Current time in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., District of Columbia, United States, keeps Eastern Standard Time: UTC-05:00 in winter and UTC-04:00 in summer.
Current time in Washington, D.C.
10:22:06
America/New_York · UTC-05:00
Time zone in Washington, D.C.
Sunrise and sunset in Washington, D.C.
Sun and clock in Washington, D.C.
Averaged over the year, solar noon in Washington, D.C. falls at 12:08: the city sits almost on the meridian its clock is set to.
America/New_York is named after New York, 330 km to the north-east. The sun crosses the meridian over Washington, D.C. 12 minutes later than over New York, although the two clocks always agree.
Daylight through the year in Washington, D.C.
The latest sunrise of the year, 07:41 on November 6, comes on the last morning before the clocks go back, so it is darker than any midwinter morning.
On the same clock, the sun rises in Washington, D.C. between 7 and 18 minutes later and sets between 6 and 18 minutes later than in New York, depending on the date, and Washington, D.C.’s longest day is 12 minutes shorter than New York’s.
Lisbon (38.7°N) and Athens (38.0°N) lie on almost the same parallel as Washington, D.C., so their days stay within 6 minutes of Washington, D.C.’s all year; the clock in Lisbon is 5 h ahead of Washington, D.C. for most of the year and 4 h ahead of Washington, D.C. for part of it, and in Athens 7 h ahead of Washington, D.C. for most of the year and 6 h ahead of Washington, D.C. for part of it.
| Date | Sunrise | Sunset | Day length |
|---|---|---|---|
| November 15 | 06:51 | 16:55 | 10 h 4 m |
| December 15 | 07:20 | 16:47 | 9 h 27 m |
| January 15 | 07:25 | 17:10 | 9 h 44 m |
| February 15 | 07:00 | 17:45 | 10 h 45 m |
| March 15 | 07:20 | 19:15 | 11 h 55 m |
| April 15 | 06:32 | 19:45 | 13 h 13 m |
| May 15 | 05:56 | 20:13 | 14 h 18 m |
| June 15 | 05:42 | 20:35 | 14 h 53 m |
| July 15 | 05:55 | 20:33 | 14 h 38 m |
| August 15 | 06:22 | 20:04 | 13 h 42 m |
| September 15 | 06:49 | 19:17 | 12 h 28 m |
| October 15 | 07:17 | 18:30 | 11 h 13 m |
When the clocks change in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C. 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.
Washington, D.C. has no tz database entry of its own: it keeps America/New_York, named after New York. The database promises that the two clocks have agreed since 1970, and makes no claim for the years before. The rules that entry follows, and how long they have applied, are on the New York page.
| Date | Change | New offset |
|---|---|---|
| March 14, 2027 | Forward one hour: 02:00 becomes 03:00 | UTC-04:00 |
| November 7, 2027 | Back one hour: 02:00 becomes 01:00 | UTC-05:00 |
Calling Washington, D.C. from another time zone
| Place | Washington, D.C.’s 09:00–17:00 there | Shared working hours | Over the next 12 months |
|---|---|---|---|
| UTC | 14:00–22:00 | — | — |
| London | 14:00–22:00 | 3 h, 09:00–12:00 Washington, D.C. time | 3 h to 4 h |
| Tokyo | 23:00–07:00 | none | none all year |
Washington, D.C. compared with other cities
| City | Local time | Date | UTC offset | Difference from Washington, D.C. | Over the next 12 months |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New York | — | — | UTC-05:00 | the same time | all year |
| London | — | — | UTC+00:00 | 5 h ahead | 4 h ahead / 5 h ahead |
| Dubai | — | — | UTC+04:00 | 9 h ahead | 8 h ahead / 9 h ahead |
| New Delhi | — | — | UTC+05:30 | 10 h 30 min ahead | 9 h 30 min ahead / 10 h 30 min ahead |
| Singapore | — | — | UTC+08:00 | 13 h ahead | 12 h ahead / 13 h ahead |
| Tokyo | — | — | UTC+09:00 | 14 h ahead | 13 h ahead / 14 h ahead |
| Sydney | — | — | UTC+11:00 | 16 h ahead | 14 h ahead / 15 h ahead / 16 h ahead |
Nearby cities
Other places in this directory that keep America/New_York time: New York, Miami, Boston and Atlanta.
| City | Distance | Clock | Solar noon |
|---|---|---|---|
| New York | 330 km north-east | same clock | 12 minutes earlier |
| Toronto | 560 km north | same clock | 9 minutes later |
| Boston | 630 km north-east | same clock | 24 minutes earlier |
| Montreal | 790 km north | same clock | 14 minutes earlier |
| Atlanta | 870 km south-west | same clock | 29 minutes later |
| Chicago | 960 km north-west | 1 h behind | 42 minutes later |
| Miami | 1,490 km south | same clock | 13 minutes later |
| Havana | 1,830 km south | the same | 21 minutes later |
Beyond Washington, D.C.’s own identifier, the nearest city in this directory on exactly the same clock is Toronto, 560 km to the north, on America/Toronto.
Time zone rules: IANA tz database release 2026c, applied when this page was generated on 2026-11-02.
Frequently asked questions
What time zone is Washington, D.C. in?
Washington, D.C. keeps America/New_York, Eastern Standard Time, at UTC-05:00, moving to Eastern Daylight Time (UTC-04:00) during summer time. The identifier is named after New York; Washington, D.C. has shown the same time as New York since at least 1970.
Is all of the United States on the same time as Washington, D.C.?
No. The tz database entries for the United States keep 6 different standard times, from UTC-10:00 (Honolulu) to UTC-05:00 (New York). Washington, D.C. keeps the highest of them.
Which other countries keep exactly the same time as Washington, D.C.?
The Bahamas, Canada (Iqaluit and Toronto), Haiti and Turks & Caicos Islands keep exactly Washington, D.C.’s clock, changing on the same dates. Within the United States, 9 other tz database entries match it too.
What is the time difference between Washington, D.C. and Chicago?
The clock in Chicago, the United States, about 960 km away and the closest city in this directory on a different clock, is 1 h behind Washington, D.C.