Presidents Day 2027 is Monday, February 15 — in 119 days. Banks are closed (Federal Reserve closed); USPS does not deliver mail; the NYSE is closed; federal offices are closed. As of October 19, 2026.
TL;DR: **Presidents Day 2027 is Monday, February 15.** It is a federal holiday: **banks are closed** (the Federal Reserve is closed), **USPS delivers no mail**, the **NYSE and Nasdaq are closed**, and **federal offices are closed**. UPS runs normal operations, FedEx runs modified service, and most retail stores stay open for the big sales weekend. Schools and state offices vary — check locally.
Contents
- Quick Answer: Are Banks Open on Presidents Day?
- What’s Open and What’s Closed
- The Date: Third Monday of February
- History of the Holiday
- Why It’s Called Presidents Day
- State Variations
- The Three-Day Weekend: February 13–15, 2027
- Money Timing: Plan Around the Bank Closure
- Common Myths
- Related Guides
- FAQ
- How We Verified This
Quick Answer: Are Banks Open on Presidents Day?
No. Banks are closed on Presidents Day, Monday, February 15, 2027. The Federal Reserve — the system that settles interbank transfers — is closed on every federal holiday, and its K.8 holiday schedule lists Washington’s Birthday among the dates its banks and branches observe. When the Fed closes, nearly all banks follow.
ATMs, mobile apps, and online banking work normally on the holiday. What cannot happen until Tuesday is anything that needs a person or the Fed’s settlement system: wire transfers, cashier’s checks, safe-deposit access, and new loan funding. Deposits you make on Monday — by ATM, app, or night drop — will typically post with a Tuesday effective date.
One exception worth knowing: a few banks keep branches open on federal holidays. TD Bank, for example, has stayed open on past Presidents Days. That policy can change, so check with your bank directly before assuming your branch is one of them.
If you are planning bill payments around this date, Are Banks Open Today? walks through how bank holidays interact with ACH and wire cutoffs in general.
What’s Open and What’s Closed
Presidents Day splits the country into two camps: government and banks mostly stop, while private business mostly keeps going.
| Status | Notes | |
|---|---|---|
| Banks & credit unions | Closed | Fed closed; ATMs and apps work |
| USPS | Closed | No delivery; post offices closed (Priority Mail Express only) |
| FedEx | Modified service | Most offices open; pickups may be early |
| UPS | Open | Normal pickup and delivery operations |
| NYSE / Nasdaq | Closed | Trading resumes Tuesday, Feb 16 |
| Federal offices | Closed | Courts, agencies, DMVs closed |
| State offices | Mostly closed | Varies by state — check locally |
| Public schools | Mostly closed | Varies by district — check with your district |
| Retail stores | Open | Presidents Day sales are a major retail event |
| National parks | Open | Standard entrance fees apply |
A few details matter. USPS treats Presidents Day as a full postal holiday: no regular mail, no package delivery, post offices dark. The lone exception is Priority Mail Express, which USPS runs every day of the year. FedEx, by contrast, keeps most locations open but trims its schedule — expect early on-call pickups and adjusted last-mile times. UPS is the outlier among carriers: it maintains normal operations on Presidents Day (unlike MLK Day 2027, when standard UPS service pauses), though a couple of its economy services may add a transit day.
Federal courts and agencies close, and most state offices do too — but state observance is not uniform, which is why the next section on state variations matters. National parks stay open; this is a normal operating day for the park system, with standard entrance fees in effect.
The Date: Third Monday of February
Presidents Day 2027 falls on Monday, February 15, 2027. Every year it is the third Monday of February, a rule set by the Uniform Monday Holiday Act.
You can verify the arithmetic yourself. January 1, 2027 is a Friday, which makes February 1 a Monday. The Mondays of February 2027 are therefore the 1st, 8th, 15th, and 22nd — and the third of those is the 15th. We computed this directly rather than copying it from another site.
