There are no federal holidays in August. The month runs straight through with every federal office, bank, and post office operating on its normal weekday schedule. The nearest federal holidays sit on either side of it: Independence Day on July 4 and Labor Day on the first Monday in September.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 5 USC 6103 – Holidays
August is one of only three months on the federal calendar without a statutory closure, alongside March and April. The July-to-September stretch is the longest holiday-free gap of the year.
What Stays Open
Every federal weekday in August is a working day. Social Security offices, passport agencies, VA facilities, and federal courthouses keep their regular hours. If you have a filing deadline, a court date, or paperwork moving through a federal agency, no statutory holiday will push it.
The Postal Service delivers on its normal schedule all month.2United States Postal Service. Holidays and Events Tax notices, legal mail, and benefit checks move at their usual pace.
Banks and credit unions follow the Federal Reserve’s holiday calendar, which mirrors the federal list, so they operate every business day in August.3Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. Federal Reserve Bank Holiday Schedule Wire transfers, ACH payments, and check clearing run without the delays that build up around holiday weekends. The New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq are also open every weekday.4NYSE. Holidays and Trading Hours
Social Security Payments in August
Because no holiday interrupts the month, Social Security benefits arrive on their standard schedule. Payments go out on Wednesdays based on your birth date:
- Birth dates 1st–10th: second Wednesday
- Birth dates 11th–20th: third Wednesday
- Birth dates 21st–31st: fourth Wednesday
Supplemental Security Income arrives on August 1. If you started receiving Social Security before May 1997, or you receive both Social Security and SSI, your Social Security payment comes on August 3.5Social Security Administration. Schedule of Social Security Benefit Payments In months with federal holidays these dates can shift; August has no such complication.
August Observances That Are Not Federal Holidays
A few August dates carry official recognition without any closure. They are commemorative observances, not legal public holidays, so federal employees report to work and offices stay open.
National Purple Heart Day on August 7 honors service members wounded or killed in combat. The President issues an annual proclamation and government buildings display the flag, but nothing closes.6The White House. National Purple Heart Day, 2025
National Aviation Day on August 19 was established by Congress to promote interest in aviation. Federal law authorizes the President to proclaim the day each year and call on officials to display the flag, but it has no holiday status.7Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 36 U.S. Code 118 – National Aviation Day
Women’s Equality Day on August 26 marks the 1920 certification of the 19th Amendment. Congress designated the date in 1973 through a joint resolution, and the President issues a proclamation annually.8U.S. Department of State. National Womens Equality Day 2024 Like the other August observances, it produces no closures and no paid leave.
State Holidays and Sales Tax Weekends
A handful of states recognize their own public holidays in August. Those are set by state legislatures and apply only to state government employees within that state. State offices like motor vehicle agencies and state courts may close, but federal offices in the same state keep their normal hours.
Private employers are not required to observe state holidays. Almost no law, federal or state, mandates paid time off on any holiday for private-sector workers. If your workplace closes and pays you, that comes from company policy or a union contract.
August is also the peak month for state sales tax holidays. Roughly a dozen states suspend sales tax on back-to-school items such as clothing, school supplies, and computers during designated windows. These are shopping breaks rather than days off work, and the dates, eligible items, and price caps vary by state. Check your state department of revenue if you want to time a purchase.
Why August Has No Federal Holiday
Creating a federal holiday takes an act of Congress. The list lives in a single statute, 5 U.S.C. § 6103, and adding one means amending it.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 5 USC 6103 – Holidays The most recent addition was Juneteenth in 2021, the first new federal holiday in nearly four decades.9Congress.gov. S.475 – Juneteenth National Independence Day Act Juneteenth filled the gap in June, but no similar legislation has been enacted for August.
Each holiday commits the government to another paid day off for the federal workforce.10U.S. Office of Personnel Management. Fact Sheet – Federal Holidays – Work Schedules and Pay Private employers, state governments, and schools then decide separately whether to follow. That is part of why the list has grown slowly, and why the August gap has stayed as it is.