The next Martin Luther King Jr. Day is Monday, January 18, 2027, according to the federal holiday schedule of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management. The schedule and the law both list the holiday under the name Birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr.
Martin Luther King Jr. Day dates by year
The Office of Personnel Management schedule gives these dates for the holiday. The 2026 date has passed.
| Year | Date |
|---|---|
| 2026 | Monday, January 19 |
| 2027 | Monday, January 18 |
| 2028 | Monday, January 17 |
| 2029 | Monday, January 15 |
Why the date changes each year
Federal law does not give the holiday a fixed calendar date. The list of legal public holidays in 5 U.S.C. 6103 reads, "Birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr., the third Monday in January." The holiday is always on a Monday for that reason, and the day of the month moves from one year to the next.
When the law added the holiday
The notes to the same section of the law say that Public Law 98-144, dated November 2, 1983, inserted the item for the birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr. into the list of legal public holidays.
A federal holiday for federal employees
The Office of Personnel Management says the law establishes the public holidays on its schedule for federal employees. The holiday is one of the 11 on the full list of federal holidays. Separate pages cover which holidays banks are closed and which holidays the post office is closed.
This page will be updated at this address with the next date after January 18, 2027.