US Federal Holidays 2026 — Official List, Observance Rules & Market Closures

2026 US Federal Holidays — Complete List

The United States recognizes 11 federal holidays each year under 5 U.S.C. 6103. These apply to federal employees and the District of Columbia; most private employers follow the same schedule. The table below shows each 2026 holiday, the actual calendar date, the day of the week, the observed date (after any weekend shift), and whether the holiday is fixed to a date or floating on a specific weekday.

Note: Independence Day 2026 falls on a Saturday, so the federal observance shifts to Friday, July 3, 2026. All DayFig calculators use the observed weekday for business-day exclusion.

Weekend Observance-Shift Rules (5 U.S.C. 6103)

When a fixed-date federal holiday lands on a weekend, federal law shifts the observance to a weekday so employees still receive a paid day off. The rule is simple but routinely misapplied in manual calendar math:

• Saturday holiday → observed on the preceding Friday.
• Sunday holiday → observed on the following Monday.
• Floating holidays (MLK Day, Presidents’ Day, Memorial Day, Labor Day, Columbus Day, Thanksgiving) always land on a weekday by design, so no shift is needed.
• For business-day counting, only the observed weekday is removed from a span — the actual weekend date was already excluded as a Saturday or Sunday.

This shift is the single most common source of off-by-one errors in hand-counted business-day windows. Every DayFig calculator that excludes federal holidays applies this rule automatically.

US Stock Market Closure Rules (NYSE & Nasdaq)

The New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq follow a holiday schedule that overlaps with — but is not identical to — the federal calendar. Traders, finance teams, and anyone counting settlement days should note the differences:

• Full-day closures: New Year’s Day, MLK Day, Washington’s Birthday, Memorial Day, Juneteenth, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day, and Christmas Day.
• Open on federal holidays: The markets remain open on Columbus Day and Veterans Day, even though these are federal holidays.
• Early close (1:00 PM ET): The trading day after Thanksgiving and Christmas Eve (when Christmas Eve falls on a weekday).
• Weekend shift: Same as federal — Saturday holiday closes the prior Friday; Sunday holiday closes the following Monday.

Need to count trading days or settlement days? Use the Business Days Calculator and manually add Columbus Day and Veterans Day back as working days if your window includes them, since those are trading days for the markets.

IRS Tax Deadline Connections

Federal holidays directly affect IRS filing and payment deadlines. Under IRS rules, any deadline that falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or legal federal holiday is automatically extended to the next business day. This applies to:

• The individual income tax filing deadline (typically April 15, or the next business day).
• Quarterly estimated tax payments (Form 1040-ES) due in April, June, September, and January.
• Extended filing deadlines (the October 15 extension follows the same shift rule).
• Information-return deadlines (W-2, 1099, etc.) issued by employers and businesses.

To compute a tax deadline forward or backward from a known date — for example, counting 90 days to respond to an IRS notice — use the Date Add/Subtract Calculator, which respects federal holiday exclusion. Always verify against the official IRS tax calendar.

State-Level Variations

Federal holidays bind only federal agencies. Each US state legislates its own holiday calendar for state employees. While most states mirror the federal list, several add state-specific observances:

• Patriots’ Day (3rd Monday in April) — Massachusetts, Maine, Wisconsin.
• César Chávez Day (March 31) — California, Texas, Arizona (state offices).
• Confederate Memorial Day — several Southern states on varying dates.
• Indigenous Peoples’ Day / Columbus Day rename — observed differently across states.

If your calculation involves a state government office, use the Custom Exclude Dates Calculator to add state-specific holidays on top of the federal set.

Related Calculators That Use These Holidays

Every DayFig business-day and date tool below applies the federal-holiday rules documented on this page. Open any tool for instant, no-registration calculation.