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Time in Mexico — regions, cities and time zones

Mexico uses four time zones, from UTC−5 in Quintana Roo to UTC−8 in Baja California. Most of the country abandoned daylight saving in 2022; a strip of northern border municipalities still changes clocks to stay aligned with the United States.

Flag of Mexico Mexico

Capital Mexico City · North America · ISO MX / MEX

Mexico City, Mexico

Wednesday, 21 October 2026

UTC−6 · America/Mexico_City

Time and sun data for Mexico City, Mexico

The sun in Mexico City

Sunrise 6:34 AM Solar noon 12:22 PM Sunset 6:10 PM Daylight 11 h 37 min Night 12 h 23 min Civil twilight 6:12 AM – 6:33 PM

States and regions (33)

Current time in Mexico City

Mexico City runs on Central Standard Time, UTC−6, and no longer moves its clocks. The IANA identifier is America/Mexico_City. Since the national change, the capital keeps the same offset in January and July alike, which simplifies life for anyone scheduling from abroad — as long as their software is up to date.

That caveat matters. Systems carrying stale time zone data may still apply a spring-forward rule that Mexico dropped. If a calendar invite from Mexico City lands an hour off in summer, outdated zone tables are the usual culprit.

The four zones

Mexico stretches far enough east to west to need real divisions. The zones, from east to west: Southeast Zone (UTC−5): Quintana Roo only — Cancún, Playa del Carmen, Cozumel, Chetumal Central Zone (UTC−6): the bulk of the country, including Mexico City, Guadalajara, Monterrey, Puebla, Mérida, Oaxaca

Pacific Zone (UTC−7): Sonora, Sinaloa, Nayarit, Baja California Sur, Chihuahua Northwest Zone (UTC−8): Baja California Quintana Roo's position is a deliberate one. The state moved to UTC−5 in 2015 to give its tourist coast longer daylight in the evening, putting Cancún an hour ahead of Mérida, which is barely 300 kilometres away.

What happened to daylight saving

Mexico ended nationwide summer time in 2022. Before that, most of the country sprang forward in spring and fell back in autumn on dates that did not match the US schedule, producing a few weeks each year when the usual offsets to American cities were wrong.

The exception now is a set of municipalities along the northern border. These keep changing clocks on the US schedule so that cross-border commerce, commuting and broadcasting stay in step. Ciudad Juárez, Tijuana, Mexicali, Nuevo Laredo, Reynosa and Matamoros are among them.

A border town keeps two loyalties: one to its country and one to the shop on the other side of the bridge. When the clocks disagree, the shop usually wins. Sonora is the long-standing exception in the other direction. It never adopted summer time in the first place, having aligned itself with neighbouring Arizona, which also sits it out.

Converting to Mexican time

A short procedure for getting it right: Identify the state, not the country. "Mexico" alone is not enough to fix an offset. Check whether the place is a northern border municipality. If it is, expect a summer shift.

For everywhere else, apply the fixed offset year-round. Use the IANA zone rather than a raw number — America/Cancun, America/Mexico_City, America/Hermosillo, America/Tijuana and their siblings encode the exceptions for you.

Note that Mexico City is on the same offset as Chicago in winter but an hour behind it in summer, because Chicago springs forward and Mexico City no longer does. This trips up recurring meetings scheduled before 2022.

Regions worth knowing

The Central Zone covers most of the population and most of the economy: the capital's metropolitan area, the industrial north around Monterrey, the Bajío manufacturing belt, and the Yucatán peninsula minus Quintana Roo. The Pacific Zone holds the mining and agricultural northwest. Baja California, alone at UTC−8, keeps pace with California itself, which is precisely the point.

Questions and answers
Does Mexico still use daylight saving time?
Not nationally. It was abolished in 2022. Only certain municipalities along the northern border continue to change their clocks, following the United States schedule.
Why is Cancún an hour ahead of Mexico City?
Quintana Roo moved to UTC−5 in 2015 to give its resort coast more evening daylight. The rest of the Yucatán peninsula stayed at UTC−6.
Is Mexico City the same time as Chicago?
In winter, yes — both are UTC−6. In summer Chicago moves to UTC−5 while Mexico City stays put, leaving a one-hour gap.

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