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Time in United States — regions, cities and time zones

The United States spans multiple time zones. Washington, D.C., the capital, uses Eastern Time — UTC−5 in winter and UTC−4 during daylight saving — while the contiguous states run through Central, Mountain and Pacific, with Alaska and Hawaii further west.

Flag of United States United States

Capital Washington, D.C. · North America · ISO US / USA

Washington, D.C., United States

Friday, 4 September 2026

UTC−4 · America/New_York

Time and sun data for Washington, D.C., United States

The sun in Washington, D.C.

Sunrise 06:41 Solar noon 13:09 Sunset 19:36 Daylight 12 h 55 min Night 11 h 05 min Civil twilight 06:14 – 20:03

States and regions (51)

Current time in Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C. is on Eastern Time, the same clock as New York, Atlanta and Miami. Federal government schedules, congressional sessions and most national news are published in this zone, which is why Eastern Time often serves as the default in American national coverage despite covering well under half the country's area.

The capital observes daylight saving, moving forward in spring and back in autumn along with most of the nation.

The main zones

Eastern — UTC−5 standard, UTC−4 daylight. New York, Washington, Atlanta, Detroit. Central — UTC−6 standard, UTC−5 daylight. Chicago, Houston, New Orleans. Mountain — UTC−7 standard, UTC−6 daylight. Denver, Salt Lake City, Phoenix.

Pacific — UTC−8 standard, UTC−7 daylight. Los Angeles, Seattle, San Francisco. Alaska — UTC−9 standard, UTC−8 daylight. Hawaii–Aleutian — Hawaii keeps UTC−10 with no daylight saving. Beyond these, US territories in the Caribbean and Pacific add further offsets, and none of them observe daylight saving.

The exceptions worth knowing

Two states stand outside the daylight saving system. Hawaii does not change its clocks at all. Most of Arizona also stays on standard time year-round, so it matches Pacific Time in summer and Mountain Time in winter — with the Navajo Nation, which does observe daylight saving, as an exception within the exception.

Zone boundaries also do not follow state lines neatly. Several states are split, so a state name alone is not enough to determine the time. In the United States, "what time is it there?" is a question about the county, not the state. Ask about Tennessee and the honest answer is: which end?

Daylight saving dates

Clocks go forward on the second Sunday in March, at 2am local time. Clocks go back on the first Sunday in November, at 2am local time. Each zone changes at 2am its own local time, so the switch rolls across the country zone by zone.

These dates differ from Europe's, which is why transatlantic gaps shift for a few weeks each spring and autumn.

Working across the country

The spread from coast to coast is three hours, which shapes American business habits. A 9am start on the east coast is 6am on the west; a national call is usually scheduled late morning Eastern so that both coasts are awake and working.

For software, store city-level identifiers — America/New_York, America/Chicago, America/Denver, America/Los_Angeles, America/Anchorage, Pacific/Honolulu — rather than abbreviations like EST or CST. The abbreviations are ambiguous, are not unique worldwide, and do not carry the daylight saving rules that make the conversion correct.

Questions and answers
How many time zones does the United States have?
Six are commonly cited for the states — Eastern, Central, Mountain, Pacific, Alaska and Hawaii–Aleutian — with additional zones covering the territories.
Which places skip daylight saving?
Hawaii and most of Arizona stay on standard time all year, as do the US territories such as Puerto Rico and Guam.
Is Washington, D.C. the same time as New York?
Yes. Both are on Eastern Time, and both change clocks on the same dates.

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