View source for Eastern Time Zone

{{Short description|Time zone in North America}}
{{About|time zone in the Americas|the time zone in Australia|Time in Australia{{!}}Australian Eastern Time}}
{{redirect|New York Time|the newspaper|The New York Times}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2023}}

{{Infobox time zone
| title = Eastern Time Zone
| image = timezoneswest.PNG
| caption = {{legend|#ffb69f|Eastern Time Zone}}
| offset = −05:00
| dst offset = −04:00
| initials = EST
| dst initials = EDT
| dst use = parts
}}

The '''Eastern Time Zone''' is a [[time zone]] encompassing part or all of 23 [[U.S. states|states]] in the eastern part of the [[United States]], parts of eastern [[Canada]], and the state of [[Quintana Roo]] in [[Mexico]].

{{Anchor|EST|Eastern Standard Time}}
{{Anchor|EDT|Eastern Daylight Time}}
* '''Eastern Standard Time''' ('''EST''') is five hours behind [[Coordinated Universal Time]]  ([[UTC−05:00]]) and is observed during late autumn/winter in the United States and Canada.
* '''Eastern Daylight Time''' ('''EDT''') is four hours behind Coordinated Universal Time ([[UTC−04:00]]) and is observed during spring/summer/early autumn in the United States and Canada.
On the second Sunday in March, at 2:00&nbsp;a.m. EST, clocks are advanced to 3:00&nbsp;a.m. EDT, creating a 23-hour day. On the first Sunday in November, at 2:00&nbsp;a.m. EDT, clocks are moved back to 1:00&nbsp;a.m. EST, which results in a 25-hour day.

==History==
The boundaries of the Eastern Time Zone have moved westward since the [[Interstate Commerce Commission]] (ICC) took over time-zone management from railroads in 1938. The easternmost and northernmost counties in [[Kentucky]] were added to the zone in the 1940s, and in 1961 most of the state went Eastern. In 2000, [[Wayne County, Kentucky|Wayne County]], on the [[Tennessee]] border, switched from Central to Eastern Time.<ref>{{cite web |title=Why Louisville? |url=http://loumag.epubxp.com/i/532701-jul-2015/30?m4= |website=Louisville magazine |access-date=February 10, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180720051713/https://loumag.epubxp.com/i/532701-jul-2015/30?m4= |archive-date=July 20, 2018 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Within the United States, the Eastern Time Zone is the most populous region, with nearly half of the country's population.

In March 2019, the [[Florida Legislature]] passed a bill requesting authorization from [[United States Congress|Congress]] for year-round daylight saving time, which would effectively put [[Florida]] on Eastern Daylight Time year-round (except for west of the [[Apalachicola River]], which would be on Central Daylight Time year-round).<ref>{{cite news |last1=Klas |first1=Mary Ellen |title=Legislature approves year-round daylight saving time—but it's not a done deal yet |url=http://www.miamiherald.com/news/state/florida/article203781769.html |access-date=March 30, 2018 |work=[[Miami Herald]] |date=March 6, 2018}}</ref> A similar bill was proposed for the [[Provinces and territories of Canada|Canadian province]] of [[Ontario]] by [[Legislative Assembly of Ontario|its legislative assembly]] in late 2020, which would have a similar effect on the province if passed.<ref>{{cite news|title=Ontario MPP puts forward bill to make Daylight Saving Time standard time|last1=Patton|first1=Jessica|date=October 7, 2020|url=https://globalnews.ca/news/7384245/ontario-mpp-bill-end-daylight-saving-time/|access-date=October 9, 2020|work=[[Global News]]}}</ref>

==Daylight saving time==
For those in the United States, daylight saving time for the Eastern Time Zone was introduced by the [[Uniform Time Act]] of 1966, which specified that daylight saving time would run from the last Sunday of April until the last Sunday in October.<ref name="edt">{{cite web |last=Prerau |first=David |title=Early adoption and U.S. Law |work=Daylight Saving Time |publisher=Web Exhibit |year=2006 |url=http://webexhibits.org/daylightsaving/e.html |access-date=April 23, 2007}}</ref> The act was amended to make the first Sunday in April the beginning of daylight saving time beginning in 1987.<ref name="edt" />

