Thanksgiving and Christmas days off by year
How many days off you need for Thanksgiving and Christmas depends on the year, because Christmas moves around the week. In 2027 it falls on a Saturday and the federal holiday is Friday, December 24. In 2030 it falls on a Wednesday and splits the week in two. If you rotate holidays between families, those differences are worth knowing before you decide whose turn it is.
The dates and the leave, 2026 to 2035
Thanksgiving is the fourth Thursday of November. Christmas is always December 25, so only its weekday changes. The "federal observed day" follows the rule on the US Office of Personnel Management (OPM) federal holidays page: for most federal employees, a holiday on a Saturday is treated as a holiday on the preceding Friday, and one on a Sunday on the following Monday.
The last two columns are my arithmetic, and they rest on assumptions. The worker has a Monday to Friday schedule. The only paid holidays are Thanksgiving Day and the observed Christmas day. The Thanksgiving trip runs Wednesday to Sunday. The Christmas trip runs December 23 to 27. Leave days are the weekdays in the trip that are not a paid holiday.
| Year | Thanksgiving | Christmas is a | Federal observed day | Leave, Thanksgiving trip | Leave, Christmas trip |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Thu Nov 26 | Friday | Fri Dec 25three-day weekend | 2 | 2 |
| 2027 | Thu Nov 25 | Saturday | Fri Dec 24three-day weekend | 2 | 2 |
| 2028 | Thu Nov 23 | Monday | Mon Dec 25three-day weekend | 2 | 2 |
| 2029 | Thu Nov 22 | Tuesday | Tue Dec 25one leave day makes four days | 2 | 3 |
| 2030 | Thu Nov 28 | Wednesday | Wed Dec 25middle of the week | 2 | 4 |
| 2031 | Thu Nov 27 | Thursday | Thu Dec 25one leave day makes four days | 2 | 3 |
| 2032 | Thu Nov 25 | Saturday | Fri Dec 24three-day weekend | 2 | 2 |
| 2033 | Thu Nov 24 | Sunday | Mon Dec 26three-day weekend | 2 | 2 |
| 2034 | Thu Nov 23 | Monday | Mon Dec 25three-day weekend | 2 | 2 |
| 2035 | Thu Nov 22 | Tuesday | Tue Dec 25one leave day makes four days | 2 | 3 |
OPM lists the years 2026 to 2030 and the table matches them. 2031 to 2035 are computed with the same rule. The observed day is the federal rule. Your employer's calendar can differ: many private employers keep the actual date, give the day after Thanksgiving, or close on Christmas Eve. Check yours before you book anything.
How many days off for Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving never moves in the week, so the answer is the same every year. With only Thursday paid, a Wednesday to Sunday trip costs two leave days, Wednesday and Friday. If your employer also closes on Friday, it costs one. If you can leave Wednesday after lunch, it costs about one and a half.
Thanksgiving costs the same two leave days every year. Christmas costs the same or more: equal in six of these ten years, more in four. The only variable for Thanksgiving is the date, from November 22 to November 28.
How many days off for Christmas
Christmas varies from two leave days to four for the same five-day trip. Over these ten years the most common cost is two. 2030 is the most expensive at four, because Wednesday, December 25 leaves four other workdays inside the window.
Christmas on a Saturday, as in 2027 and 2032, is observed on Friday the 24th by the federal rule. The 25th itself is still a weekend day, so the family dinner is on a day off whatever your employer decides. Christmas on a Sunday (2033) is observed on Monday the 26th.
Which years give a long Christmas weekend
When the observed day is a Friday or a Monday, the holiday joins a weekend and you get three days off in a row without using leave. In this table that is 2026, 2027, 2028, 2032, 2033, and 2034. In the bridge years (Christmas on a Tuesday or Thursday) one leave day makes four days off. 2030 is the one midweek year, so a short trip is hard to fit in.
Worked example: the far-away family
Take a couple with parents nearby and in-laws a day's drive away. They use the Thanksgiving and Christmas swap, starting in 2026, so the far family gets Christmas in 2026 and 2028 and Thanksgiving in 2027 and 2029. I picked that order from the table: both of those Christmases are long-weekend years (2027 is one too, but 2029 is not).
| Year | Thanksgiving | Christmas Eve | Christmas Day |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Near parentsThu Nov 26 | Far in-lawsThu Dec 24 | Far in-lawsFri Dec 25 |
| 2027 | Far in-lawsThu Nov 25 | Near parentsFri Dec 24 | Near parentsSat Dec 25 |
| 2028 | Near parentsThu Nov 23 | Far in-lawsSun Dec 24 | Far in-lawsMon Dec 25 |
| 2029 | Far in-lawsThu Nov 22 | Near parentsMon Dec 24 | Near parentsTue Dec 25 |
| Count | Thanksgiving | Christmas Eve | Christmas Day | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Near parents | 2 | 2 | 2 | 6 |
| Far in-laws | 2 | 2 | 2 | 6 |
Even: every family has the same number of each holiday over these 4 years.
Counting the far family's trips with the assumptions above, they cost 8 leave days over the four years: two for each of the four trips. Flip the order, so the far family has Christmas in 2027 and 2029, and the total is 9, because 2029 needs three days. One day is a small difference. The bigger effect is that the far trip lands on a Friday or Monday holiday in the years they drive for Christmas. Open this plan in the planner to change the names or the start year.
What to do with this
My suggestion: when one family is far away, give them Christmas in the years with the fewest leave days, and give the other family the years that need three or four. Do this once, when you set the rotation, rather than renegotiating every autumn.
My suggestion for a 2030 Christmas: treat it as the odd year. Midweek Christmas is the hardest year to travel far, so the near family is the natural host, and the far family can get a long visit in summer. The Christmas alternating guide covers the yearly flip, and telling your parents has wording for the call.
Whatever the table says, your own calendar wins. If your employer closes the week between Christmas and New Year's, or you work weekends, the leave numbers change and the argument for a given year changes with them.