Current time in Los Angeles

How to interpret a city's local time

Los Angeles follows US Pacific Time: PST (UTC−8) in winter and PDT (UTC−7) in daylight-saving months. Under current US rules, clocks change on the second Sunday in March and the first Sunday in November. The America/Los_Angeles zone is different from Phoenix, Arizona, which generally stays on standard time without seasonal clock changes.

Civil time cannot always be calculated by adding a fixed number of hours to UTC. Individual authorities set standard time, possible daylight-saving rules and transition dates. The IANA time-zone database documents these decisions for representative regions. Web browsers use the data to convert a single UTC instant to the applicable local clock time.

Two cities may have matching clocks today yet follow different rules later in the year. That is why this page names the geographical IANA zone, not just today's UTC offset. The calendar date matters as well: on opposite sides of the International Date Line it can differ from the date observed in Switzerland.

Compare with Switzerland accurately

Los Angeles is three hours behind New York because the two cities observe matching US transition dates. The difference between Los Angeles and Geneva can temporarily change because the United States and Switzerland do not move their clocks on the same Sundays. Scheduling between the Pacific coast and Europe calls for an explicit date and time-zone identifier.

Switzerland uses Central European Time (CET, UTC+1) in winter and Central European Summer Time (CEST, UTC+2) during its daylight-saving period. Its official time scale, UTC(CH), is realised and disseminated by METAS. The difference between Switzerland and Los Angeles may vary when one region changes clocks before another, or does not change them at all.

For international appointments, specify the full date, city and IANA time-zone identifier. During an autumn clock change, the same local hour can occur twice. Recording the underlying UTC instant removes that ambiguity for software and time-sensitive communications.

Daylight saving and local rules

Current US rules start daylight saving on the second Sunday of March and end it on the first Sunday of November. Because those dates differ from Europe's, the usual time gap can temporarily change during the transition weeks.

Frequently asked questions

What time is it in Los Angeles right now?

The clock at the top displays civil time in Los Angeles according to your browser's time-zone data for America/Los_Angeles. To check how your browser is calibrated against the time server, visit the Accuracy page.

Does Los Angeles change its clocks during the year?

Current US rules start daylight saving on the second Sunday of March and end it on the first Sunday of November. Because those dates differ from Europe's, the usual time gap can temporarily change during the transition weeks.

Why show America/Los_Angeles rather than a fixed UTC offset?

A numerical offset describes a specific moment; the zone identifier America/Los_Angeles describes rules that may produce another offset on a future date. Government decisions can change these rules, so time-zone data must be kept current.