Nearby years for reference:
| Year | Presidents Day |
|---|---|
| 2025 | Monday, February 17 |
| 2026 | Monday, February 16 |
| 2027 | Monday, February 15 |
| 2028 | Monday, February 21 |
Because the holiday is pegged to the third Monday rather than a fixed date, it drifts between February 15 and February 21 from year to year — it can never coincide with Washington’s actual birthday, February 22. In 2027, the holiday falls a full week before Washington’s birthday.
For the full 2027 picture, see our guide to all the 2027 federal holidays.
History of the Holiday
Presidents Day is one of the oldest federal holidays in the country — 148 years old in 2027. Its story has three chapters.
Chapter one: Washington’s Birthday, 1879. Americans had been celebrating George Washington’s birthday informally for decades after his death in 1799. In 1879, Congress made Washington’s Birthday a federal holiday, initially for federal employees in the District of Columbia, and later nationwide. For nearly a century it was observed on February 22, Washington’s actual birthday.
Chapter two: the Monday Holiday Act, 1968. Congress passed the Uniform Monday Holiday Act in 1968 to move several federal holidays to Mondays, creating predictable three-day weekends. The law took effect in 1971, and from that year on, Washington’s Birthday has been observed on the third Monday of February instead of February 22. Congress’s stated aim was to bring benefits to “the spiritual and economic life of the Nation” — in plain terms, more long weekends and more weekend travel and shopping.
Chapter three: the name everyone actually uses. The law never changed the holiday’s official name. But “Presidents Day” — with its retail sales, car dealership ads, and mattress commercials — took over in popular usage during the late 20th century. Most Americans today know the third Monday of February as Presidents Day, even though no federal statute uses that name.
The date pattern tells the story at a glance: from 1879 to 1970 the holiday sat on February 22, and every year since 1971 it has been the third Monday of February.
Why It’s Called Presidents Day
Here is the fact that surprises most people: “Presidents Day” is not the holiday’s legal name. According to the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, the federal holiday is officially “Washington’s Birthday.” That is the name Congress gave it in 1879, and no act of Congress has ever changed it.
So where did “Presidents Day” come from? Three forces converged:
- Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln’s birthday is February 12, just days before the third-Monday window. He was never given a federal holiday of his own, but schools, states, and the public began honoring Washington and Lincoln together in February. The joint commemoration made a Washington-only name feel incomplete.
- Retail. By the 1980s, “Presidents Day Sale” had become one of the biggest advertising hooks of the winter. Advertisers preferred a name that covered all presidents rather than one man.
- The states. Several states officially adopted “Presidents Day” or “Presidents’ Day” as the state holiday name, and state usage bled into national habit.
The result is a split that persists today: the federal government, the Federal Reserve’s K.8 schedule, and the NYSE holiday calendar all say “Washington’s Birthday,” while nearly everyone else says “Presidents Day.” Both refer to the same Monday. When you see “Washington’s Birthday” on an official schedule, it is not a different holiday — it is this one.
State Variations
Unlike federal offices, which all close under the single name “Washington’s Birthday,” the states are a patchwork. Presidents Day is not a uniform state holiday, and the differences are bigger than spelling.
The name changes. Eight states use the singular “President’s Day” as the legal rendering, while eight states plus Puerto Rico use “Presidents’ Day.” Others use plain “Presidents Day.” Most states that observe it, plus the federal government, stick with “Washington’s Birthday.” The punctuation you see on a store banner depends entirely on where you live.
The observance changes too. Most states close government offices on the third Monday of February, but a handful do not treat it as a paid state holiday at all, and a few fold it into different observances. Public-school calendars are set at the district level, so two neighboring districts can easily differ — one closed, one holding a regular school day.
What this means for you: never assume. If you have jury duty, a DMV appointment, a court date, or a school pickup on February 15, 2027, confirm with that specific office or district. Check with your employer about whether you get the day off and whether it is paid — private companies are not required to observe federal holidays, and holiday pay is a matter of company policy.
