United States (federal) public holidays 2026

2026 at a glance

• Independence Day falls on Saturday 4 July and is observed on Friday 3 July.
• In 2026, public holidays fall on 11 weekdays in United States (federal), the same as in 2025.

Public holidays in 2026

12 dates are counted as non-working in United States (federal) in 2026; 11 of them fall on a weekday.

• observed substitute weekday off

Working days and hours by month

Working days are Monday to Friday minus the counted holidays. Hours are shown for a 7.5-hour and an 8-hour working day.

• Jan 20 working days in January, 2 holidays
• Feb 19 working days in February, 1 holiday
• Mar 22 working days in March
• Apr 22 working days in April
• May 20 working days in May, 1 holiday
• Jun 21 working days in June, 1 holiday
• Jul 22 working days in July, 2 holidays
• Aug 21 working days in August
• Sep 21 working days in September, 1 holiday
• Oct 21 working days in October, 1 holiday
• Nov 19 working days in November, 2 holidays
• Dec 22 working days in December, 1 holiday

Long weekends in 2026

Runs of three or more days off in a row without taking leave.

• 3 days Saturday 17 January 2026 to Monday 19 January 2026
• 3 days Saturday 14 February 2026 to Monday 16 February 2026
• 3 days Saturday 23 May 2026 to Monday 25 May 2026
• 3 days Friday 19 June 2026 to Sunday 21 June 2026
• 3 days Friday 3 July 2026 to Sunday 5 July 2026
• 3 days Saturday 5 September 2026 to Monday 7 September 2026
• 3 days Saturday 10 October 2026 to Monday 12 October 2026
• 3 days Friday 25 December 2026 to Sunday 27 December 2026

Best days to take leave in 2026

The longest single break for each number of leave days, built around a public holiday.

Leave plans for the whole year

Non-overlapping breaks that give the most days off for a given number of leave days.

Try any budget from 1 to 30 days in the leave planner

Countdown

The days to the next holiday appear here when JavaScript is on.

The working days left this month and this year appear here when JavaScript is on.

Count working days between two dates

Calendar and data downloads

The subscription works in Google Calendar, Outlook and Apple Calendar. The CSV file also lists the days observed by some.

About public holidays in United States (federal)

Federal law, in title 5 of the United States Code, section 6103, sets the legal public holidays for federal employees, and the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) publishes the dates for each year. The Department of Labor states that federal law does not require private employers to give paid holidays. The United States page on this site shows the federal list.

There are 11 federal holidays. Five have a fixed date: New Year's Day (1 January), Juneteenth National Independence Day (19 June), Independence Day (4 July), Veterans Day (11 November) and Christmas Day (25 December). The other six fall on a set weekday: the Birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr. on the third Monday in January, Washington's Birthday on the third Monday in February, Memorial Day on the last Monday in May, Labor Day on the first Monday in September, Columbus Day on the second Monday in October and Thanksgiving Day on the fourth Thursday in November. Juneteenth was added by the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act, Public Law 117-17, approved on 17 June 2021.

When a fixed-date holiday falls on a weekend, OPM states that for most federal employees a Saturday holiday is observed on the preceding Friday, under 5 U.S.C. 6103(b), and a Sunday holiday on the following Monday, under section 3(a) of Executive Order 11582. In 2027, Juneteenth (Saturday 19 June) is observed on Friday 18 June, Independence Day (Sunday 4 July) on Monday 5 July, and Christmas Day (Saturday 25 December) on Friday 24 December.

The weekend rule can move a holiday into the previous year. New Year's Day 2028 is a Saturday, so it is observed on Friday 31 December 2027. OPM lists that day under 2028, but it is a non-working day in calendar year 2027, and this site shows it on both year pages and counts it in 2027.

Inauguration Day, 20 January of every fourth year after 1965, is an additional legal public holiday under 5 U.S.C. 6103(c). It applies only to federal employees in the Washington, DC, area. The next one is in 2029, when 20 January falls on a Saturday. OPM states that there is no in-lieu-of holiday for employees who are not regularly scheduled to work on Inauguration Day. Because it is regional, it is not included in the working-day counts on the federal page.

Days that are not in the list in 5 U.S.C. 6103(a), such as Good Friday, Christmas Eve and Election Day, are not federal holidays and are counted as normal working days here.

Source and last check

Dates are calculated with the python-holidays library 0.108 and checked against the official sources below. Last checked: 15 November 2026.

Sources

• https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/pay-leave/federal-holidays/
• https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/USCODE-2023-title5/html/USCODE-2023-title5-partIII-subpartE-chap61-subchapI-sec6103.htm
• https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/PLAW-117publ17
• https://www.dol.gov/general/topic/workhours/holidays

How the counts are made