The 12 US States Where Good Friday Is A Holiday

The map above shows the 12 states where Good Friday is a state holiday as well as being holiday in all 10 Canadians provinces and 3 territories.

The 12 states are:

I find it very interesting that in a country where 69% of people identify as Christian, Easter is not a Federal Holiday. I thought this may be due to the separation between Church and state but that does not explain why Christmas is a Federal Holiday.

Here’s what ChatGPT has to day about it:

Easter isn’t a U.S. federal holiday mainly because of how the U.S. government handles religion and public holidays.

Here are the key reasons:

Separation of church and state

The United States follows the principle of separation of church and state (from the First Amendment).
Easter is a Christian religious holiday, so making it a federal holiday could be seen as the government endorsing one religion over others.

Federal holidays are mostly secular (or broadly cultural)

Most U.S. federal holidays are either:

Secular/national (like Independence Day, Labor Day), or
Culturally widespread but not strictly religious in law (like Christmas, which has become heavily secularized)

Easter, unlike Christmas, is:

More explicitly religious
Less universally celebrated across all Americans

It falls on a Sunday

Easter is always celebrated on a Sunday, and:

Many federal employees already don’t work Sundays
So making it a federal holiday wouldn’t change much operationally

Religious diversity

The U.S. is religiously diverse (Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, non-religious, etc.).
If Easter were made a federal holiday, it could raise questions like:

Why not holidays from other religions too?

Quick comparison

Christmas → Federal holiday (but widely secular + cultural)
Easter → Not federal (more strictly religious + always Sunday)

Here’s how Christmas ended up with that status:

Christmas became culturally “American,” not just religious

By the 1800s, Christmas in the U.S. had evolved beyond a purely Christian observance into a broad cultural holiday.

Influences included:

Charles Dickens: helped popularize themes of generosity, family, and goodwill
Thomas Nast: shaped the modern image of Santa Claus
German and Dutch traditions (trees, gift-giving, St. Nicholas)

The result: Christmas became something even non-religious Americans participated in.

It was officially made a federal holiday in 1870

Christmas was declared a federal holiday by the U.S. Congress in 1870, during a period of national rebuilding after the Civil War.

Key point:

It was framed less as a religious endorsement and more as a unifying national celebration

Strong commercial and social adoption

Over time, Christmas became deeply tied to:

Gift-giving 🎁
Retail and the economy
Family gatherings

This made it:

Economically significant
Socially universal

Easter never developed this same level of nationwide commercial importance.

Easter stayed more strictly religious

Easter is central to Christianity (arguably more important theologically than Christmas), but:

It remained focused on church observance
Its secular elements (eggs, bunnies) are lighter and less universal
It lacks the same cultural takeover that Christmas achieved

Timing matters (Sunday issue again)

Easter always falls on a Sunday, which:

Reduces the need for an official day off
Limits pressure to make it a federal holiday

Christmas, by contrast:

Falls on a fixed date (Dec 25)
Often lands on a weekday → making a federal holiday more practical

Ok but why not Good Friday a Holiday?

Good Friday commemorates the crucifixion of Jesus, which is:

One of the most solemn and specifically Christian observances
Less “culturally adaptable” than Christmas

Unlike Christmas, there’s almost no secular version of Good Friday.

So making it a federal holiday would raise stronger concerns about:

Government endorsing a specific religion

**The U.S. avoids picking one religion’s sacred days**

If Good Friday became a federal holiday, it would open the door to questions like:

Why not Jewish holidays like Yom Kippur?
Why not Muslim holidays like Eid?
Why not Hindu festivals like Diwali?

Because the U.S. is highly religiously diverse, the government generally avoids:

Officially recognizing religious observances as national holidays

Federal holidays are about shared civic life

U.S. federal holidays usually mark:

National identity (Independence Day)
Civic values (Labor Day, MLK Day)
Broad cultural traditions (Thanksgiving, Christmas)

Good Friday doesn’t really fit those categories, it’s:

A theological event, not a civic one

Why countries like the UK do have it

Countries such as the UK historically had:

Established Christian churches (e.g. Church of England)
Less strict separation of church and state

So Good Friday became embedded as a national holiday long ago.

It is a holiday in some U.S. states

Interesting twist: it’s not totally ignored.

Some states do observe Good Friday as a holiday or partial holiday, including: all the states mentioned above, so at a local level, there’s more flexibility than at the federal level.

Here is where Easter is Celebrated as a holiday: