US Time Zones Explained: From Eastern to Hawaii

The United States is a big country. So big, in fact, that it spans six different time zones — seven if you count some of the outlying territories. This creates a situation that confuses a lot of people, including many Americans themselves. When it is noon in New York, it is only 9am in Los Angeles. When the Super Bowl kicks off at 6:30pm Eastern, people on the West Coast are watching it at 3:30pm. And if you are trying to call a colleague in Honolulu from New York, you need to know that Hawaii is five or six hours behind, depending on the time of year. This guide breaks down every US time zone clearly.

The Six Main US Time Zones

* Phoenix and most of Arizona do not observe Daylight Saving Time, which makes them an exception within the Mountain time zone. During summer, Arizona is effectively on the same time as the Pacific time zone.

Eastern Time — The Most Watched Time Zone

Eastern Time covers roughly the eastern third of the country and is home to about 47% of the US population. New York City, the financial capital of the country, runs on Eastern Time, which is why stock market hours (9:30am to 4pm) are always quoted in Eastern. Washington D.C., Boston, Philadelphia, Miami, and Atlanta are all on Eastern Time. When US television networks announce show times, they almost always lead with Eastern — '8pm Eastern, 7pm Central' — because Eastern is where the largest audience is.

Central Time — The Heartland

Central Time covers the middle of the country, from the Great Plains down through Texas and across to parts of the Midwest. Chicago is the largest city on Central Time, and it is one hour behind New York. Houston, Dallas, Minneapolis, Kansas City, and New Orleans are all Central. One quirk of Central Time is that it covers a very wide geographic area — from the western edge of Indiana all the way to the eastern edge of the Mountain states — which means sunrise and sunset times can vary dramatically within the same time zone.

Mountain Time — The Rockies and the Desert

Mountain Time covers the Rocky Mountain states and the Southwest. Denver, Salt Lake City, Albuquerque, and El Paso are all on Mountain Time. The big exception is Arizona, which does not observe Daylight Saving Time — a decision made in 1968 largely because the state is already very hot in summer and extending evening daylight would make the heat worse. This means that during summer, Arizona is on the same time as California (Pacific Daylight Time), but during winter it is on the same time as Colorado (Mountain Standard Time). The Navajo Nation within Arizona is an exception to this exception — it does observe DST.

Pacific Time — The West Coast

Pacific Time covers the West Coast states — California, Oregon, and Washington — plus Nevada and parts of Idaho. Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, Las Vegas, and Portland are all on Pacific Time. The West Coast is three hours behind New York, which creates a well-known dynamic in the entertainment industry: live events that air at 8pm Eastern are often shown at 5pm Pacific, which is why West Coast viewers sometimes see evening news shows in the late afternoon.

Alaska Time — America's Last Frontier

Alaska is one hour behind the Pacific time zone, at UTC-9 in winter and UTC-8 in summer. Anchorage, Fairbanks, and Juneau are all on Alaska Time. Alaska is so large that it technically spans multiple natural time zones, but the state consolidated to a single time zone in 1983 to simplify commerce and communication. The western Aleutian Islands use Hawaii-Aleutian Time instead, making them the only part of Alaska not on Alaska Time.

Hawaii-Aleutian Time — No Daylight Saving

Hawaii is at UTC-10 year-round and does not observe Daylight Saving Time. This means the offset between Hawaii and the East Coast changes depending on the time of year: it is five hours in winter (when the mainland is on Standard Time) and six hours in summer (when the mainland is on Daylight Saving Time). Honolulu, Hilo, and Maui are all on Hawaii Time. Because Hawaii is so far west and south, it has some of the latest sunrises and earliest sunsets relative to clock time of any US state.

When Do US Clocks Change?

Most of the United States observes Daylight Saving Time, with clocks springing forward one hour on the second Sunday of March and falling back one hour on the first Sunday of November. The exceptions are Arizona (except the Navajo Nation) and Hawaii, which stay on Standard Time year-round. There has been ongoing debate in the US Congress about abolishing the twice-yearly clock change — the Sunshine Protection Act, which would make Daylight Saving Time permanent, has been proposed multiple times but has not yet been signed into law as of early 2026.

Practical Tips for Navigating US Time Zones

If you are scheduling a call or meeting across US time zones, the simplest rule of thumb is: Eastern is three hours ahead of Pacific, two hours ahead of Mountain, and one hour ahead of Central. So if you want a meeting that works for both New York and Los Angeles, you are looking for a time that is reasonable in both UTC-5 and UTC-8 — which in practice means late morning Eastern (10am–noon) works well as late morning Pacific (7am–9am). Avoid scheduling anything before 9am Eastern if you have West Coast participants, and avoid anything after 3pm Pacific if you have East Coast participants.

For international calls involving the US, remember that the US changes its clocks on different dates than Europe and Australia, which means the offset between US cities and international cities changes twice a year at different points. The safest approach is always to use a world clock tool that handles DST automatically rather than trying to calculate offsets from memory.

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