diff --git a/doc/users/next_whats_new/date_usetex.rst b/doc/users/next_whats_new/date_usetex.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,26 @@
+Date formatters now respect *usetex* rcParam
+--------------------------------------------
+
+The `.AutoDateFormatter` and `.ConciseDateFormatter` now respect
+:rc:`text.usetex`, and will thus use fonts consistent with TeX rendering of the
+default (non-date) formatter. TeX rendering may also be enabled/disabled by
+passing the *usetex* parameter when creating the formatter instance.
+
+In the following plot, both the x-axis (dates) and y-axis (numbers) now use the
+same (TeX) font:
+
+.. plot::
+
+    from datetime import datetime, timedelta
+    from matplotlib.dates import ConciseDateFormatter
+
+    plt.rc('text', usetex=True)
+
+    t0 = datetime(1968, 8, 1)
+    ts = [t0 + i * timedelta(days=1) for i in range(10)]
+
+    fig, ax = plt.subplots()
+    ax.plot(ts, range(10))
+    ax.xaxis.set_major_formatter(ConciseDateFormatter(ax.xaxis.get_major_locator()))
+    ax.set_xlabel('Date')
+    ax.set_ylabel('Value')
diff --git a/lib/matplotlib/dates.py b/lib/matplotlib/dates.py
@@ -162,7 +162,7 @@
 import dateutil.tz
 import numpy as np
 
-import matplotlib
+import matplotlib as mpl
 import matplotlib.units as units
 import matplotlib.cbook as cbook
 import matplotlib.ticker as ticker
@@ -187,7 +187,7 @@
 
 def _get_rc_timezone():
     """Retrieve the preferred timezone from the rcParams dictionary."""
-    s = matplotlib.rcParams['timezone']
+    s = mpl.rcParams['timezone']
     if s == 'UTC':
         return UTC
     return dateutil.tz.gettz(s)
@@ -281,7 +281,7 @@ def get_epoch():
     global _epoch
 
     if _epoch is None:
-        _epoch = matplotlib.rcParams['date.epoch']
+        _epoch = mpl.rcParams['date.epoch']
     return _epoch
 
 
@@ -583,6 +583,12 @@ def drange(dstart, dend, delta):
     f2 = date2num(dinterval_end)  # new float-endpoint
     return np.linspace(f1, f2, num + 1)
 
+
+def _wrap_in_tex(text):
+    # Braces ensure dashes are not spaced like binary operators.
+    return '$\\mathdefault{' + text.replace('-', '{-}') + '}$'
+
+
 ## date tickers and formatters ###
 
 
@@ -597,22 +603,28 @@ class DateFormatter(ticker.Formatter):
     def illegal_s(self):
         return re.compile(r"((^|[^%])(%%)*%s)")
 
-    def __init__(self, fmt, tz=None):
+    def __init__(self, fmt, tz=None, *, usetex=None):
         """
         Parameters
         ----------
         fmt : str
             `~datetime.datetime.strftime` format string
         tz : `datetime.tzinfo`, default: :rc:`timezone`
             Ticks timezone.
+        usetex : bool, default: :rc:`text.usetex`
+            To enable/disable the use of TeX's math mode for rendering the
+            results of the formatter.
         """
         if tz is None:
             tz = _get_rc_timezone()
         self.fmt = fmt
         self.tz = tz
+        self._usetex = (usetex if usetex is not None else
+                        mpl.rcParams['text.usetex'])
 
     def __call__(self, x, pos=0):
-        return num2date(x, self.tz).strftime(self.fmt)
+        result = num2date(x, self.tz).strftime(self.fmt)
+        return _wrap_in_tex(result) if self._usetex else result
 
     def set_tzinfo(self, tz):
         self.tz = tz
@@ -685,6 +697,10 @@ class ConciseDateFormatter(ticker.Formatter):
     show_offset : bool, default: True
         Whether to show the offset or not.
 