Later, the [[Energy Policy Act of 2005]] extended daylight saving time in the United States, beginning in 2007. Since then, local times change at 2:00&nbsp;a.m. EST to 3:00&nbsp;a.m. EDT on the second Sunday in March, and return from 2:00&nbsp;a.m. EDT to 1:00&nbsp;a.m. EST on the first Sunday in November.<ref name="edt" />

In Canada, daylight saving time begins and ends on the same days and at the same times as it does in the United States.<ref name="statoidus">{{cite web |last=Law |first=Gwillim |title=United States Time Zones |date=September 21, 2007 |url=http://www.statoids.com/tus.html}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Daylight Saving Time Starts Sunday |publisher=Government of Ontario |date=March 7, 2008 |url=https://news.ontario.ca/archive/en/2008/03/08/R-E-P-E-A-T-Daylight-Saving-Time-Starts-Sunday.html |access-date=September 21, 2010}}</ref>

==Canada==
{{main|Time in Canada}}

In [[Canada]], the following [[Provinces and territories of Canada|provinces and territories]] are part of the Eastern Time Zone:<ref name="nrc.canada.ca">{{cite web |title=Time zones and daylight saving time |url=https://nrc.canada.ca/en/certifications-evaluations-standards/canadas-official-time/time-zones-daylight-saving-time |website=nrc.canada.ca |publisher=National Research Council Canada |access-date=2025-01-24|date=2022-10-25}}</ref> Within Canada, as with the United States, the Eastern Time Zone is the most populous time zone.
* Most of [[Ontario]]
* Most of [[Quebec]]
* Most of [[Nunavut]]

Most of Canada observes daylight saving time synchronously with the United States, with the exception of [[Time in Saskatchewan|Saskatchewan]], [[Yukon]],<ref>{{Cite web |date=March 4, 2020 |title=Yukon to end seasonal time change |url=https://yukon.ca/en/news/yukon-end-seasonal-time-change |access-date=May 13, 2022 |website=yukon.ca}}</ref> and several other very localized areas. [[Southampton Island]] in Nunavut uses Eastern Standard Time throughout the year.<ref name="nrc.canada.ca"/>

==United States==
{{main|Time in the United States}}
The boundary between time zones is set forth in [[Title 49 of the Code of Federal Regulations|Title 49]] of the [[Code of Federal Regulations]] with the boundary between the Eastern and [[Central Time Zone]]s being specifically detailed in Part 71.<ref>The specification for the Eastern Time Zone is set forth at 49 C.F.R. § 71.4, and is listed in [http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/cfr_2006/octqtr/49cfr71.4.htm text] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120113063513/http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/cfr_2006/octqtr/49cfr71.4.htm |date=January 13, 2012 }} and [http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/cfr_2006/octqtr/pdf/49cfr71.4.pdf PDF] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120114183908/http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/cfr_2006/octqtr/pdf/49cfr71.4.pdf |date=January 14, 2012 }} formats. The boundary between Eastern and Central is set forth at 49 C.F.R. § 71.5, and is listed in [http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/cfr_2006/octqtr/49cfr71.5.htm text] and [http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/cfr_2006/octqtr/pdf/49cfr71.5.pdf PDF]  formats.</ref>

[[Washington, D.C.]] and 17 states are located entirely within the Eastern Time Zone. They are:

{{div col|colwidth=12em}}
* [[Connecticut]]
* [[Delaware]]
* [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]]
* [[Maine]]
* [[Maryland]]
* [[Massachusetts]]
* [[New Hampshire]]
* [[New Jersey]]
* [[New York (state)|New York]]
* [[North Carolina]]
* [[Ohio]]
* [[Pennsylvania]]
* [[Rhode Island]]
* [[South Carolina]]
* [[Vermont]]
* [[Virginia]]
* [[West Virginia]]
{{div col end}}

