Easter Sunday · Western churches
How many days until Easter?
Checked October 8, 2026 · first publish
172 days
Sun, Mar 28, 2027
There are 172 days until Easter Sunday, Sun, Mar 28, 2027. That is 24 weeks and 4 days. Good Friday is two days earlier, and Lent begins on Ash Wednesday, 46 days before Easter.
24 weeks and 4 days · 25 weekends · 172 sleeps · 115 business days
| Year | Easter Sunday | Good Friday | Ash Wednesday | Days to Easter |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Sun, Apr 5, 2026 | Fri, Apr 3, 2026 | Wed, Feb 18, 2026 | 185 days ago |
| 2027 | Sun, Mar 28, 2027 | Fri, Mar 26, 2027 | Wed, Feb 10, 2027 | 172 |
| 2028 | Sun, Apr 16, 2028 | Fri, Apr 14, 2028 | Wed, Mar 1, 2028 | 557 |
| 2029 | Sun, Apr 1, 2029 | Fri, Mar 30, 2029 | Wed, Feb 14, 2029 | 907 |
| 2030 | Sun, Apr 21, 2030 | Fri, Apr 19, 2030 | Wed, Mar 6, 2030 | 1292 |
Easter dates come from the US Census Bureau Easter table and match our own computus calculation. Good Friday is the Friday before Easter; Ash Wednesday is 46 days before. Dates are for Western (Gregorian) churches.
Why does Easter jump around so much?
Most holidays follow the sun: a fixed date, or a set weekday in a set month. Easter follows the moon as well. The rule used by Western churches takes the first Sunday after the church's full moon on or after March 21. That puts Easter between March 22 and April 25, a range of five weeks.
The five years in the table show the swing. Easter 2026 was Sun, Apr 5. Easter 2027 moves almost a week earlier, to Sun, Mar 28. Then 2028 jumps to Sun, Apr 16, nearly three weeks later. 2029 drops back to Sun, Apr 1, and 2030 lands late again on Sun, Apr 21.
How do we know the dates are right?
We do not copy them from a single list. The Census Bureau publishes an Easter table for its seasonal adjustment software, and we checked each year against it. We also calculate Easter with the Anonymous Gregorian algorithm, the same arithmetic the church rule produces, and the two agree for every year we show. Our calendar feed and Wikipedia's list match as well.
What does an early Easter change?
An early Easter pulls Lent and Good Friday into March. In 2027, Ash Wednesday is Feb 10, and Good Friday is Mar 26, the week many school spring breaks run. If your district's break is tied to Easter, check its calendar on our spring break page; several large districts break in mid-March regardless of Easter.
Orthodox Easter is not on this page yet. We have found only one source for its dates so far, and we publish a date only when two sources agree.
Questions people ask
- When is Easter 2027?
- Easter 2027 is Sun, Mar 28, 2027, one of the earlier dates in recent years. Good Friday is Fri, Mar 26 and Ash Wednesday is Wed, Feb 10, 2027. The Census Bureau table and our own calculation agree on all three.
- Why is Easter on a different date every year?
- Western churches set Easter as the first Sunday after the church's full moon on or after March 21. The moon's cycle does not line up with the 365-day calendar, so the Sunday shifts. It can fall anywhere from March 22 to April 25.
- How many days from Ash Wednesday to Easter?
- Ash Wednesday is always 46 days before Easter Sunday. In 2027 that is Wed, Feb 10 to Sun, Mar 28. The count includes both Sundays and weekdays, so it is a calendar-day count, not a business-day count.
- Is Good Friday a federal holiday?
- No. Good Friday is not on the federal list in 5 U.S.C. 6103, so federal offices are open. Some school districts close: the New York City public schools calendar lists Fri, Mar 26, 2027 as a day off.
Sources
- US Census Bureau: Easter dates — census.gov
- Wikipedia: Date of Easter — en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia: Ash Wednesday — en.wikipedia.org
- Google Calendar: US Holidays (public iCal) — calendar.google.com
- NYC Public Schools 2026-27 calendar (PDF) — schools.nyc.gov
General date information from official calendars (OPM, USNO). It is not legal, tax or immigration advice; check the agency named on the page for your own deadline.