East Coast Time Zone — Current Time
The East Coast — from Maine down to Florida — runs on Eastern Time (EST in winter, EDT in summer), the most populous of the nine US time zones. The one wrinkle: Florida's western panhandle, including Pensacola, is on Central Time, an hour behind the rest of the state and the rest of the East Coast.
Most US clocks fall from 2:00 AM back to 1:00 AM — you gain an hour. Arizona, Hawaii, and the US territories don't change at all.
A split time zone coast
Florida's western Panhandle — Pensacola, Fort Walton Beach, and the area west of the Apalachicola River — is on Central Time, an hour behind the rest of the East Coast. Every other East Coast state is entirely on Eastern Time.
About the East Coast time zone
Eastern Time anchors the country's financial and political center of gravity: the New York Stock Exchange, the Federal Reserve, and the White House all keep Eastern Time, and network TV schedules are still built around it as the reference zone ("8 PM Eastern/7 Central").
With close to half the country's population living in it, Eastern Time is also the most inland-reaching zone on this list — it covers Michigan, most of Indiana, and eastern Kentucky, none of which touch the Atlantic at all, so "Eastern Time" and "East Coast time" overlap heavily but aren't identical.
States on the East Coast
Fourteen states plus Washington, D.C. line the Atlantic coast, nearly all entirely on Eastern Time except Florida's panhandle.
* Only part of this state is on the East Coast's primary time zone.
Major cities on the East Coast
East Coast vs. other US zones
| Location | Current time | UTC offset | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Central Time | 1:42 AM CDT | UTC-5 | 1 hour behind |
| Mountain Time | 12:42 AM MDT | UTC-6 | 2 hours behind |
| Pacific Time | 11:42 PM PDT | UTC-7 | 3 hours behind |
| Alaska Time | 10:42 PM AKDT | UTC-8 | 4 hours behind |
| Hawaii-Aleutian Time | 8:42 PM HST | UTC-10 | 6 hours behind |
| Atlantic Time | 2:42 AM AST | UTC-4 | same time |
| Samoa Time | 7:42 PM GMT-11 | UTC-11 | 7 hours behind |
| Chamorro Time | 4:42 PM GMT+10 | UTC+10 | 14 hours ahead |
Convert East Coast time to another zone
Frequently asked questions
What time zone is the East Coast?
The East Coast — from Maine down to Florida — runs on Eastern Time (EST in winter, EDT in summer), the most populous of the nine US time zones. The one wrinkle: Florida's western panhandle, including Pensacola, is on Central Time, an hour behind the rest of the state and the rest of the East Coast.
Which states are on the East Coast?
Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, District of Columbia, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida.
How many people live on the East Coast?
Roughly 110 million people live across the 15 East Coast states, based on current state population estimates.
What is the biggest city on the East Coast?
New York City, NY is the largest city on the East Coast by population.
Is all of Florida on East Coast time?
No. Most of Florida, including Tallahassee, Jacksonville, and Tampa, is on Eastern Time, but the western Panhandle — Pensacola, Fort Walton Beach — is on Central Time, an hour behind.