Current time in San Francisco
Live local time, date and time zone information for San Francisco, California, United States.
Current time in San Francisco
07:12:20
America/Los_Angeles · UTC-07:00
Time zone in San Francisco
San Francisco is in California, United States and uses the America/Los_Angeles time zone. San Francisco observes daylight saving time. It uses Pacific Standard Time (UTC-08:00) in the standard-time part of the year and Pacific Daylight Time (UTC-07:00) during summer time.
Sunrise and sunset in San Francisco
Sun and clock in San Francisco
San Francisco sits almost exactly on the meridian its time zone is built around, so the clock and the sun agree here about as closely as they do anywhere: averaged over the year, solar noon falls at 12:10 by the standard clock, within 10 minutes of twelve. Summer time moves that an hour later still, to about 13:10.
Daylight through the year in San Francisco
At 37.8°N latitude, San Francisco sees its longest day around the June solstice, when the sun is above the horizon for about 14 h 47 m. The shortest day comes six months later at roughly 9 h 33 m, a swing of about 5 h 14 m between midsummer and midwinter.
Mid-latitude cities like San Francisco get the full seasonal cycle, with the longest and shortest days 5 h 14 m apart.
On the June solstice the sun rises in San Francisco at about 05:48 and sets at about 20:34; on the December solstice it rises at about 07:21 and sets at about 16:54.
When the clocks change in San Francisco
San Francisco follows the North American rule: clocks go forward on the second Sunday in March and back on the first Sunday in November, at 02:00 local time in each zone.
The next two changes in San Francisco:
| Date | Change | New offset |
|---|---|---|
| November 1, 2026 | Clocks go back one hour on Nov 1, 2026 at 01:00, moving from UTC-07:00 to UTC-08:00. | UTC-08:00 |
| March 14, 2027 | Clocks go forward one hour on Mar 14, 2027 at 03:30, moving from UTC-08:00 to UTC-07:00. | UTC-07:00 |
Of the cities compared further down this page, New York, London and Sydney do change their clocks, so their difference from San Francisco moves by an hour twice a year; Dubai, New Delhi, Singapore and Tokyo do not, so those differences never change.
Calling San Francisco from another time zone
A working day of roughly 09:00 to 17:00 in San Francisco corresponds to 17:00–01:00 UTC. To find the equivalent window where you are, add your own offset to those hours: somewhere on UTC+00:00 would be looking at 17:00–01:00.
Taking a working day as 09:00 to 17:00 in each place:
- New York’s working day overlaps with San Francisco’s for 5 hours, from 09:00 to 14:00 San Francisco time.
- London has no overlap at all: when it is 09:00 there, it is already 01:00 in San Francisco, so a call means an early start or a late finish for someone.
- Tokyo has no overlap at all: when it is 09:00 there, it is already 17:00 in San Francisco, so a call means an early start or a late finish for someone.
These windows use the offsets in force on 2026-10-09; where one side observes daylight saving and the other does not, they move by an hour twice a year.
Time difference from your location
San Francisco is currently on UTC-07:00. Once the page has loaded, this section compares it with the time zone your browser reports.
San Francisco compared with other cities
| City | Local time | Date | UTC offset | Difference from San Francisco |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Loading… | ||||
Nearby cities
Other places in this directory that keep America/Los_Angeles time: Los Angeles, Seattle and Las Vegas. Their clocks match San Francisco’s exactly, including any daylight saving change. The nearest listed city on a different zone identifier is Phoenix, about 1050 km away on America/Phoenix, which shows the same clock time as San Francisco today.
Time zone rules: IANA tz database release 2026c, applied when this page was generated on 2026-10-09. Sun times: NOAA solar equations for 37.77°N, 122.42°W, flat horizon at sea level.
Frequently asked questions
What time zone is San Francisco in?
San Francisco uses the America/Los_Angeles time zone — Pacific Standard Time, UTC-08:00, moving to Pacific Daylight Time (UTC-07:00) during summer time.
Does San Francisco use daylight saving time?
San Francisco observes daylight saving time. It uses Pacific Standard Time (UTC-08:00) in the standard-time part of the year and Pacific Daylight Time (UTC-07:00) during summer time.
What is the UTC offset for San Francisco?
The standard offset is UTC-08:00, and UTC-07:00 while summer time is in effect. The clock at the top of this page shows the offset that applies right now.
What is the time difference between San Francisco and my location?
The section above compares San Francisco with your own time zone as detected by your browser, and the table lists the difference against major cities worldwide.