Martin Luther King Jr. Day – US

The next Martin Luther King Jr. Day is on Monday, January 18, 2027 – in 125 days.

Martin Luther King Jr. Day is observed on the third Monday of January, near King's January 15 birthday. It honours the civil rights leader and is a federal holiday since 1986. In the United States it's a public holiday, so schools, government offices and most businesses close.

When is it? Martin Luther King Jr. Day falls on the 3rd Monday of January. Because the rule points at a weekday rather than a fixed date, it moves every year, which is exactly why the table below is worth a bookmark. Next time round is Monday, January 18, 2027, 125 days from now.

Which weekday does it land on? Always the same day: every one of the eleven years in the table puts Martin Luther King Jr. Day on a Monday. In eleven of those it sits next to a weekend, turning it into a three-day break. Those are the years to book early. You can open the printable calendar for any year in the table and see the date in context.

What to expect on the day. Banks, government offices and schools close. Supermarkets and larger shops usually open on reduced hours, smaller independents often don't bother, and public transport tends to run a Sunday timetable. Post isn't collected or delivered. If you need something from a council, a bank or a doctor's surgery, the working day before it is the one to aim for, and it will be busier than usual for exactly that reason. In 2027 it falls in January, which also holds New Year's Day on the 1st. Worth seeing them together before you commit to dates.

Putting it in your own calendar. You don't need to. Every calendar on this site already shows Martin Luther King Jr. Day for whichever country you've selected. What's worth adding is everything around it: the travel, the cover arrangements, who's visiting when. Open the month, click the days and type. Keep a free account and the notes stay with you between devices, and you can send someone a read-only link so you're both working from the same dates.

Every date here is worked out from the official rule rather than copied off a list, so the later years are as reliable as this one. If a date looks wrong for your region, please say so. Regional holiday rules do change, and we'd rather fix the rule than leave it.

Martin Luther King Jr. Day dates 2026–2036