Five states are divided between the Eastern Time Zone and the [[Central Time Zone]]. The following locations observe Eastern Time:

* [[Florida]]: The majority of the state, except the western half of the [[Florida panhandle|panhandle]]. The eastern half of the panhandle, including [[Big Bend (Florida)|Big Bend]] regions east of the [[Apalachicola River]] and portions of [[Gulf County, Florida|Gulf County]] south of the [[Intracoastal Waterway]] observe Eastern Time.
* [[Indiana]]: The majority of the state, except [[Northwest Indiana]] and the [[Evansville metropolitan area]]. 
* [[Kentucky]]: The eastern half of the state, including its three largest metropolitan areas: [[Louisville, Kentucky|Louisville]], [[Lexington, Kentucky|Lexington]], and [[Cincinnati metropolitan area|Northern Kentucky]]
* [[Michigan]]: The entire state except for the four [[Upper Peninsula of Michigan|Upper Peninsula]] counties that border [[Wisconsin]]: [[Gogebic County, Michigan|Gogebic]], [[Iron County, Michigan|Iron]], [[Dickinson County, Michigan|Dickinson]], and [[Menominee County, Michigan|Menominee]]
* [[Tennessee]]: All of [[East Tennessee]] including the major cities of [[Chattanooga, Tennessee|Chattanooga]], [[Knoxville, Tennessee|Knoxville]] and the [[Tri-Cities, Tennessee|Tri-Cities]] region, with the exception of [[Bledsoe County, Tennessee|Bledsoe]], [[Cumberland County, Tennessee|Cumberland]], and [[Marion County, Tennessee|Marion]] counties<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://legacy.decaturdaily.com/decaturdaily/news/060813/zones.shtml|title=Parts of Eastern Alabama split between 2 time zones |first1=Brian |last1=McDearman |date=August 13, 2006 |agency=AP |website=Decatur Daily |access-date=March 22, 2009|archive-date=March 10, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160310233009/http://legacy.decaturdaily.com/decaturdaily/news/060813/zones.shtml|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Additionally, [[Phenix City, Alabama]], and several nearby communities in [[Russell County, Alabama]], unofficially observe Eastern Time.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Emily|title=Our Community|url=https://phenixcityal.us/our-community/|access-date=January 10, 2022|website=Phenix City, Alabama|language=en-US}}</ref> This is due to their close proximity to [[Columbus, Georgia]], which is on Eastern Time.  In addition [[Smiths Station, Alabama|Smiths Station]] in [[Lee County, Alabama|Lee County]] along with [[Valley, Alabama|Valley]] and [[Lanett, Alabama|Lanett]] in [[Chambers County, Alabama|Chambers County]] observe Eastern Time.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.al.com/living/2017/02/do_you_know_which_alabama_town.html | title=Do you know which Alabama towns are in a different time zone? | date=February 6, 2017 }}</ref>

==Mexico==
{{main|Time in Mexico}}
* [[Quintana Roo]]: This is the only Mexican state to observe EST. It moved from Central Time to Eastern Time after a successful lobbying effort by tourism interests.<ref>{{cite web |title=On Mexican Time: Changing Time Zones To Accommodate Tourism |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/larryolmsted/2015/01/29/on-mexican-time-changing-time-zones-to-accommodate-tourism/ |work=[[Forbes]] |access-date=January 29, 2015}}</ref> Quintana Roo does not observe daylight saving time.

