State employee holidays 2026: how 12 states compare

State employees get between 9 and 14 paid holidays in 2026 depending on which state employs them — Florida pays for the fewest of the twelve states compared here, Hawaii and Louisiana the most. The spread comes from two different places: some states add days the federal calendar does not have, and others decline to pay for federal days such as Juneteenth and Columbus Day.

Paid holidays in 2026, ranked

The twelve states below have each been read from their own statute or published schedule, not from a summary. Sorted by the number of days a state employee is actually paid for:

A five-day spread sounds small until it is read per holiday. It is not chance: every state starts from the same federal calendar and then makes two independent decisions — whether to add days of its own, and whether to keep paying for federal days it has its own reasons to skip.

Why two states with the same total are not the same

Count alone hides the more useful comparison. Alaska, Massachusetts, Nevada, Rhode Island and Utah all pay for twelve days in 2026, yet no two of those lists are alike: Alaska drops Columbus Day and adds two days of its own; Massachusetts keeps Columbus Day and adds Patriots' Day; Nevada drops Columbus Day and adds Nevada Day and Family Day; Rhode Island keeps the federal list nearly intact and adds Victory Day; Utah keeps Columbus Day and adds Pioneer Day.

The same caution applies at the bottom of the table. Texas reports ten closures, but five Texas-specific days are worked by skeleton crews rather than closed outright, and four more days are optional rather than paid. Florida reports nine — genuinely fewer than the federal calendar, not a bookkeeping difference.

The federal days some states do not pay for

Juneteenth is the cleanest test of how far a state's list has moved with the federal calendar, because it became a federal holiday only in 2021. Of the twelve states here, four still do not pay for it. Columbus Day splits the group even more widely.

Only states whose own statute or published schedule states the day is not paid are listed. A state missing from a row means this page has not documented that point for it — it is not a statement that the state pays.

Five states whose own documents contradict each other

These are not cases of a state disagreeing with the federal government. In each one, two or more state documents, all currently in force, produce different answers to the same question — which is why a single authoritative date often does not exist.

What this means if you need one date

For each of these states the honest answer depends on who is asking. A state office, a court and a payroll system can legitimately observe different days in the same week. Where that happens, this site gives both dates and names the document behind each rather than picking a winner.

Days that exist in one state only

The other way state lists diverge from the federal calendar is by naming a day that exists nowhere else. These are the ones documented on this site:

• Alaska — Seward's Day (last Monday in March) and Alaska Day (October 18, observed on a different day in 2026)
• Hawaii — Kūhiō Day, Kamehameha Day (fixed on June 11) and Statehood Day
• Utah — Pioneer Day (July 24, moving with the weekend)
• Rhode Island — Victory Day (second Monday in August), the last state that still observes it
• Nevada — Nevada Day and the day after Thanksgiving, which Nevada calls Family Day
• Massachusetts and Maine — Patriots' Day (third Monday in April), the only two states that observe it
• Louisiana — Mardi Gras and Lundi Gras
• Colorado — Cabrini Day, the first US state holiday named for a woman
• Mississippi — Confederate Memorial Day, still a paid state holiday
• California — César Chávez Day, renamed Farmworkers Day in 2026

How far this comparison goes

This page covers the twelve states documented in detail on this site, not all fifty. It was written that way deliberately: a fifty-state table assembled from secondary sources would be wrong in exactly the states where the answer matters most, which are the ones with conflicting official documents.

Each figure was read from the statute or schedule named in the sources below. Where a state is absent from a row, the point was not documented for that state — treat it as unknown rather than as a negative.

Frequently asked questions

Which state has the most paid holidays in 2026?

Hawaii and Louisiana, at 14 each, among the twelve states compared here. Hawaii gets there with three state-only days plus General Election Day in even-numbered years; Louisiana with Mardi Gras, Lundi Gras and a longer list than most states.

Which state has the fewest paid holidays?

Florida, at nine — fewer than the eleven-day federal calendar, because Florida does not pay for Juneteenth or Columbus Day.

Do all states pay for Juneteenth?

No. Of the twelve states on this page, California, Florida, Hawaii and Mississippi do not. Juneteenth became a federal holiday in 2021; states set their own paid lists and are not obliged to follow it.

Is Columbus Day a paid holiday in every state?

No. Alaska, California, Colorado, Florida, Hawaii, Mississippi and Nevada do not pay for it among the twelve states here. Colorado replaced it with Cabrini Day on the first Monday in October.

Are state holidays the same as federal holidays?

No. Federal holidays bind federal agencies. Each state sets its own list by statute, which is why the same date can be a paid day off in one state and an ordinary working day in the next.

Why do state holiday totals differ so much?

Two independent choices: whether the state adds days of its own, and whether it keeps paying for federal days it has reasons to skip. Alaska does both, which is why it reaches twelve with only ten federal days behind it.

Does this page cover all 50 states?

No — twelve, each read from its own official source. The remaining states are added as their documents are verified, not estimated in advance.

Sources and how this was checked

Every entry on this page was read from the document named against it, not from a secondary summary. Where a claim rests on a statute, the subsection is given so it can be checked directly. Where a state's operational documents contradict its statute, both documents are named.

• CalHR — State Holidays — California's eleven paid holidays for state employees, which are a shorter list than the state's legal holidays in Gov. Code § 6700 Quoted text read on 2026-10-17.
• State of Colorado — Calendar Year 2026 Holiday Schedule (DHR) — the eleven-day 2026 schedule, including Cabrini Day on October 5 rather than Columbus Day Quoted text read on 2026-10-17.
• Florida Department of Management Services — State Holidays — the nine standing paid holidays under F.S. 110.117 Quoted text read on 2026-10-17.
• State of Alaska, Department of Administration — State Holidays — the twelve-day Alaska schedule, including Seward's Day and Alaska Day and no Columbus Day Quoted text read on 2026-10-17.
• Hawaii Department of Human Resources Development — State Observed Holidays — Hawaii's fourteen paid holidays, the longest list among the twelve states compared here Quoted text read on 2026-10-17.
• Mississippi Secretary of State — State Holidays — the ten paid holidays under Miss. Code Ann. § 3-3-7 Quoted text read on 2026-10-17.
• Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts — State Holiday Schedule, Fiscal Year 2026 — the ten office closures, separate from the five skeleton-crew days and the optional holidays Quoted text read on 2026-10-17.
• Nevada Revised Statutes, Chapter 236 — Holidays and Periods of Observance — NRS 236.015, the twelve paid legal holidays and the Nevada Day wording both dates rest on Quoted text read on 2026-10-17.
• Utah Code § 63G-1-301 — Legal holidays; Personal preference day — the legal holidays, which are a longer list than the twelve the state actually pays for Quoted text read on 2026-10-17.
• Utah Administrative Code R477-7-2 — Holiday Leave — the twelve paid holidays for eligible state employees Quoted text read on 2026-10-17.
• Rhode Island General Laws § 25-1-1 — General holidays enumerated — the holiday list and the following-Monday rollover wording Quoted text read on 2026-10-17.
• Massachusetts General Laws chapter 4, § 7, clause 18 — Legal holidays — the twelve statewide holidays and the Suffolk County proviso Quoted text read on 2026-10-17.
• Louisiana Revised Statutes 1:55 — Days of public rest, legal holidays, and half-holidays — the general list plus the two Mardi Gras parish lists, at subsection A(3) and E(1)(a)(iii) Quoted text read on 2026-10-17.
• U.S. Office of Personnel Management — Federal Holidays — the federal calendar every comparison on this page is measured against Quoted text read on 2026-10-17.

Last verified against official sources on October 17, 2026.