When to Send Christmas Cards: The Best Week, by USPS Data
Mail your Christmas cards between Thanksgiving weekend and Monday, December 7, 2026. The first week of December is the best week: your cards arrive while people are putting up the tree, and the mail is still close to its normal pace. USPS's own figures show it slows sharply in the two weeks before Christmas, so December 17 is the last safe day, not the target.
TL;DR
- Best week: mail November 30 to December 4, 2026. Cards land in the first full week of December.
- Earliest: Thanksgiving weekend, November 27 to 29. Before that, the card beats the season.
- Last day to mail yourself: Thursday, December 17, USPS's recommended date for First-Class Mail. Not a promise.
- Last day to order on ShipNote: December 14, 2026, for arrival by December 24.
- Why early: in every holiday season since 2020, USPS delivered 2-day mail on time more often at the start of December than in Christmas week or the week before it.
- Missed it? Send a New Year's card. Etiquette allows holiday cards until a couple of weeks into January.
The Christmas card calendar for 2026
Christmas Day 2026 falls on a Friday. There is no mail delivery on December 25, so Christmas Eve, Thursday, December 24, is the last day a card can land before Christmas.
| Date (2026) | What to do | Verdict |
|---|---|---|
| Early to mid November | Build your list and collect missing addresses | Do the work now |
| Thanksgiving weekend, November 27 to 29 | Mail the first cards | The earliest window etiquette approves |
| November 30 to December 4 | Mail the cards | The best week |
| December 7 to 11 | Mail the cards | Still good, and still on time in most years |
| December 14 | Last day to order on ShipNote for arrival by December 24 | Order today |
| December 17 | USPS's last recommended day for First-Class Mail | The outer edge |
| December 18 or later | Make it a New Year's card | Still welcome, and still on time for January |
USPS published its dates in its 2026 holiday mailing and shipping dates announcement (read November 2026): First-Class Mail by December 17 for expected delivery before December 25 in the contiguous U.S., and also to Alaska, Hawaii and Puerto Rico. Military and international addresses have their own dates on USPS's holiday shipping page, so check those first if your list crosses a border.
Why the first week of December is the best week
Because the mail gets slower every week you wait. USPS publishes how much of its First-Class Mail arrives within its own delivery standard, week by week. We compiled six holiday seasons of it on our holiday mail delays page. Here is the share of 2-day First-Class letters and cards that arrived on time, by the week it was delivered, lined up on the week that holds Christmas:
| Season | 4 weeks before | 3 weeks before | 2 weeks before | Week before | Christmas week |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025-26 | 91.2% (Nov 22) | 88.4% (Nov 29) | 86.3% (Dec 6) | 84.2% (Dec 13) | 77.6% (Dec 20) |
| 2024-25 | 84.4% (Nov 23) | 82.4% (Nov 30) | 81.1% (Dec 7) | 76.2% (Dec 14) | 72.4% (Dec 21) |
| 2023-24 | 86.1% (Nov 25) | 87.9% (Dec 2) | 85.5% (Dec 9) | 83.1% (Dec 16) | 84.9% (Dec 23) |
| 2022-23 | 90.3% (Nov 26) | 91.3% (Dec 3) | 89.8% (Dec 10) | 86.3% (Dec 17) | 85.0% (Dec 24) |
| 2021-22 | 91.2% (Nov 27) | 91.4% (Dec 4) | 88.4% (Dec 11) | 87.1% (Dec 18) | 89.2% (Dec 25) |
| 2020-21 | 88.4% (Nov 21) | 83.9% (Nov 28) | 82.3% (Dec 5) | 75.7% (Dec 12) | 69.0% (Dec 19) |
Source: USPS weekly service performance scores, 2-day single-piece First-Class Mail. Each date is the Saturday the postal week starts. Compiled by ShipNote; full data and method on holiday mail delays.
Three things stand out.
Early December beat late December in every season. In all six seasons, mail delivered three weeks before Christmas week, which is the end of November and the first days of December, was on time more often than mail delivered in Christmas week or the week before it. That is the week your cards land if you mail them right after Thanksgiving.
The worst week is always at the end. In four of the six seasons the slowest week for 2-day mail was the week holding Christmas. In the other two it was the week before. Mailing on USPS's last recommended day puts your cards in exactly those weeks.
Late cards doubled in Christmas week 2025. Across all single-piece First-Class Mail, not just the 2-day routes, USPS delivered 85.6% on time in the week of November 29, 2025 and 70.5% in Christmas week, December 20 to 26. That is about 1 in 7 cards late at the start of December against about 3 in 10 in Christmas week.
Season-to-season comparisons need care, because USPS changed its standards and what it counts several times (most recently in April and July 2025). The comparison above does not have that problem: each row compares weeks inside the same season, measured the same way.
What are the odds a card mailed on December 17 makes it?
Good, but not certain. USPS's slowest First-Class route is 5 days. A card mailed on Thursday, December 17 is due on Wednesday, December 23 on that route, one delivery day before Christmas Eve. So it still makes Christmas if it is no more than a day late.
