US Time Zones — Live Right Now
The current time in all six United States time zones, updating every second. Below the clocks is a plain-English guide to how the zones line up, why the abbreviations change twice a year, and which places ignore daylight saving entirely.
Current time in every US time zone
Meet the US time zones
A quick way to remember how the country lines up, west to east. Each character below links to that zone's live clock — and they are the same characters on our Pinterest pins.
Does not care what time it is anywhere else, and never touches the clocks. Two hours behind the West Coast, three in summer.
Off doing its own thing, through months of darkness or months of daylight. One hour behind Pacific.
Still waking up, will reply after coffee. Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle.
Two hours behind New York, zero hours behind on peace of mind. Denver, the ski towns, big skies. Most of Arizona stays on MST all year.
Quietly runs a huge chunk of the country and never brags about it. Chicago, Texas, the whole heartland.
Thinks it's the main character. New York, Washington DC, the markets, always first to the meeting.
Hawaii and most of Arizona are the holdouts that never move their clocks, so their gap to everyone else shifts by an hour each spring and fall. Every card above links through to that zone's live clock or its daylight-saving detail.
How the zones line up
In the contiguous United States, each zone is exactly one hour apart. When it is 3:00 PM in New York it is 2:00 PM in Chicago, 1:00 PM in Denver, and 12:00 PM in Los Angeles — a three-hour spread coast to coast. Alaska adds a fourth hour, and Hawaii a fifth (usually; see daylight saving below). To convert a specific time rather than just read the clocks, use the EST to PST converter or the Meeting Planner for scheduling across the whole span at once.
Why the abbreviations change twice a year
Each zone has a standard (winter) name and a daylight (summer) name: EST becomes EDT, CST becomes CDT, MST becomes MDT, PST becomes PDT. They refer to the same zone — the summer version is simply one hour later. Daylight saving time starts on the second Sunday in March, when clocks jump forward an hour at 2:00 AM, and ends on the first Sunday in November, when they fall back. Hawaii and most of Arizona skip this entirely and stay on standard time year-round, so their gap to the rest of the country shifts by an hour each spring and fall. The DST Tracker shows which zones are currently on daylight saving and the exact date each one changes next.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many time zones does the United States have?
Six are in everyday use across the states: Eastern, Central, Mountain, Pacific, Alaska,
and Hawaii-Aleutian. The contiguous "lower 48" use the first four. Counting overseas
territories such as Puerto Rico, Guam, and American Samoa, the US spans nine time zones
in total.
What is the difference between EST and EDT?
EST (Eastern Standard Time) is the winter setting, UTC-5. EDT is the same zone during
daylight saving, spring to fall, one hour later at UTC-4. The abbreviation flips when
the clocks change. The same pattern applies to CST/CDT, MST/MDT, and PST/PDT.
Which US states do not observe daylight saving time?
Hawaii and most of Arizona stay on standard time all year and never change their clocks.
The Navajo Nation, which extends into Arizona, does observe daylight saving. Every other
state springs forward and falls back.
How far apart are the US time zones?
Each adjacent zone in the contiguous US is one hour apart, so there is a three-hour gap
between Eastern and Pacific. Alaska is one hour behind Pacific. Hawaii is two hours
behind Pacific in winter and three hours behind in summer, because Hawaii does not
spring forward.
When do US clocks change for daylight saving time?
Daylight saving begins on the second Sunday in March, when clocks move forward one hour
at 2:00 AM, and ends on the first Sunday in November, when clocks move back one hour at
2:00 AM.