Time in Kingston
The current local time and date in Kingston, its time zone, and a converter to your own time.
Detecting your time zone to suggest the best hour to call…
Kingston stays on Jamaica Standard Time (UTC-5) all year with no daylight saving, so for half the year it matches New York's winter clock but falls an hour behind once the US springs forward.
Kingston stays on UTC-5 all year and does not change its clocks for daylight saving time.
Compare to your time zone
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Compare Kingston with another city
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See also: Population of Jamaica
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FAQ
What time is it in Kingston right now?
Kingston is on UTC-5 all year round, which is 5 hours behind UTC. So when it is 12:00 UTC, the local time in Kingston is 07:00. The live clock at the top of this page applies that offset to the current moment and refreshes every second.
What time zone is Kingston in?
Kingston uses the America/Jamaica time zone, shown as EST. Kingston stays on UTC-5 all year and does not change its clocks for daylight saving time. The "compare to your time zone" section above converts any Kingston time into your own local time instantly.
Does Kingston observe daylight saving time?
No — Kingston does not observe daylight saving time. Its clocks stay on UTC-5 every day of the year, so its offset from UTC never moves. The difference between Kingston and another city therefore changes only when that other city starts or ends its own daylight saving period. If you are scheduling across the seasons, treat Kingston as the fixed end of the pair and check the other city's dates instead.
How do I convert Kingston time to my time zone?
Convert Kingston time by taking its UTC-5 offset and applying the difference to your own: subtract Kingston's offset from UTC to get the UTC time, then add your own offset. For example, 09:00 in Kingston 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 Kingston?
The dialing code for Kingston is +1-876. To call from abroad, dial +1-876 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 Kingston?
Standard business hours in Kingston — 9:00 to 17:00 local time — correspond to 14:00 to 22:00 UTC. 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