+    usetex : bool, default: :rc:`text.usetex`
+        To enable/disable the use of TeX's math mode for rendering the results
+        of the formatter.
+
     Examples
     --------
     See :doc:`/gallery/ticks_and_spines/date_concise_formatter`
@@ -713,7 +729,7 @@ class ConciseDateFormatter(ticker.Formatter):
     """
 
     def __init__(self, locator, tz=None, formats=None, offset_formats=None,
-                 zero_formats=None, show_offset=True):
+                 zero_formats=None, show_offset=True, *, usetex=None):
         """
         Autoformat the date labels.  The default format is used to form an
         initial string, and then redundant elements are removed.
@@ -768,9 +784,12 @@ def __init__(self, locator, tz=None, formats=None, offset_formats=None,
                                    '%Y-%b-%d %H:%M']
         self.offset_string = ''
         self.show_offset = show_offset
+        self._usetex = (usetex if usetex is not None else
+                        mpl.rcParams['text.usetex'])
 
     def __call__(self, x, pos=None):
-        formatter = DateFormatter(self.defaultfmt, self._tz)
+        formatter = DateFormatter(self.defaultfmt, self._tz,
+                                  usetex=self._usetex)
         return formatter(x, pos=pos)
 
     def format_ticks(self, values):
@@ -837,8 +856,13 @@ def format_ticks(self, values):
         if self.show_offset:
             # set the offset string:
             self.offset_string = tickdatetime[-1].strftime(offsetfmts[level])
+            if self._usetex:
+                self.offset_string = _wrap_in_tex(self.offset_string)
 
-        return labels
+        if self._usetex:
+            return [_wrap_in_tex(l) for l in labels]
+        else:
+            return labels
 
     def get_offset(self):
         return self.offset_string
@@ -903,17 +927,36 @@ class AutoDateFormatter(ticker.Formatter):
     # Or more simply, perhaps just a format string for each
     # possibility...
 
-    def __init__(self, locator, tz=None, defaultfmt='%Y-%m-%d'):
+    def __init__(self, locator, tz=None, defaultfmt='%Y-%m-%d', *,
+                 usetex=None):
         """
-        Autoformat the date labels.  The default format is the one to use
-        if none of the values in ``self.scaled`` are greater than the unit
-        returned by ``locator._get_unit()``.
+        Autoformat the date labels.
+
+        Parameters
+        ----------
+        locator : `.ticker.Locator`
+            Locator that this axis is using.
+
+        tz : str, optional
+            Passed to `.dates.date2num`.
+
+        defaultfmt : str
+            The default format to use if none of the values in ``self.scaled``
+            are greater than the unit returned by ``locator._get_unit()``.
+
+        usetex : bool, default: :rc:`text.usetex`
+            To enable/disable the use of TeX's math mode for rendering the
+            results of the formatter. If any entries in ``self.scaled`` are set
+            as functions, then it is up to the customized function to enable or
+            disable TeX's math mode itself.
         """
         self._locator = locator
         self._tz = tz
         self.defaultfmt = defaultfmt
         self._formatter = DateFormatter(self.defaultfmt, tz)
-        rcParams = matplotlib.rcParams
+        rcParams = mpl.rcParams
+        self._usetex = (usetex if usetex is not None else
+                        mpl.rcParams['text.usetex'])
         self.scaled = {
             DAYS_PER_YEAR: rcParams['date.autoformatter.year'],
             DAYS_PER_MONTH: rcParams['date.autoformatter.month'],
@@ -938,7 +981,7 @@ def __call__(self, x, pos=None):
                    self.defaultfmt)
 
         if isinstance(fmt, str):
-            self._formatter = DateFormatter(fmt, self._tz)
+            self._formatter = DateFormatter(fmt, self._tz, usetex=self._usetex)
             result = self._formatter(x, pos)
         elif callable(fmt):
             result = fmt(x, pos)

diff --git a/lib/matplotlib/tests/test_dates.py b/lib/matplotlib/tests/test_dates.py
@@ -266,6 +266,26 @@ def callable_formatting_function(dates, _):
     assert formatter([datetime.datetime(2014, 12, 25)]) == ['25-12//2014']
 