On USPS's figures for the weeks those cards would have arrived in past seasons, about 1 in 10 cards mailed that day would miss Christmas Eve in a typical season (2023-24), and about 1 in 6 in the worst one (2024-25). Mailed on Monday, December 7 instead, the same card is due Saturday, December 12, ten delivery days of slack before Christmas Eve. The full calculation is on our holiday mail delays page.
Most routes are faster than five days. To see USPS's standard for your own route, and the last day to mail for a date you choose, use the ZIP-to-ZIP mail time calculator and switch it to "Arrive by."
How early is too early?
Before Thanksgiving. The Emily Post Institute says holiday cards are "usually sent anytime from Thanksgiving until a couple weeks into the New Year" (holiday greeting card guidance, checked October 2026). A card that arrives in mid-November lands before most people have started thinking about the holidays, and it sits next to the Halloween candy.
The rule is about arrival, not mailing. Most First-Class cards take two to five delivery days, so a card mailed in Thanksgiving week lands around the holiday itself. Mailing before that week is the one way to be too early.
When should you send Christmas cards to different people?
| Who | When to mail | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Family and friends | November 30 to December 7 | Lands while people are decorating, ahead of the slow weeks |
| Clients and colleagues | By December 4 | Office mail stops when people leave for the holidays. See how to send Christmas cards to clients |
| Older relatives | Thanksgiving weekend | They often display cards all month, and an early card gets the longest run on the mantel |
| Military and international | Check USPS's holiday shipping page | They have their own send-by dates, separate from December 17 |
| A mixed or interfaith list | Any time to early January | A Happy New Year card avoids the religious framing and is never late |
The easy way to hit the best week
Do the list now and choose the day it mails. The hard part of Christmas cards is not the mailing. It is the list, the addresses, the stamps and the evening at the kitchen table. On ShipNote you do the list once, and we print, stamp and mail every card.
- Pick a holiday design and add a family photo if you have one.
- Write one message. Each card gets its person's name filled in.
- Paste your list from anywhere: last year's spreadsheet, a notes file, a group text. AI pulls out every name and address, and every address is checked against USPS data before you pay.
- At checkout, under Delivery, choose "Choose a later mail date," then "On a date I choose," and pick the day.
A mail date is not a delivery date: cards arrive 4–7 business days after they mail. Pick Monday, November 30 and your cards arrive December 4 to 9, the first full week of December. If you order without picking a date, we mail the next business day. Any weekday up to 90 days out works, so you can finish your list this weekend and forget about it.
Paste your list, write one note, and we print, stamp and mail every card. $1.99 a card on 10 or more.
How much does it cost?
$1.99 a card on 10 or more, with the printing, the stamp and the mailing included. One card is $2.49. There is no account to make and no minimum order. If you are missing addresses, our guide to getting addresses for Christmas cards covers the fastest ways to collect them, and the free Christmas card list template gives you somewhere to keep them.
What if you miss the best week?
You still have time. Order on ShipNote by December 14, 2026 for arrival by December 24, or mail yourself by USPS's December 17. After that, change the greeting to HAPPY NEW YEAR and send the same cards to the same list: they land in the week between Christmas and New Year's, which is still inside the season. We walk through every date after December 14 in is it too late to send Christmas cards?.
Frequently asked questions
When should I send Christmas cards?
Mail them between Thanksgiving weekend (November 27 to 29, 2026) and Monday, December 7. The first week of December is the sweet spot: the cards land while people are decorating, and the mail is still running close to its normal pace. USPS's last recommended day for First-Class Mail to arrive before Christmas is December 17, 2026.
How early is too early to send Christmas cards?
Before Thanksgiving. The Emily Post Institute says holiday cards are usually sent anytime from Thanksgiving until a couple of weeks into the New Year, so a card that arrives in mid-November lands before the season has started.
Why mail Christmas cards early in December?
Because the mail slows down as Christmas gets close. In each of the six holiday seasons USPS publishes weekly data for, 2-day First-Class mail was on time more often three weeks before Christmas week than in Christmas week or the week before it.
What is the last day to mail Christmas cards in 2026?
USPS recommends mailing First-Class by Thursday, December 17, 2026 for delivery before Christmas in the contiguous U.S. It is a recommendation, not a promise. On ShipNote, order by December 14, 2026 for arrival by Christmas Eve.
Can I order my Christmas cards now and have them mailed later?
Yes. On ShipNote, choose Choose a later mail date at checkout, then On a date I choose, and pick any weekday up to 90 days out. Cards arrive 4–7 business days after the mail date, so a Monday, November 30 mail date lands them in the first full week of December.
When should I send Christmas cards to clients?
The same window, and a little earlier is better: office mail stops when people leave for the holidays. Aim for cards that arrive in the first two weeks of December.
Related reading
- Holiday mail delays: USPS on-time data, 2020-21 to 2025-26: every week and every season behind the table above.
- How to send Christmas cards: the whole job, from the list to the mailbox.
- What to write in a Christmas card: messages for family, friends and clients.
- Christmas card statistics: how many cards Americans send, and what mailing them costs.
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