What's open and closed on Martin Luther King Jr. Day?
Martin Luther King Jr. Day, the third Monday in January, is a full federal holiday: banks, the post office, the stock and bond markets, federal offices, and nearly every school district are closed. The surprise is in the delivery trucks. UPS counts MLK Day as one of its seven holidays and doesn't run at all, while FedEx delivers on a modified schedule — so one carrier comes down the street and the other doesn't. Most cities collect trash as usual, and all fifty state DMVs close.
Because the day always lands on a Monday, there's no observed-date puzzle to work out: the holiday and the day off are the same day every year, and everything reopens Tuesday. Two things are worth planning around. A payment or deposit scheduled for the holiday processes on Tuesday's business day, since the Federal Reserve doesn't settle on a bank holiday. And a package left in a FedEx drop box that afternoon may not leave until Tuesday, because collection runs early in some areas on a modified-service day.
| Year | Falls on | Observed |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Monday, January 19, 2026 | Same day |
| 2027 | Monday, January 18, 2027 | Same day |
| Who | Status |
|---|---|
| Banks | Closed — nearly all banks take the day, and the drive-through follows the branch; ATMs and apps stay on. |
| Mail & the Post Office | Closed — no delivery, no window service, and no collection pickups; Tuesday's carrier brings two days of mail at once. |
| The Stock Market | Closed — NYSE and Nasdaq are dark for the whole day, with no pre-market or after-hours session. |
| The Bond Market | Closed — SIFMA's recommended schedule closes it alongside stocks, which makes this a full three-day financial weekend. |
| UPS | Closed — MLK Day is one of the seven UPS holidays, so there's no pickup, delivery, or drop-box collection; Express Critical still runs. |
| FedEx | Delivering on a modified schedule — packages arrive on their scheduled dates, while on-call and drop-box pickups run early in some areas. |
| Federal Offices | Closed — Social Security, IRS assistance centers, passport agencies, VA regional offices, and federal courts are shut until Tuesday. |
| Schools | Closed — nearly every district closes, and some attach a staff day to the Tuesday, so a two-day break isn't unusual. |
| Trash Pickup | Varies by city — most crews run normal routes on MLK Day, though a fair number observe it, and where they do the rest of the week runs a day behind. |
Questions people ask
Is UPS delivering on MLK Day?
No — MLK Day is one of the seven UPS holidays, so there's no pickup or delivery and drop boxes aren't collected. FedEx is the carrier that keeps running, on a modified-service schedule, which is why one truck shows up on your street and the other doesn't.
Will my direct deposit post on MLK Day?
Not on the holiday itself. Federal Reserve payment systems don't settle on bank holidays, so a deposit due that Monday generally posts Tuesday. Cards, ATMs, and transfers inside the same bank keep working.
Is trash pickup canceled on MLK Day?
Usually not — most cities run normal routes. Where the city or hauler does observe it, nothing runs Monday and each day after moves one later through the end of the week. Private haulers publish their own lists, which often differ from the city's.