 
+@pytest.mark.parametrize('delta, expected', [
+    (datetime.timedelta(weeks=52 * 200),
+     [r'$\mathdefault{%d}$' % (year,) for year in range(1990, 2171, 20)]),
+    (datetime.timedelta(days=30),
+     [r'$\mathdefault{Jan %02d 1990}$' % (day,) for day in range(1, 32, 3)]),
+    (datetime.timedelta(hours=20),
+     [r'$\mathdefault{%02d:00:00}$' % (hour,) for hour in range(0, 21, 2)]),
+])
+def test_date_formatter_usetex(delta, expected):
+    d1 = datetime.datetime(1990, 1, 1)
+    d2 = d1 + delta
+
+    locator = mdates.AutoDateLocator(interval_multiples=False)
+    locator.create_dummy_axis()
+    locator.set_view_interval(mdates.date2num(d1), mdates.date2num(d2))
+
+    formatter = mdates.AutoDateFormatter(locator, usetex=True)
+    assert [formatter(loc) for loc in locator()] == expected
+
+
 def test_drange():
     """
     This test should check if drange works as expected, and if all the
@@ -503,6 +523,39 @@ def _create_auto_date_locator(date1, date2):
         assert strings == expected
 
 
+@pytest.mark.parametrize('t_delta, expected', [
+    (datetime.timedelta(weeks=52 * 200),
+     ['$\\mathdefault{%d}$' % (t, ) for t in range(1980, 2201, 20)]),
+    (datetime.timedelta(days=40),
+     ['$\\mathdefault{Jan}$', '$\\mathdefault{05}$', '$\\mathdefault{09}$',
+      '$\\mathdefault{13}$', '$\\mathdefault{17}$', '$\\mathdefault{21}$',
+      '$\\mathdefault{25}$', '$\\mathdefault{29}$', '$\\mathdefault{Feb}$',
+      '$\\mathdefault{05}$', '$\\mathdefault{09}$']),
+    (datetime.timedelta(hours=40),
+     ['$\\mathdefault{Jan{-}01}$', '$\\mathdefault{04:00}$',
+      '$\\mathdefault{08:00}$', '$\\mathdefault{12:00}$',
+      '$\\mathdefault{16:00}$', '$\\mathdefault{20:00}$',
+      '$\\mathdefault{Jan{-}02}$', '$\\mathdefault{04:00}$',
+      '$\\mathdefault{08:00}$', '$\\mathdefault{12:00}$',
+      '$\\mathdefault{16:00}$']),
+    (datetime.timedelta(seconds=2),
+     ['$\\mathdefault{59.5}$', '$\\mathdefault{00:00}$',
+      '$\\mathdefault{00.5}$', '$\\mathdefault{01.0}$',
+      '$\\mathdefault{01.5}$', '$\\mathdefault{02.0}$',
+      '$\\mathdefault{02.5}$']),
+])
+def test_concise_formatter_usetex(t_delta, expected):
+    d1 = datetime.datetime(1997, 1, 1)
+    d2 = d1 + t_delta
+
+    locator = mdates.AutoDateLocator(interval_multiples=True)
+    locator.create_dummy_axis()
+    locator.set_view_interval(mdates.date2num(d1), mdates.date2num(d2))
+
+    formatter = mdates.ConciseDateFormatter(locator, usetex=True)
+    assert formatter.format_ticks(locator()) == expected
+
+
 def test_concise_formatter_formats():
     formats = ['%Y', '%m/%Y', 'day: %d',
                '%H hr %M min', '%H hr %M min', '%S.%f sec']