This lists songs that hit number one on the charts in the US during 1986. If a song spent nonconsecutive weeks at number one, the number of weeks for each occurrence at the top is shown in parenthesis.
| Date | Artist - Title | Weeks at #1 |
| December 15 1985 – January 11 1986 | Lionel Richie - Say You, Say Me | 4 |
| January 12 – February 8 1986 | Dionne and Friends - That's What Friends Are For | 4 |
| February 9 – 22 1986 | Whitney Houston - How Will I Know | 2 |
| February 23 – March 8 1986 | Mr. Mister - Kyrie | 2 |
| March 9 – 15 1986 | Starship - Sara | 1 |
| March 16 – 22 1986 | Heart - These Dreams | 1 |
| March 23 – April 12 1986 | Falco - Rock Me Amadeus | 3 |
| April 13 – 26 1986 | Prince - Kiss | 2 |
| April 27 – May 3 1986 | Robert Palmer - Addicted to Love | 1 |
| May 4 – 10 1986 | Pet Shop Boys - West End Girls | 1 |
| May 11 – 31 1986 | Whitney Houston - Greatest Love of All | 3 |
| June 1 – 7 1986 | Madonna - Live to Tell | 1 |
| June 8 – 28 1986 | Patti LaBelle and Michael McDonald - On My Own | 3 |
| June 29 – July 5 1986 | Billy Ocean - There'll Be Sad Songs (To Make You Cry) | 1 |
| July 6 – 12 1986 | Simply Red - Holding Back the Years | 1 |
| July 13 – 19 1986 | Genesis - Invisible Touch | 1 |
| July 20 – 26 1986 | Peter Gabriel - Sledgehammer | 1 |
| July 27 – August 9 1986 | Peter Cetera - Glory of Love | 2 |
| August 10 – 23 1986 | Madonna - Papa Don't Preach | 2 |
| August 24 – 30 1986 | Steve Winwood - Higher Love | 1 |
| August 31 – September 6 1986 | Bananarama - Venus | 1 |
| September 7 – 13 1986 | Berlin - Take My Breath Away | 1 |
| September 14 – October 4 1986 | Huey Lewis and the News - Stuck With You | 3 |
| October 5 – 18 1986 | Janet Jackson - When I Think Of You | 2 |
| October 19 – November 1 1986 | Cyndi Lauper - True Colors | 2 |
| November 2 – 15 1986 | Boston - Amanda | 2 |
| November 16 – 22 1986 | Human League - Human | 1 |
| November 23 – 29 1986 | Bon Jovi - You Give Love a Bad Name | 1 |
| November 30 – December 6 1986 | Peter Cetera and Amy Grant - The Next Time I Fall | 1 |
| December 7 – 13 1986 | Bruce Hornsby and the Range - The Way It Is | 1 |
| December 14 1986 – January 10 1987 | Bangles - Walk Like an Egyptian | 4 |
31 different songs hit number one in the US during 1986.
Top 5 Songs of 1986
1: Dionne Warwick and Friends - That's What Friends Are For
2: Lionel Richie - Say You, Say Me
3: Klymaxx - I Miss You
4: Patti LaBelle and Michael McDonald - On My Own
5: Mr. Mister - Broken Wings
2: Lionel Richie - Say You, Say Me
3: Klymaxx - I Miss You
4: Patti LaBelle and Michael McDonald - On My Own
5: Mr. Mister - Broken Wings