Eastern Time cities
Live clocks and sun times for all 11 cities on this site.
Live · ET · Pennsylvania
Time in Philadelphia
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Philadelphia is on Eastern Time – UTC−5 (EST) in winter, UTC−4 (EDT) in summer – and it is the big city closest to the meridian that defines that time: noon on its clocks is, on average, noon by the sun.
- Now in effect
- EST or EDT
- Next change
- Second Sunday in March
- Longitude
- 75.16°W · 39 s from 75°W
- Airport
- PHL
Why is Philadelphia almost exactly on Eastern Standard Time?
Eastern Standard Time is defined as UTC−5, five hours behind Greenwich. The Earth turns 15 degrees an hour, so five hours corresponds to 75 degrees: EST is the average solar time of the 75th meridian west. Philadelphia's City Hall stands at about 75.16°W, only a sixth of a degree west of that line. At four minutes of time per degree of longitude, the city's local mean time is just 39 seconds behind the clock. The meridian itself runs through Camden County, New Jersey, roughly nine miles east of City Hall.
That made the 1883 switch to railroad standard time almost a non-event here. By longitude alone, Philadelphia's local mean time was about 40 seconds behind the new Eastern time, while New York's was nearly four minutes ahead and Boston's almost sixteen. Most cities on Eastern Time live with a permanent offset between clock and sun – sixteen minutes early in Boston, more than half an hour late in Atlanta – but Philadelphia has essentially none. The Eastern Time cities comparison shows the full spread, and the EST explainer covers how the offset was chosen.
When is solar noon exactly 12:00 in Philadelphia?
Only on a handful of days, because the real sun does not keep average time. Earth's orbit is an ellipse and its axis is tilted, so the moment the sun crosses the meridian drifts through the year – the equation of time. In Philadelphia, solar noon falls as early as 11:44 AM EST around November 3 and as late as 12:15 PM EST around February 11.
The curve crosses 12:00 EST four times a year: around April 18, June 10, September 3 and December 23–24. Three of those crossings fall in daylight saving time, when the clock reads 1:00 PM EDT at the sun's highest point. The only day the clock and the sun both say exactly noon is just before Christmas – in 2026, solar noon moves from about 11:59:50 AM on December 23 to about 12:00:20 PM on December 24. Sundials in the city agree with watches on that day and are up to a quarter of an hour off in February and November.
How does daylight saving time change Philadelphia's sunrise and sunset?
- Sunrise today
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- Solar noon
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- Sunset today
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- Daylight
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Because the clock and the sun line up so well on standard time, Philadelphia is a clean test of what daylight saving time does. From mid-March to early November every event moves one hour later on the clock. At the June solstice the sun rises at 5:32 AM EDT, peaks at 1:02 PM EDT and sets at 8:33 PM EDT – a day centered on one o'clock, not noon.
In winter the shortest days run from about 7:19 AM to 4:39 PM EST, with the earliest sunset, about 4:35 PM, around December 7 and the latest sunrise, about 7:23 AM, around January 4. The latest sunrise on the clock all year comes at the end of daylight time: 7:35 AM EDT on November 6, 2027, followed by 6:36 AM EST the next morning. Year-round daylight time would put January sunrises at about 8:23 AM. The live values above come from a standard approximation and may differ from almanac tables by a minute or so.
| Date | Solar noon | Sunrise | Sunset |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nov 3, 2026 | 11:44 AM | 6:32 AM | 4:56 PM |
| Dec 7, 2026 | 11:52 AM | 7:09 AM | 4:35 PM |
| Dec 21, 2026 | 11:59 AM | 7:19 AM | 4:39 PM |
| Dec 24, 2026 | 12:00 PM | 7:20 AM | 4:40 PM |
| Jan 4, 2027 | 12:06 PM | 7:23 AM | 4:49 PM |
| Feb 11, 2027 | 12:15 PM | 6:59 AM | 5:32 PM |
| Jun 21, 2027 (EDT) | 1:02 PM | 5:32 AM | 8:33 PM |
| Nov 6, 2027 (EDT) | 12:44 PM | 7:35 AM | 5:53 PM |
What county, airport and nearby cities share Philadelphia's clock?
Philadelphia is its own county. The Act of Consolidation of 1854 merged the city with every township, borough and district in Philadelphia County, and the two have had the same boundaries ever since. PHL, Philadelphia International Airport, straddles the city line in the southwest: the western end of the airfield and the international terminal lie in Tinicum Township, Delaware County.
The cities around it are all on Eastern Time, across three states. Camden, New Jersey, is three miles away across the Delaware River, between City Hall and the 75°W line. Wilmington, Delaware, is 25 miles south-west and Trenton, New Jersey's capital, 28 miles north-east. New York City, 80 miles up the corridor, lies a degree further east, so its sun reaches its high point about five minutes before Philadelphia's.
- Eastern Time cities
- 75°W, the meridian of EST
Frequently asked questions
Is Philadelphia on the same time as New York?
Yes. Philadelphia and New York are both on Eastern Time and change clocks at the same moment, so there is never a difference between them.
Does all of Pennsylvania use Eastern Time?
Yes. The whole state, from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh and Erie, is on Eastern Time and observes daylight saving time. See all states on Eastern Time.
What time is it in Philadelphia when it is 9:00 AM in Los Angeles?
12:00 PM. Philadelphia is always 3 hours ahead of Los Angeles because both change clocks on the same dates. See EST to PST.
Is Philadelphia on UTC−5 all year?
No. Philadelphia is on UTC−5 (EST) from early November to mid-March and on UTC−4 (EDT) for the rest of the year. The UTC offset guide explains both.
Is New Jersey on the same time as Philadelphia?
Yes. All of New Jersey, including Camden and Trenton just across the Delaware River, is on Eastern Time, as is Delaware.
Explore
Washington, DC
The Naval Observatory master clock and the law behind DST.
New York City
The 1883 switch, the ball drop and the zone's database name.
Eastern Standard Time
What UTC−5 means and when it applies.