Use this free time difference calculator to help calculate the time difference between different areas of the world. To use this calculator, start by selecting whether you want to calculate the difference between world countries or between U.S. states. Two additional boxes will then appear that allow you to specify which countries or which areas within the United States you want to calculate the time difference between. Lastly, click Calculate!
If you’re unfamiliar with another area’s local time zone, it’s always polite and proper etiquette to do the math first and make sure you’re not bothering others at an inappropriate time.
Remembering which U.S. states are in which time zones is often a chore in its own right – not to mention trying to actually learn and remember the large range of different time zones for over 195+ countries around the world! Our calculator has simplified this task and with a few short clicks you can easily calculate the positive or negative time relation between two areas.
For example, let’s say you live in San Diego, California on the west coast and you want to call a friend that lives in New York City, New York on the east coast. If it’s already 9:25pm your time, what time would it be in New York? Simply select California in the first state box and New York in the second state box and the calculated answer is -3 hours. This means you are 3 hours behind New York time which lets you know that your friend’s clock in the Big Apple is reading 12:25am and it might be too late to make that call today.
Alternatively, if you swapped the order of the states and calculated the difference from New York to California, your answer would be 3 hours, without the negative sign, meaning you are currently 3 hours ahead of California. If you’re wondering why some U.S. states are listed multiple times, such as Kentucky (Eastern) and Kentucky (Western), it’s because state boundaries don’t actually form time zone dividers. Several states in the U.S. have multiple time zones running through them!
