Guides & Articles

Daylight saving time starts in the US on Sunday, March 8, 2026, at 2:00 AM local time.

Daylight saving time ends in the US on Sunday, November 1, 2026, at 2:00 AM local time, when clocks fall back an hour.

A complete reference for every 2026 US daylight saving date: March 8 start, November 1 end, and the states that skip both.

Spring forward means setting clocks an hour ahead each March, losing an hour of sleep — here's how to prepare.

Fall back means setting clocks an hour behind each November, gaining an hour — here's what changes and how to adjust.

In spring, clocks move forward and we lose an hour of sleep; in fall, clocks move back and we gain one.

Practical steps to adjust your sleep schedule before and after daylight saving time changes each spring and fall.

The US uses nine time zones from Eastern to Chamorro — here's how each one works and which states use it.

Arizona opted out of daylight saving time in 1968, largely because of its extreme summer heat.

Hawaii skips daylight saving because its tropical latitude means day length barely changes across the year.

US time zones began as a railroad standard in 1883 and became federal law in 1918.

Indiana didn't observe statewide daylight saving until 2006, the last state to standardize it.

Fourteen US states have territory in two different time zones, from Florida's Panhandle to Alaska's Aleutian Islands.

The US mainly uses 12-hour AM/PM time, while 24-hour time avoids the AM/PM ambiguity entirely.

UTC is the modern time standard the world sets clocks against; GMT is a related but distinct time zone.

The US has nine time zones across its states and territories, more than all but a couple of other countries.

Nearly all of Alaska uses Alaska Time (UTC-9); the far-western Aleutian Islands use Hawaii-Aleutian Time instead.

The US spans nine time zones because of its geographic width and its Pacific and Caribbean territories.

Standard time is a zone's baseline UTC offset; daylight saving time shifts that offset an hour ahead for part of the year.

Arizona and Hawaii are the only two US states that don't observe daylight saving time.

The best window to call the West Coast from the East Coast is 12 PM–5 PM Eastern, which is 9 AM–2 PM Pacific.

The best window to call the East Coast from the West Coast is 6 AM–1 PM Pacific, which is 9 AM–4 PM Eastern.

Standard 9 AM–5 PM business hours in each US time zone, and how they line up against each other.

The NYSE and Nasdaq trade 9:30 AM–4:00 PM Eastern — here's what that is in every other US zone.

Tips for finding a meeting time that works across US time zones without unfairly burdening one coast.

How to quickly figure out the current time in any US zone relative to your own.

A simple mental method for converting between US time zones using the fixed hour differences.

Studies link the spring daylight saving transition to short-term increases in sleep disruption and minor accidents.

A quick reference for what each US time zone abbreviation stands for and when it applies.

Airline schedules always use local time at each airport, so time zone crossings are built into every itinerary.

Best practices for scheduling recurring meetings with distributed US teams across multiple time zones.

Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands use Atlantic Time (UTC-4) year-round, with no daylight saving.

Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands use Chamorro Time (UTC+10), the US zone furthest ahead of UTC.