Eastern Time cities
Live clocks and sun times for all 11 cities on this site.
Live · ET · Massachusetts
Time in Boston
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Boston keeps Eastern Time – UTC−5 (EST) in winter, UTC−4 (EDT) in summer – from near the eastern edge of the zone, so its sun rises and sets earlier by the clock than in almost any other big US city.
- Now in effect
- EST or EDT
- Next change
- Second Sunday in March
- Airport
- BOS · Logan
- Earliest sunset
- ≈ 4:11 PM EST
Why does the sun set so early in Boston?
Eastern Standard Time is the mean solar time of the 75th meridian west. Downtown Boston lies at about 71.06°W, four degrees east of that line, and since the Earth turns one degree every four minutes, the sun over Boston runs about 16 minutes ahead of the clock. On the December solstice it peaks at 11:42 AM EST, not noon.
Latitude adds to the effect. At 42.36°N, Boston gets just 9 hours 5 minutes of daylight on December 21, so a sky that is early and short ends at 4:15 PM. The very earliest sunset, about 4:11 PM, comes around December 8 rather than on the solstice: the equation of time is pushing solar noon later by about half a minute a day in December, which delays sunsets while sunrises keep getting later into early January. The latest sunrise, about 7:14 AM, falls around January 3.
Compare the chart: the same clock reading means dusk in Boston and late afternoon in Atlanta, which lies about 13 degrees further west and nearly 9 degrees further south. For the live zone clock see current Eastern Time; the Eastern Time cities page lines up all eleven cities on this site.
Should Massachusetts move to Atlantic Time?
Boston's 4 PM sunsets prompted a serious study. In 2017 the Special Commission on the Commonwealth's Time Zone, chaired by state Senator Eileen Donoghue, examined moving Massachusetts to Atlantic Standard Time (UTC−4) and then opting out of daylight saving time. That combination is the same as staying on EDT all year, and it works around a federal rule: states may drop daylight saving time, but they cannot adopt it permanently without Congress. Changing zones instead needs approval from the US Department of Transportation.
The commission accepted its final report by a 9–1 vote in November 2017. It found that the change could bring benefits, from more evening light for shoppers to energy savings and fewer evening traffic crashes, but it set two conditions. Massachusetts should move only if a majority of other Northeast states, possibly including New York, did the same, and any switch should come with later school start times so children were not waiting for buses in the dark. The lone dissenter argued it was a non-starter without New York. No neighboring state followed, no law was passed, and Boston still changes between EST and EDT.
| Measure | Current clock (EST) | Year-round Atlantic Time |
|---|---|---|
| Earliest sunset (around Dec 8) | 4:11 PM | 5:11 PM |
| Solstice sunrise / sunset (Dec 21) | 7:10 AM / 4:15 PM | 8:10 AM / 5:15 PM |
| Latest sunrise (around Jan 3) | 7:14 AM | 8:14 AM |
| Summer (Jun 21, 2027) | 5:07 AM / 8:25 PM EDT | unchanged |
How does daylight saving time shift Boston's daylight?
- Sunrise today
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- Solar noon
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- Sunset today
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- Daylight
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Daylight saving time is what keeps Boston's summer mornings civilized. At the June solstice the sun rises at 5:07 AM EDT and sets at 8:25 PM EDT, a 15-hour-18-minute day; solar noon falls at 12:46 PM EDT. Without the extra hour, those summer sunrises would come shortly after 4:00 AM.
The cost shows up at the edges of the DST season. The latest sunrise on Boston's clocks all year is 7:24 AM EDT on November 6, 2027, the last morning of daylight time; on November 7 sunrise jumps back to 6:25 AM EST and sunset falls from 5:32 PM to 4:30 PM in a single night. In spring the jump runs the other way: on March 14, 2027 sunrise moves from 6:00 AM to 6:58 AM. The full calendar of changes is on the daylight saving time page, and the EST vs EDT guide explains which label applies when. Live figures above use a standard approximation and may differ from almanac values by a minute or so.
| Date | Sunrise | Sunset |
|---|---|---|
| Dec 8, 2026 (earliest sunset) | 7:01 AM EST | 4:11 PM EST |
| Dec 21, 2026 (9 h 05 m) | 7:10 AM EST | 4:15 PM EST |
| Jan 3, 2027 (latest EST sunrise) | 7:14 AM EST | 4:24 PM EST |
| Mar 13 → 14, 2027 (spring forward) | 6:00 → 6:58 AM | 5:48 → 6:49 PM |
| Jun 21, 2027 (15 h 18 m) | 5:07 AM EDT | 8:25 PM EDT |
| Nov 6 → 7, 2027 (fall back) | 7:24 → 6:25 AM | 5:32 → 4:30 PM |
What county and airport is Boston in?
Boston lies in Suffolk County, which it shares with Chelsea, Revere and Winthrop. Its airport, BOS – General Edward Lawrence Logan International, run by the Massachusetts Port Authority – sits across the harbor in East Boston, with part of the airfield in neighboring Winthrop.
Every nearby city shares Boston's clock, and every one sees the same early dusk. Worcester (39 miles west) and Providence, Rhode Island (41 miles south-west), set a few minutes later, around 4:15 PM in early December. Portland, Maine (98 miles north-east), sets earlier still, at about 4:04 PM. The nearest Atlantic Time clocks are beyond Maine in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, an hour ahead. Heading south, New York and Washington get noticeably longer afternoons on the same clock.
- Boston and nearby cities, all on Eastern Time
Frequently asked questions
Is Boston on the same time as New York?
Yes. Boston and New York are both on Eastern Time and change clocks together, so they always show the same time, even though the sun sets about 17 minutes earlier in Boston in December.
What is the time difference between Boston and Halifax?
Halifax, Nova Scotia, is on Atlantic Time, one hour ahead of Boston. Both switch for daylight saving time on the same Sundays, so the gap stays one hour all year.
Does all of New England use Eastern Time?
Yes. Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut are all entirely on Eastern Time and all observe daylight saving time. See every state on Eastern Time.
Could Massachusetts stay on standard time all year?
Yes. Federal law lets a state opt out of daylight saving time without asking Congress. Boston would then see June sunrises at about 4:07 AM and no sunset later than about 7:25 PM.
What time is it in Boston when it is noon in London?
Usually 7:00 AM, because Boston is 5 hours behind London. For a few weeks in March and around late October and early November, when only one side has changed clocks, it is 8:00 AM. See EST to GMT.
Explore
New York City
The city that gives the whole zone its database name.
Atlanta
Boston's opposite: far west, with sunrises near 7:45 AM.
Time zone boundaries
Who draws the lines, and why they rarely follow meridians.