Key findings
- Sunday +9%; weekdays -3% to +2%, same author, local time.
- Every hour from 6am to 10pm is within about 5% of average.
- Posting again within 24 hours costs 10%; the first post after a 30+ day break gets +26%.
- Posts have 75% of their comments but 55% of their total engagement by day one.
Contents
The short answer
Sunday. Posts published on Sunday (in the author's own time zone) got +9% engagement compared with the same author's average post (95% CI +5% to +13%). Every weekday sits within a few percent of average. And the hour you post barely matters: every slot from 6am to 10pm local time is within about 5% of average.
Why local time matters
Most "best time to post" studies pool everyone in one time zone (often UTC or US Eastern), which blurs the answer. We converted every post to the author's own local time using their profile location, for 893 authors in single-time-zone countries, US states, Canadian provinces and Australian states. Then we compared each post with the same author's other posts, so people who post at odd hours for other reasons do not skew the result.
The hour barely matters
25% of posts go out between 8 and 10am, the slot most guides recommend, and it performs like any other daytime slot (-2%). Very late and very early posts (10pm to 6am) do slightly worse.
The Sunday effect holds almost everywhere
| Region | Authors | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat | Sun |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| North America | 236 | +2% | +1% | +1% | +3% | -1% | -1% | +4% |
| UK & Ireland | 114 | +1% | +2% | -4% | +2% | -3% | -4% | +9% |
| Europe (ex UK) | 220 | +3% | -1% | 0% | -1% | -3% | -4% | +8% |
| India | 110 | -3% | +7% | -2% | -1% | +1% | -1% | +14% |
| Gulf | 72 | +7% | +1% | -2% | -8% | -1% | -1% | +9% |
n/a: cell below our minimum of 20 authors and 100 posts. 2024 to 2026.
| Followers | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat | Sun |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Under 1,000 | +5% | -2% | -1% | -4% | +2% | +5% | +12% |
| 1,000 to 3,000 | 0% | +1% | -1% | 0% | -4% | -1% | +12% |
| 3,000 to 6,000 | +1% | +3% | +1% | -1% | -7% | -1% | +7% |
| 6,000 to 10,000 | 0% | -2% | -4% | 0% | 0% | +3% | +9% |
| 10,000+ | +3% | +3% | -3% | +3% | -1% | -10% | +2% |
Only 7% of posts go out on a Sunday, so a Sunday post competes with far fewer others in your followers' feeds. The effect is strongest for accounts under 3,000 followers and fades at 10,000+. It also holds when we look only at image posts (+19% vs +11% on Wednesday), so it is not just a different mix of formats.
Spacing matters more than timing
-10%
Finding 29
Posting twice in 24 hours costs the second post
Posts made within 24 hours of the author's previous post got -10% vs posts made 2 to 4 days after the last one (95% CI -13% to -7%).
+26%
Finding 31
Comeback posts get a bump
The first post after a break of 30+ days got +26% vs a normal 2 to 4 day gap (95% CI +20% to +32%). Some of that is what people post when they return (new jobs, big news).
How long a post keeps earning
75% vs 55%
Finding 32
Comments come early, reactions keep coming
At 12 to 24 hours old, posts had 75% of the comments but only 55% of the total engagement of the same author's fully matured posts. Total engagement was still at 86% after one to two weeks.
What to do
Post what the data says works, in your own voice
LigoSocial learns how you write from your own LinkedIn posts, then drafts posts, comments and replies in that voice right inside LinkedIn. You approve what goes out.
Add LigoSocial to ChromeOr try it at ligosocial.comCommon questions
- What is the best day to post on LinkedIn?
- Sunday, by a modest margin: +9% vs the same author's average post. Weekdays are all within a few percent of each other.
- What is the best time to post on LinkedIn?
- In our data, the hour barely matters. Every slot from 6am to 10pm local time was within about 5% of average. Post when you can write well and reply to comments.
- Is it bad to post on LinkedIn on weekends?
- No. Saturday was average (-2%) and Sunday was the best day (+9%).
- Can I post twice a day on LinkedIn?
- You can, but the second post suffers: posts within 24 hours of the previous one got -10% vs posts 2 to 4 days apart.
Download the data
- CSV
Day, hour, region and posting gaps
Engagement vs the same author's average post (local time).
94 rows, CSV
Suggested citation
LigoSocial Research (2026). Best day and time to post on LinkedIn: 134k posts analysed in local time. https://ligosocial.com/research/best-day-to-post-on-linkedin
Free to reuse under CC BY 4.0: quote the numbers, embed the charts or rework the data, with credit to LigoSocial Research and a link to this page. Every figure is aggregated and anonymised; no individual, profile or post can be identified.
Does your next post read as AI?
Paste it into the free LinkedIn AI Detector. It scores the post and points at the phrases and patterns that give it away. Nothing you paste is stored.
How we collect, clean and anonymise the data: methodology. Questions or a cut we have not published? Ask us.
Related research
- Annual reportThe State of LinkedIn 2026: what works for everyday professionals40 findings from 134,522 posts, plus what works at each follower count.
- ReportDo AI-written LinkedIn posts get less engagement?AI-sounding posts get 22% less engagement, and the share of them peaked in 2024 to 2025.
- ReportEm dashes and AI: how often LinkedIn posts use themEm dash use rose sevenfold, then fell. The dash is a marker, not the problem.
- ReportLinkedIn post formats compared: images, carousels, video, text, links and pollsImages +36%, link previews -15%, polls -50%. Carousels only pay past 10 pages.
- ReportHow long should a LinkedIn post be? What 134k posts showLonger posts win: 2,400+ characters +24% vs 600 to 900.