USA Time Zones Explained: Current Time by State & How to Convert

Quick Answer: The lower 48 states mainly use Eastern, Central, Mountain, and Pacific time. Alaska and Hawaii have their own zones. For live clocks by city and state, open USA Time Now. To learn about each zone, open U.S. Time Zones.

Open the tools: USA Time Now · U.S. Time Zones · Time zone converter

On US5, current clocks live under Time. Questions like “how long ago was WWII?” or “days until Thanksgiving?” have their own pages under How Long Ago and Countdown.

The Main U.S. Time Zones

Zone	Common abbreviations	Example places
Eastern	ET / EST / EDT	New York, most of Florida, Georgia
Central	CT / CST / CDT	Chicago, most of Texas, Louisiana
Mountain	MT / MST / MDT	Denver, Utah, New Mexico
Pacific	PT / PST / PDT	Los Angeles, Washington, Oregon
Alaska	AKT	Alaska
Hawaii	HT / HST	Hawaii (no daylight saving time)

Abbreviations change between standard time and daylight saving time. Most of Arizona is a common exception — it generally does not use daylight saving time and stays on Mountain Standard Time year-round.

Live Time by State and City

Use USA Time Now when you need “right now”

• Major city clocks
• Current time by state (including states that span more than one zone)
• Convert a time abroad (for example Tokyo) into U.S. city times, including when the date changes

Use U.S. Time Zones when you want zone explainers

Browse Eastern, Central, Mountain, Pacific, and other zone pages — helpful for questions like “what is Pacific Time?”

States with more than one time zone

Florida, Texas, Indiana, Kentucky, and others are not on a single zone. US5 calls that out so “What time is it in Texas?” isn’t answered with one misleading clock.

How to Convert Between U.S. Zones

Example: 1:00 PM Eastern is usually 10:00 AM Pacific (a 3-hour difference), when both places are on the same daylight-saving schedule.

Quick options on US5:

1. USA Time Now — choose a from/to city or region
2. Time zone converter — general conversion tool
3. State and city links on the time pages for places you check often

When converting from faraway places (for example Asia to the U.S.), watch for a previous day or next day label so you don’t miss a date change.

Time Zones vs ZIP Code Local Time

Many ZIP pages show the local time zone and link to time pages. Use:

You need…	Go here
Demographics, weather, and sunrise for a ZIP	ZIP search
Clocks across the country	USA Time Now
Zone explainers	U.S. Time Zones
Sunrise and sunset for outdoor plans	The weather / sun section on a ZIP or city page

See also: ZIP Code Lookup Guide.

Clocks vs “How Long Ago” vs Countdown

Question	Page
What time is it in Chicago?	USA Time Now
How long ago was WWII?	WWII
Days until Thanksgiving?	Thanksgiving

Same family of everyday tools — pick the page that matches your question.

Map Tie-In

Prefer a map? Open the USA map or a state map such as California, then return to USA Time Now to compare several cities.

FAQ

How many time zones does the United States have?

The U.S. and its territories span several zones. Everyday talk about the mainland usually means the four main zones, plus Alaska and Hawaii. Start from U.S. Time Zones for a fuller list, including territories such as Puerto Rico.

Does the whole country use daylight saving time?

No. Hawaii and most of Arizona do not follow daylight saving time the way most of the mainland does. Always check the live clock for that place.

What’s the difference between EST and EDT?

EST is Eastern Standard Time (winter-style offset). EDT is Eastern Daylight Time (one hour ahead of EST during daylight saving). US5 clocks always show the correct time for “now.”

How do I share the current U.S. time with someone abroad?

Send a link to USA Time Now, or convert their city to a U.S. city on that page so both of you see whether the date has shifted.

Next Steps

• USA Time Now · U.S. Time Zones
• Time zone converter
• How Long Ago · Countdown
• Days until Thanksgiving · ZIP lookup guide