Time in Boston
The current local time and date in Boston, its time zone, and a converter to your own time.
Detecting your time zone to suggest the best hour to call…
Boston runs on US Eastern Time, the same zone as New York, switching between EST (UTC-5) and EDT (UTC-4) for daylight saving.
Boston uses UTC-5 in winter (standard time) and shifts to UTC-4 in summer when daylight saving time is active.
Compare to your time zone
Detecting your time zone…
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Compare Boston with another city
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See also: Population of United States
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FAQ
What time is it in Boston right now?
Boston is on UTC-5 in winter and UTC-4 during daylight saving time in summer, which is 5 hours behind UTC. So when it is 12:00 UTC, the local time in Boston is 07:00 in winter and 08:00 in summer. The live clock at the top of this page applies that offset to the current moment and refreshes every second.
What time zone is Boston in?
Boston uses the America/New_York time zone, shown as EDT. Boston uses UTC-5 in winter (standard time) and shifts to UTC-4 in summer when daylight saving time is active. The "compare to your time zone" section above converts any Boston time into your own local time instantly.
Does Boston observe daylight saving time?
Yes — Boston does observe daylight saving time. Clocks move forward one hour in summer, taking Boston from UTC-5 to UTC-4, and back again for winter. That means the difference between Boston and any place holding a fixed offset changes by an hour for part of the year. This page reads the current offset from the America/New_York zone data every time it loads, so the clock, the converter and the call window above are correct for today's date without you tracking the changeover.
How do I convert Boston time to my time zone?
Convert Boston time by taking its UTC-5 offset and applying the difference to your own: subtract Boston's offset from UTC to get the UTC time, then add your own offset. For example, 09:00 in Boston is 14:00 UTC. The converter above does this automatically after detecting your device's time zone, and the World Clock meeting planner lays several cities out on one colour-coded 24-hour grid.
What is the dialing code for Boston?
The dialing code for Boston is +1. To call from abroad, dial +1 before the local number. The card at the top of this page shows it alongside the live local time so you can check it is a reasonable hour before you call.
What are the best hours to call Boston?
Standard business hours in Boston — 9:00 to 17:00 local time — correspond to 14:00 to 22:00 UTC while standard time is in effect, shifting one hour earlier in UTC terms during daylight saving. Convert that UTC window into your own zone to find the overlap. The "best time to call" line above does this for you, using waking hours of roughly 8am–9pm on both ends so neither side is called at night.
Learn how time zones work
UTC & GMT explained · Daylight saving explained · How to convert a time between two cities