Time Zones in the United States (2024)

Time Zones Currently Being Used in United States

Offset	Time Zone Abbreviation & Name		Example City	Current Time
UTC -10	HST	Hawaii Standard Time	Honolulu	Tue, 01:16:23
UTC -9	HDT	Hawaii-Aleutian Daylight Time	Adak	Tue, 02:16:23
UTC -8	AKDT	Alaska Daylight Time	Anchorage	Tue, 03:16:23
UTC -7	PDT	Pacific Daylight Time	Los Angeles	Tue, 04:16:23
UTC -7	MST	Mountain Standard Time	Phoenix	Tue, 04:16:23
UTC -6	MDT	Mountain Daylight Time	Salt Lake City	Tue, 05:16:23
UTC -5	CDT	Central Daylight Time	Chicago	Tue, 06:16:23
UTC -4	EDT	Eastern Daylight Time	New York	Tue, 07:16:23

How Many Time Zones Are There in the US?

There are 9 time zones by law in the USA and its dependencies. However, adding the time zones of 2 uninhabited US territories, Howland Island and Baker Island, brings the total count to 11 time zones.

The contiguous US has 4 standard time zones. In addition, Alaska, Hawaii, and 5 US dependencies all have their own time zones. As neither Hawaii nor the 5 dependencies use Daylight Saving Time (DST), there are only 6 corresponding DST time zones.

A 12th Time Zone?

Since Howland Island and Baker Island constitute the world's westernmost landmasses in relation to the International Date Line, making them the last places on Earth where any date exists, they are sometimes assigned a theoretical 12th time zone called Anywhere on Earth (AoE).

Generalized Time Zones in United States

Time Zone Abbreviation & Name		Offset	Current Time
PT	Pacific Time	UTC -8:00 / -7:00	Tue, 04:16:23
MT	Mountain Time	UTC -7:00 / -6:00	Tue, 05:16:23
CT	Central Time	UTC -6:00 / -5:00	Tue, 06:16:23
ET	Eastern Time	UTC -5:00 / -4:00	Tue, 07:16:23

The time zones in the contiguous US are often referred to by their generic name, without making a difference between standard time and Daylight Saving Time designations. For example, Eastern Time (ET) refers to Eastern Standard Time (EST) or Eastern Daylight Time (EDT), depending on which is currently in use. In practice, this means that the local time in these time zones changes when DST begins and ends.

Note: Local time in these time zones changes when Daylight Saving Time begins and ends.

Time Zones Not Currently Being Observed in United States

Offset	Time Zone Abbreviation & Name		Commences
UTC -9	AKST	Alaska Standard Time	Nov 3, 2024
UTC -8	PST	Pacific Standard Time	Nov 3, 2024
UTC -6	CST	Central Standard Time	Nov 3, 2024
UTC -5	EST	Eastern Standard Time	Nov 3, 2024

The above time zones are used during other parts of the year. They will become active again after the next clock change as Daylight Saving Time begins or ends.

Time Zones Being Used in Dependencies of United States

Offset	Time Zone Abbreviation & Name		Dependency	Type	Current Time
UTC -12	AoE	Anywhere on Earth	US Minor Outlying Islands	Territory	Mon, 23:16:23
UTC -11	SST	Samoa Standard Time	American Samoa	Unincorp. unorg. territory	Tue, 00:16:23
UTC -11	SST	Samoa Standard Time	US Minor Outlying Islands	Territory	Tue, 00:16:23
UTC -4	AST	Atlantic Standard Time	Puerto Rico	Unincorp. org. territory	Tue, 07:16:23
UTC -4	AST	Atlantic Standard Time	US Virgin Islands	Unincorp. org. territory	Tue, 07:16:23
UTC +10	ChST	Chamorro Standard Time	Guam	Unincorp. org. territory	Tue, 21:16:23
UTC +10	ChST	Chamorro Standard Time	Northern Mariana Islands	Unincorp. org. territory	Tue, 21:16:23
UTC +12	WAKT	Wake Time	US Minor Outlying Islands	Territory	Tue, 23:16:23

The US dependencies don't use DST.

The United States' Time Zone History

The US was divided into 4 standard time zones on November 18, 1883, and jurisdiction for the zones was given to the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC). Since 1967, the US Department of Transportation (DOT) has been responsible for governing time zones in the country.

Time zones in the USA are defined in the U.S. Code, Title 15, Chapter 6, Subchapter IX - Standard Time. The time zones in the law are defined by their offset from Coordinated Universal Time (UTC).

There are 9 official time zones according to the law. In addition the uninhabited atolls of Baker Island (AoE) and Wake Island (WAKT) add to the time zone count, making 11 the total number of time zones in the US.

Almost all states in the US use Daylight Saving Time (DST). Most of Arizona and Hawaii don't use DST. Indiana introduced DST in 2006.

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FAQs

How many times zones are there in America? ›

How many time zones are there in the US? There are six time zones in the US main country. The 50 US states are spread across the six standard time zones. With dependencies (inhabited and uninhabited), however, the total count comes to 11 time zones.

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What are the 9 time zones in USA? ›

Currently the United States and its territories have 9 time zone boundaries: Atlantic, Eastern, Central, Mountain, Pacific, Alaska, Hawaii–Aleutian, Samoa, and Chamorro.

What is the longest time zone in the United States? ›

The maximum time difference between U.S. states is six hours. That is the difference between Eastern Daylight Saving Time (EDT; UTC-4) and Hawaii-Aleutian Standard Time (HAST; UTC-10). 17 U.S. states are at least partially on EDT from March to November. Hawaii is always on HAST.

Which state spans 4 time zones? ›

Alaska Standard Time, centered on the 150°W meridian, is also known as Hawaii Standard Time--it is numbered "-10." Alaska spans 57.5 degrees of longitude (four time zones), which is almost exactly the same as the 57.6 degrees between Maine and Washington, thus the "South 48" also span four time zones.

What states are in different time zones? ›

Thirteen. Oregon and Idaho are split between the Mountain and Pacific time zones. Nebraska, Kansas, Texas, North and South Dakota are divided between Central and Mountain time zones. Florida, Michigan, Indiana, Kentucky, and Tennessee are split between Eastern and Central time zones.

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Are there 40 time zones? ›

Other nations, such as Nepal, use quarter-hour deviations. This means that there are approximately 40 time zones rather than 24.

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Does Texas have two time zones? ›

Texas spans two time zones. Most of the state observes Central Time (CT), while three counties in the West Texas region follow Mountain Time (MT): El Paso, Hudspeth, and parts of Culberson County.

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What are the 5 main time zones? ›

There are actually six time zones in the USA. The four main ones are Eastern, Central, Mountain, and Pacific Standard Time. The two others are Alaska Standard Time and Hawaii-Aleutian Standard Time, observed only by Alaska and Hawaii respectively.

What country is 26 hours ahead of the USA? ›

The Republic of Kiribati's Line Islands, which have a time zone of +14 hours UTC, are on the far east of the earth. These two places, therefore, have the biggest time difference of 26 hours.

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What are the 4 standard time zones? ›

Due to Fleming's work, the United States was broken into four major time zones. They are Eastern, Central, Mountain, and Pacific.

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What divided the U.S. into 4 time zones? ›

On November 18, 1883, the railroads moved forward with the adoption of four U.S. time zones, an idea that had been proposed 11 years earlier by Charles Dowd, a Yale-educated school principal. The time zones, Eastern, Central, Mountain and Pacific, are still in place today.

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What's the time in the USA just now? ›

06:08:55 P.M.