What's open and closed on Christmas Day?
Christmas Day closes everything: banks, the post office, the stock and bond markets, UPS, FedEx, federal offices, and schools, and essentially every collection calendar in the country takes December 25 off. Nothing moves except Priority Mail Express, which USPS delivers 365 days a year for an added fee, and the emergency freight services arranged directly with a carrier. All fifty state DMVs close; the state pages here carry each one's list.
The closure is one day, not a stretch. December 26 is a regular business day when it lands on a weekday — banks, mail, and the markets all run — and the days between Christmas and New Year's are full 9:30am to 4pm ET trading sessions. The weekend years split the calendars in the familiar way: a Sunday Christmas closes banks, mail, markets, and federal offices on Monday the 26th, while a Saturday Christmas gives federal employees the Friday before and closes the exchanges that Friday, though the Federal Reserve leaves the holiday on the Saturday, so banks are open December 24 and mail runs.
| Year | Falls on | Observed |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Friday, December 25, 2026 | Same day |
| 2027 | Saturday, December 25, 2027 | Friday, December 24, 2027 |
| Who | Status |
|---|---|
| Mail & the Post Office | Closed — no delivery, no window service, no collection pickups; only Priority Mail Express is delivered, for an added fee. |
| UPS | Closed — no pickup, delivery, or drop-box collection, with Express Critical the only exception; everything else waits for the next business day. |
| FedEx | Closed — no pickup or delivery, and drop boxes aren't emptied; FedEx Custom Critical is the only service running. |
| Banks | Closed — every branch takes the day; ATMs and apps keep working, and anything deposited over the holiday posts on the next business day. |
| The Stock Market | Closed — the session before is the Christmas Eve half day ending at 1pm ET, unless the weekend shift claims that Friday outright. |
| The Bond Market | Closed — SIFMA's recommended schedule takes the day with the exchanges. |
| Federal Offices | Closed — and when December 25 lands on a weekend the day off moves: forward to Monday the 26th for a Sunday Christmas, back to Friday the 24th for a Saturday one. |
| Trash Pickup | Varies by city — December 25 stops collection nearly everywhere, and when it falls midweek the rest of that week usually runs a day late. |
| Schools | Closed — winter break covers Christmas in every district, and it runs through New Year's in nearly all of them. |
Questions people ask
Does anything get delivered on Christmas Day?
Priority Mail Express is the one regular exception — USPS delivers it every day of the year for an added fee. UPS Express Critical and FedEx Custom Critical also run, but both are emergency services arranged with the carrier directly.
Are banks and the markets open on December 26?
Yes, when it falls on a weekday — the closure is Christmas Day itself. The stretch between Christmas and New Year's runs full 9:30am to 4pm ET sessions and banks keep normal hours. December 26 is a federal holiday only when Christmas falls on a Sunday.
Will my trash pickup shift two weeks in a row over the holidays?
It can. If Christmas and New Year's Day both land on weekdays, a city that slides will shift both weeks, so your regular day runs late twice running. One December notice from your city or hauler usually covers both.