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ET · UTC−5 standard · UTC−4 daylight · 17 states fully, 5 partly · Washington, DC

Eastern Time Zone map

The Eastern Time Zone covers the Atlantic seaboard from Maine to Florida and reaches west to Ohio, Michigan and eastern Kentucky. It holds more people than any other US zone — about half the country.

EasternCentralMountainPacificAlaskaHawaii-Aleutian
Eastern is the dark-shaded band on the right. Press Abbreviations to show state codes; the western boundary runs through Florida, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan and Tennessee.

Offset and daylight saving

Eastern Standard Time (EST) is UTC−5. From the second Sunday in March to the first Sunday in November every state in the zone observes Eastern Daylight Time (EDT), UTC−4. There are no non-observing areas within the zone, unlike Mountain time with Arizona. The zone also covers Washington, DC, which is why "Eastern" is the reference time for the federal government, the New York Stock Exchange (opening bell 9:30 am ET) and most national television schedules.

States fully in the Eastern zone

Seventeen states lie entirely in the zone. Together they had 113,270,598 people at the 2020 Census, before adding the Eastern parts of the five split states and the District of Columbia.

StateCodeCapitalPopulation (2020)
ConnecticutCTHartford3,605,944
DelawareDEDover989,948
GeorgiaGAAtlanta10,711,908
MaineMEAugusta1,362,359
MarylandMDAnnapolis6,177,224
MassachusettsMABoston7,029,917
New HampshireNHConcord1,377,529
New JerseyNJTrenton9,288,994
New YorkNYAlbany20,201,249
North CarolinaNCRaleigh10,439,388
OhioOHColumbus11,799,448
PennsylvaniaPAHarrisburg13,002,700
Rhode IslandRIProvidence1,097,379
South CarolinaSCColumbia5,118,425
VermontVTMontpelier643,077
VirginiaVARichmond8,631,393
West VirginiaWVCharleston1,793,716

States split between Eastern and Central

Five states straddle the boundary. In every case the larger share of population is on the Eastern side, except Tennessee, where Nashville and Memphis are both Central and only the eastern third of the state is Eastern.

StatePart in this zoneRest of the state
FloridaAll of the peninsula and the eastern Panhandle east of the Apalachicola River, including TallahasseeWestern Panhandle (Pensacola, Panama City) is Central
Indiana80 of 92 counties, including Indianapolis, Fort Wayne and South Bend12 counties near Chicago (Gary) and Evansville are Central
KentuckyEastern and central counties, including Louisville, Lexington and FrankfortWestern half (Bowling Green, Paducah) is Central
MichiganWhole Lower Peninsula and most of the Upper PeninsulaFour Upper Peninsula counties on the Wisconsin border are Central
TennesseeEast Tennessee: Knoxville, Chattanooga, the Tri-CitiesMiddle and West Tennessee (Nashville, Memphis) are Central

Major cities on Eastern time

CityPopulation (2020)
New York, NY8,804,190
Philadelphia, PA1,603,797
Jacksonville, FL949,611
Columbus, OH905,748
Charlotte, NC874,579
Indianapolis, IN887,642
Washington, DC689,545
Boston, MA675,647
Detroit, MI639,111
Louisville, KY633,045

Miami, Atlanta, Baltimore, Pittsburgh, Cleveland and Raleigh are also Eastern. Of the 20 largest US cities, seven are in this zone.

Where the western boundary runs

From north to south: the boundary leaves Lake Superior and cuts across Michigan's Upper Peninsula, putting the four counties along the Wisconsin line (Gogebic, Iron, Dickinson, Menominee) on Central time. It then follows the Indiana–Illinois state line except for the north-west corner around Gary and the south-west corner around Evansville, which are Central. In Kentucky it winds through the middle of the state west of Louisville and Lexington. In Tennessee it runs roughly north–south along the Cumberland Plateau, with Chattanooga and Knoxville east of it and Nashville west. Georgia and Alabama are cleanly split by their state line. In Florida the boundary follows the Apalachicola River across the Panhandle, so Tallahassee is Eastern while Panama City, 100 miles west, is Central.

Converting from Eastern

Other zones

Central · Mountain · Pacific · Alaska · Hawaii-Aleutian · all zones

Region maps for the same area: Northeast, South Atlantic, Great Lakes. Printable version: time zones map for printing.