Time zone in Boston
Boston is on Eastern Standard Time (EST, UTC-5) in winter and switches to Eastern Daylight Time (EDT, UTC-4) in summer. Its identifier in the international time zone database is America/New_York: it is what your phone and computer use to show the right time there.
Clock changes in Boston:
- 2026: forward 1 h on Sunday, March 8, 2026 (2:00 AM becomes 3:00 AM), then back 1 h on Sunday, November 1, 2026 (2:00 AM becomes 1:00 AM).
- 2027: forward 1 h on Sunday, March 14, 2027 (2:00 AM becomes 3:00 AM), then back 1 h on Sunday, November 7, 2027 (2:00 AM becomes 1:00 AM).
Boston follows the North American rule: clocks go forward on the second Sunday of March and back on the first Sunday of November, at 2:00 AM local time.
Boston shares its time with New York, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., Atlanta and Miami.
Boston is 634 km from Washington, D.C., the capital, and has the same time.
By the sun, noon in Boston falls at about 11:44 AM in winter and 12:44 PM in summer (on average over the year). The city lies at 71.06° west, and every degree of longitude shifts the sun by 4 minutes. Clock time is close to sun time here. See the sunrise and sunset times in Boston.
Time difference with major cities
When it is 12:00 PM (noon) in Boston, it is:
| City | January | July |
|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles | 9:00 AM | 9:00 AM |
| London | 5:00 PM | 5:00 PM |
| Paris | 6:00 PM | 6:00 PM |
| Tokyo | 2:00 AM, next day | 1:00 AM, next day |
| Sydney | 4:00 AM, next day | 2:00 AM, next day |
| Chicago | 11:00 AM | 11:00 AM |
The gap with Tokyo changes by one hour during the year, because Boston changes its clocks and this city does not. With Sydney, the gap is not the same in January and July: the clocks change at other times of the year there. With London and Paris, the gap is the same in January and July but one hour different for 21 days a year, because the clocks do not change on the same dates.
Best time to call Boston from Los Angeles
To reach someone at work in Boston from Los Angeles, the best window is from 8:00 AM to 3:00 PM in Los Angeles, which is 11:00 AM to 6:00 PM in Boston.
For any other city, use the time zone converter or add it to the world clock.