The Three-Day Weekend: February 13–15, 2027
For most workers who get the holiday off, Presidents Day 2027 delivers a clean three-day weekend with zero vacation days spent: Saturday, February 13 → Sunday, February 14 → Monday, February 15.
Sunday, February 14 is also Valentine’s Day in 2027, which makes this particular weekend a natural pairing — a romantic dinner Sunday, a day off Monday. Restaurants and hotels in getaway destinations know this, so if you are planning a trip, booking early is the smart move.
Travel-wise, the weekend is one of the busiest ski weekends of the season in the Rockies and Northeast, and a popular beach-escape weekend for everyone else. Presidents Day sales, meanwhile, make it one of the year’s best windows for big-ticket purchases: mattresses, large appliances, furniture, and cars are the traditional headline categories, with retailers clearing winter inventory.
If you want to stretch it, adding Friday, February 12 or Tuesday, February 16 as a vacation day turns three days into four or five. But note the tradeoff in the next section: Friday the 12th is your last banking day before the holiday.
Money Timing: Plan Around the Bank Closure
A Monday bank holiday creates a small but real trap for bill payers: anything scheduled for Monday, February 15 will not move until Tuesday, February 16. Plan around it the way payroll departments do — the Friday before is your deadline.
- Pay bills by Friday, February 12. Mortgage, rent, credit card, and loan payments due on the 15th should be submitted early enough to clear. An ACH payment initiated Friday typically settles without drama; one initiated Monday sits until Tuesday.
- Direct deposit timing shifts. If your payday is Monday the 15th, many employers pay on Friday the 12th instead — but not all do. Check with your employer rather than assuming.
- Wire transfers wait. Same-day wires cannot go out on a Fed holiday. If a wire must land by Monday, send it Friday.
- The stock market is closed. The NYSE and Nasdaq shut down for Washington’s Birthday, so no orders execute on Monday. Place time-sensitive trades with Friday’s session in mind.
- Tax season overlap. Mid-February is peak tax-filing season. IRS e-file operates normally, but any refund timing that depends on bank settlement shifts a day.
None of this is an emergency — it is just calendar friction. A ten-minute review of your autopay schedule on the Friday before the holiday prevents the late fees and overdraft edge cases that Monday holidays quietly cause.
Common Myths
Myth 1: “Presidents Day honors all presidents.” The federal holiday honors one president: George Washington. The popular name expanded the meaning over time, and the joint commemoration of Lincoln’s February 12 birthday helped, but the statute still says Washington’s Birthday. Treating it as a generic all-presidents day is a modern reinterpretation, not the law.
Myth 2: “Lincoln’s birthday is a federal holiday too.” It is not. Abraham Lincoln, born February 12, 1809, has no federal holiday. Some states observe Lincoln’s Birthday as a separate state holiday, and many Americans associate him with the February holiday — but federally, only Washington’s birthday made the list.
Myth 3: “Everything is closed.” Far from it. Presidents Day is one of the biggest retail sales events of the year. Stores, restaurants, movie theaters, and most private businesses are open — many with extended sale hours. The closures are concentrated in government, banking, mail, and markets.
Myth 4: “The holiday is always on February 22.” That was true from 1879 to 1970. Since the Uniform Monday Holiday Act took effect in 1971, the observance has been the third Monday of February, which falls between February 15 and February 21. Washington’s actual birthday, February 22, has not been the observed date in over half a century.
Myth 5: “Banks are open because it’s just a retail holiday.” Banks close because the Federal Reserve closes, full stop. The Fed’s K.8 schedule lists Washington’s Birthday as an observed holiday, and the entire interbank settlement system pauses. Retail being open has no bearing on whether banks are open.
Related Guides
Keep planning with these related reads:
- Federal Holidays 2027: Full List and Dates — all 11 federal holidays in one calendar, including the weekend-shift rules for Juneteenth, Independence Day, and Christmas 2027.