==Caribbean islands==
The [[Bahamas]] and [[Haiti]] officially observe both Eastern Standard Time during the winter months and Eastern Daylight Time during the summer months. Cuba generally follows the U.S. with Eastern Standard Time in the winter, and Eastern Daylight Time in the summer, but the exact day of change varies year to year. The [[Cayman Islands]] and [[Jamaica]] use Eastern Standard Time year-round.{{Citation needed|date=June 2023}}

===Turks and Caicos Islands===
The [[Turks and Caicos]] Islands followed Eastern Time with daylight saving until 2015, when the territory switched to the [[Atlantic Time Zone]]. The Turks and Caicos Islands switched back to the pre-2015 schedule in March 2018.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.timeanddate.com/news/time/turks-caicos-dst.html |title=DST Dates Confirmed |publisher=Timeanddate.com |date=July 25, 2017 |access-date=January 10, 2019}}</ref> A 2017 consultation paper highlighted the advantage for business and tourism of being in the same time zone as the [[eastern United States]] as an important factor in the decision.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.gov.tc/images/Consultation_Paper_on_Daylight_Savings_Time.pdf |title=Consultation paper Daylight Saving |pages=6–7 |date=April 2017 |access-date=January 10, 2019 |archive-date=January 10, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190110234816/https://www.gov.tc/images/Consultation_Paper_on_Daylight_Savings_Time.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==Notable locations using Eastern Time==
*[[Atlanta]], Georgia, United States
*[[Baltimore]], Maryland, United States
*[[Boston]], Massachusetts, United States
*[[Buffalo, New York]], United States
*[[Cancun]], Quintana Roo, Mexico
*[[Charleston, South Carolina]], United States
*[[Charleston, West Virginia]], United States
*[[Charlotte, North Carolina]], United States
*[[Cincinnati]], Ohio, United States
*[[Cleveland]], Ohio, United States
*[[Columbus, Ohio]], United States
*[[Detroit]], Michigan, United States
*[[Grand Rapids]], Michigan, United States
*[[Hartford]], Connecticut, United States
*[[Indianapolis]], Indiana, United States
*[[Iqaluit]], Nunavut, Canada
*[[Jacksonville]], Florida, United States
*[[Knoxville]], Tennessee, United States
*[[Louisville]], Kentucky, United States
*[[Miami]], Florida, United States
*[[Montreal]], Quebec, Canada
*[[New York City]], New York, United States
*[[Orlando, Florida]], United States
*[[Ottawa]], Ontario, Canada
*[[Philadelphia]], Pennsylvania, United States
*[[Pittsburgh]], Pennsylvania, United States
*[[Portland, Maine]], United States
*[[Providence, Rhode Island]], United States
*[[Providenciales]], Turks and Caicos Islands
*[[Quebec City]], Quebec, Canada
*[[Raleigh]], North Carolina, United States
*[[Richmond, Virginia]], United States
*[[Tampa]], Florida, United States
*[[Thunder Bay]], Ontario, Canada
*[[Toronto]], Ontario, Canada
*[[Washington, D.C.]], United States

==See also==
* [[Effects of time zones on North American broadcasting]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* [https://time.gov/ Official U.S. time, including for the Eastern Time Zone]
* [http://OnTimeZone.com/ North American Time Zone border data and images]
* [http://www.travel.com.hk/region/timezone.htm World time zone map] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151224150321/http://www.travel.com.hk/region/timezone.htm |date=December 24, 2015 }}
* [http://geography.about.com/library/misc/ntimezones.htm U.S. time zone map] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090215175709/http://geography.about.com/library/misc/ntimezones.htm |date=February 15, 2009 }}
* [http://aa.usno.navy.mil/faq/docs/us_tzones.php History of U.S. time zones and UTC conversion] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110808232828/http://aa.usno.navy.mil/faq/docs/us_tzones.php |date=August 8, 2011 }}
* [http://www.worldtimezone.com/time-canada12.html Canada time zone map]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20100528120718/http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_06/49cfr71_06.html Federal Regulations defining time zones] (archived May 28, 2010)

{{North American time zones}}

[[Category:Time in Canada]]
[[Category:Time in Mexico]]
[[Category:Time zones]]
[[Category:Time zones in the United States]]