Time in California, on the Pacific clock.

California is on Pacific Time. In winter that is Pacific Standard Time, PST, which is UTC-8, and in summer it is Pacific Daylight Time, PDT, which is UTC-7. The clock above shows California time to the second, with the date and the zone name. There is only one clock for the whole state, so the answer is the same in San Diego as in Sacramento.

How to use this California time page

1. Read the big clock: hours, minutes and seconds in California, then the date, the name of the zone and its UTC offset.
2. The cards under it show the time zone, the UTC offset, whether the place changes its clocks and when next, and the difference from your own time zone. If the page has guessed your zone wrong, pick the right one under Your place.
3. To plan a call, set a Date and a Time under What time is it there when it is. The line under the boxes gives the time in California, with the day. Use now sets your own current time.
4. The row of eight times below shows common hours of your day, every three hours, next to the matching time there.
5. On the right, tick 24-hour clock or switch Show seconds off. Copy the time copies one line you can paste into a message. Your choices stay in this browser.

What the official sources say

Section 71.9 of 49 CFR Part 71 draws the line between the Mountain and Pacific zones, and part (b) of it runs south "along the Utah-Nevada boundary, the Nevada-Arizona boundary, and the Arizona-California boundary" to the Mexican border. California is on the Pacific side of that line, so the whole state is in the Pacific zone defined in section 71.10. The DOT rule on advancing the clock is in section 71.2. Checked 24 Oct 2026.

When the clocks change

Under 49 CFR section 71.2, standard time is advanced one hour at 2 a.m. on the second Sunday in March, and the advance ends at 2 a.m. on the first Sunday in November. A state may exempt itself, and this one does not. In 2026 the dates are Sunday 8 March and Sunday 1 November. In 2027 they are Sunday 14 March and Sunday 7 November.

The cards above give the next change from your browser's own data. Dates in the table come from the IANA database, version 2026e, read on 24 Oct 2026.

California and its neighbours

Nevada is on Pacific Time too, apart from one town: section 71.9(b) takes West Wendover, Nevada, out of the Pacific zone and puts it with the Mountain clock. Arizona is the other neighbour that matters. Most of Arizona never changes its clocks, so California is 1 hour behind Phoenix in winter and on the same time as Phoenix in summer. See time in Las Vegas and time in Arizona.

California to Asia is a day ahead

California is one of the last big places in the US to see a new day. When it is 6:00 PM on a Monday in Los Angeles, it is already Tuesday in Tokyo. Check the date in every answer on this page, not only the hour.

California compared with other places

The gap with New York through 2026

The two places do not change their clocks on the same days, so the gap is not one number. Each row starts on the day the gap changes, by the clock in California. The change happens at a set hour that day, so use the box above for an exact time.

A worked example

Take a 9:00 AM call in California and ask what time it is in New York.

• In July, 9:00 AM on Tue 14 Jul in California is 4:00 PM UTC on Tue 14 Jul (9:00 AM plus 7 h). New York is on UTC-4, so the same moment is 12:00 PM on Tue 14 Jul there.
• In January, 9:00 AM on Tue 13 Jan in California is 5:00 PM UTC on Tue 13 Jan (9:00 AM plus 8 h). New York is on UTC-5, so the same moment is 12:00 PM on Tue 13 Jan there.

Shared working hours

If both sides work 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM, this is the window in which both are at their desks, on a Tuesday in January and a Tuesday in July 2026.

Sources, checked 24 Oct 2026. 49 CFR Part 71, Standard Time Zone Boundaries; the IANA time zone database (version 2026e).

Related: time in Las Vegas, time in Hawaii and the time zone converter.