Dates and Days

Federal holidays

Every federal holiday in a year, and the day offices actually close

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The federal holidays: the date in the statute, and the day offices close
HolidayDateFalls onObserved
How this was counted
Holidays this year— Observed on another day— Making a long weekend— Next one— Days away—

Federal holidays are cross-checked on every build against a second, separately written implementation of 5 U.S.C. 6103, for every year from 1978 to 9999. How it is checked

Enter a year to see the eleven holidays in 5 U.S.C. § 6103 for that year, each worked out from its rule in the statute (the third Monday in January, for example). When a holiday lands on a weekend, the table shows the day off separately from the date itself.

Worked out from the statute for each year

Six of the eleven federal holidays have no fixed date. Thanksgiving is the fourth Thursday in November; Memorial Day is the last Monday in May; Labor Day the first Monday in September. Those are rules, and this page applies them to whichever year you ask about. The five with fixed dates (New Year's Day, Juneteenth, Independence Day, Veterans Day and Christmas) still move in the way that matters, because the day offices close depends on which weekday the date lands on.

The holiday and the day off are two different facts

Two different authorities are at work here. The Saturday rule is in the statute: 5 U.S.C. § 6103(b) substitutes the preceding Friday when a holiday falls on a Saturday. The Sunday-to-Monday rule sits outside section 6103, in Executive Order 11582 of 1971, which set the observance for employees whose basic workweek does not include Sunday. So in 2026 Independence Day is Saturday 4 July, and federal offices close on Friday 3 July. The table above shows the two dates in separate columns, because anyone counting working days needs the observed date and anyone writing about the holiday needs the statutory one. The split is common: across 2000–2029 the two dates diverge 38 times, about thirteen times a decade.

The observed date can also land in a different year from the holiday. New Year's Day 2028 falls on a Saturday, so it is observed on Friday 31 December 2027, and a working-day count for December 2027 that only looked at 2027's holidays would miss it. The business-day counter includes that closure, and so does the next-holiday figure on this page.

The list itself changes, and the years matter

Federal holidays are created by statute, so the correct list depends on the year. Juneteenth National Independence Day was added in 2021, which means 2020 had ten and 2021 had eleven. The Birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr. was signed into law in 1983 but first observed in 1986, a three-year gap. Counting it from the signing would add a day off in 1984 and 1985 that nobody had, so each holiday here carries its own start year.

The table starts at 1978. For an earlier year the page explains the floor and lists nothing, because the modern set is not what the country observed then.

What is not here

Easter is not a federal holiday, and neither is any of the church year that hangs off it. Those dates are on the Easter page, where both the Western and Orthodox reckonings are computed along with Ash Wednesday, Good Friday, Ascension and Pentecost. Jewish observances are not federal holidays either, and they are dated on a different calendar: the Hebrew calendar converter lists them for any year, with the evening each begins. State holidays are not here, because they vary, and several states observe days no federal office recognises. The occasional executive orders that close offices on a Christmas Eve are left out too, since a one-off order for one year is not a rule anything can compute.

Questions

What is the difference between the holiday and the observed date?
The holiday is the date named in the statute; the observed date is the day federal offices close. Two different authorities set the observed date: 5 U.S.C. 6103(b) substitutes the preceding Friday when a holiday falls on a Saturday, and the Sunday-to-Monday rule comes from Executive Order 11582 of 1971, outside the statute. Independence Day 2026 is the clearest case: 4 July is a Saturday, so the day off is Friday 3 July, and the table shows both dates. Between 2000 and 2029 that split happens 38 times.
Why does the number of federal holidays change between years?
Because each holiday was created by statute and applies only from its own start year. Juneteenth National Independence Day was added by Pub. L. 117-17 in 2021, so 2020 has ten federal holidays and 2021 has eleven. Likewise, the Birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr. is counted from its first observance in 1986, three years after it was signed in 1983. Applying each holiday from its own year means a working-day count across 19 June 2019 does not skip a day the country worked.
Why will it not show me a year before 1978?
Because the modern set of federal holidays and the rules for observing them were not in place before then, and today's list printed against an older year would be wrong. The list also changed after 1978: the Birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr. was first observed in 1986 and Juneteenth was added in 2021, and each is applied from its own year.
Are these the days my employer gives off?
No, not necessarily. These are the federal holidays, which bind federal offices; private employers may observe more, fewer or different ones, and state holidays vary. Banks are a common source of confusion: Federal Reserve Banks follow this list for Sunday holidays, closing on the Monday, but they do not take the Friday before a Saturday holiday, so on 3 July 2026 federal offices are closed and Federal Reserve Banks are open. Treat the table as the schedule federal offices and courts keep. It is neither an entitlement nor a banking calendar.
Where are Easter, Thanksgiving Eve and the other floating dates?
Thanksgiving is here: it is the fourth Thursday in November, and the page works it out for each year. Easter has its own page, with the movable feasts that are defined as offsets from it, because it is not a federal holiday. Days like Christmas Eve are not federal holidays even in years when an executive order closes offices, and a one-off order is not a rule this page can compute.