Time zone in Detroit
Detroit 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/Detroit: it is what your phone and computer use to show the right time there.
Clock changes in Detroit:
- 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).
Detroit 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.
Detroit is 634 km from Washington, D.C., the capital.
By the sun, noon in Detroit falls at about 12:32 PM in winter and 1:32 PM in summer (on average over the year). The city lies at 83.05° west, and every degree of longitude shifts the sun by 4 minutes. The clock runs well ahead of the sun here, so mornings stay dark late and evenings stay light late. See the sunrise and sunset times in Detroit.
Time difference with major cities
When it is 12:00 PM (noon) in Detroit, it is:
| City | January | July |
|---|---|---|
| New York | 12:00 PM | 12:00 PM |
| 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 |
The gap with Tokyo changes by one hour during the year, because Detroit 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 Detroit from New York
To reach someone at work in Detroit from New York, the best window is from 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM in New York, which is 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM in Detroit.
For any other city, use the time zone converter or add it to the world clock.