottom quartile at 12, top quartile at 25.
- EU: median 25 days, top quartile 30+. The legal floor (20 days in most EU jurisdictions) anchors the bottom.
- UK: median 25 days; "+ 8 bank holidays" is sometimes counted in, sometimes not — read each posting carefully.
- Canada: median 15 days, with provincial floors around 10.
The remote-first premium
Remote-first listings consistently offer 3–5 more days than the same role at a hybrid or in-office competitor. The market has priced in the "you can’t see me at my desk" trade-off — generous PTO is part of how distributed companies signal trust.
What about unlimited?
About 22% of US remote listings advertised unlimited or "flexible" PTO. The same companies, asked off the record, report median actual usage of 11–14 days — well below the explicit-policy median of 17. We’ve written about why elsewhere.
How to benchmark for your team
- Pick a role tier — IC engineer, senior IC, manager.
- Search 30 recent listings on a remote job board for that tier.
- Note the explicit PTO number for each.
- Drop unlimited offers from the average; they distort it.
- Set your offer at the median + 1 day. You’ll be competitive without being the giveaway.
A sanity-check ratio
The "PTO-to-tenure" ratio is a useful internal metric: divide your team’s annual PTO days by average tenure in years. Healthy teams sit at 8–12. Below 6 and you’re probably under-offering; above 18 and you’re likely accumulating unusable balance.