- Are Banks Open Today? — how bank holidays, Fed closures, and ACH cutoffs work on any given day.
- New Year’s Day 2027 — the year’s first federal holiday falls on a Friday, and the observance rules are worth knowing.
- Veterans Day 2026 — a federal holiday with a twist: the Fed stays open on Saturdays it doesn’t shift, which changes the bank answer.
FAQ
Are banks open on Presidents Day 2027?
No. Banks and credit unions are closed on Monday, February 15, 2027, because the Federal Reserve is closed for Washington’s Birthday. ATMs, mobile banking apps, and online banking continue to work, but wire transfers, cashier’s checks, and other in-branch services wait until Tuesday. A few banks, such as TD Bank, have kept branches open on past Presidents Days — check with your bank to be sure.
What day is Presidents Day 2027?
Monday, February 15, 2027. It is always the third Monday of February. In 2027 the Mondays of February are the 1st, 8th, 15th, and 22nd, so the third Monday is the 15th.
Is Presidents Day a federal holiday?
Yes. It has been a federal holiday since 1879, when Congress established Washington’s Birthday. Federal offices, federal courts, and most federal agencies are closed. The official name on the federal schedule is still “Washington’s Birthday” — “Presidents Day” is the popular name.
Is there mail delivery on Presidents Day?
No. USPS post offices are closed and no regular mail or packages are delivered on Presidents Day. The only USPS service that runs is Priority Mail Express, which operates every day of the year. Private carriers differ: UPS maintains normal operations and FedEx runs modified service.
Is the stock market open on Presidents Day?
No. The New York Stock Exchange and the Nasdaq are both closed on Presidents Day in observance of Washington’s Birthday. Regular trading resumes on Tuesday, February 16, 2027.
Why is it called Presidents Day if the holiday is for Washington?
The name grew from popular usage, not law. Lincoln’s February 12 birthday fell near the holiday and the two presidents came to be honored together; retailers preferred the broader “Presidents Day Sale” branding; and several states adopted the name officially. The federal government never changed the legal name, which remains Washington’s Birthday.
Are schools closed on Presidents Day?
Many public schools are closed, but school calendars are set locally, so it varies by district and state. Some districts hold a regular school day or use it as a teacher workday. Check with your local school district rather than assuming.
Do all states observe Presidents Day?
No. While most states close government offices on the third Monday of February, observance is not uniform — some states use different names, a few handle the day differently, and paid-holiday status varies. Check with your state government or employer for the local rule.
What are the Presidents Day weekend dates in 2027?
The three-day weekend runs from Saturday, February 13 through Monday, February 15, 2027. Sunday, February 14 is also Valentine’s Day, which makes the 2027 weekend a popular one for short trips and dinners out.
How We Verified This
We do not copy holiday dates from other websites — we compute them and check the official schedules.
- The date was computed in code: January 1, 2027 is a Friday, so February 1, 2027 is a Monday; the Mondays of February 2027 are the 1st, 8th, 15th, and 22nd, making the third Monday February 15. The nearby-year dates (2025, 2026, 2028) were computed the same way and cross-checked against published federal calendars.
- Bank, market, and mail closures come from the primary sources: the Federal Reserve’s K.8 holiday schedule (banks), the USPS holiday schedule (mail), and the NYSE holiday calendar (markets). UPS normal operations and FedEx modified service on Presidents Day are confirmed by carrier holiday coverage.
- The history — the 1879 establishment of Washington’s Birthday and the Uniform Monday Holiday Act of 1968 (effective 1971) — is documented by the Old Farmer’s Almanac’s Presidents’ Day history, and the official federal name “Washington’s Birthday” is confirmed by the Office of Personnel Management.
- State variation guidance is intentionally hedged: state observance genuinely differs, so we say “check locally” instead of presenting a single national rule.
Related: Federal Holidays 2027 · MLK Day 2027 · Are Banks Open Today? · Veterans Day 2026