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PST to EST converter

New York is 3 hours ahead of Los Angeles all year. Both coasts change their clocks on the same night, so the gap stays put. What it changes is how early a West Coast day has to start.

From
Los Angeles
To
New York
Live
Los AngelesPST
9:00 AM
 
Working hours
New YorkEST
12:00 PM
 
Working hours

New York is 3 hours ahead of Los Angeles.

Need a time that works for three or more people or cities? Plan a meeting →
Gap
3 hours
New York ahead of Los Angeles
Stock market opens
6:30 AM PT
9:30 AM in New York; it closes at 1:00 PM PT
5 PM Eastern deadline
2:00 PM PT
Plan “end of day ET” as early afternoon
Clock changes
Same night
Second Sunday of March, first Sunday of November

Living on Pacific Time in an Eastern Time country

A lot of the US runs on the East Coast clock: markets, national TV schedules, federal deadlines, head offices. On the West Coast that turns into early starts and early finishes.

Working with a New York team

Your 9 AM is their lunchtime, so half their day is already gone when yours starts.

  • Shared working hours: 9 AM–2 PM PT (12:00 PM–5:00 PM ET)
  • A Monday 9 AM ET kickoff is 6:00 AM PT
  • “By end of day” from New York usually means 2:00 PM PT

The upside: you can finish a task after your New York colleagues log off and it is waiting for them at their 9 AM, which is your 6 AM.

Markets open before breakfast

US exchanges keep Eastern hours, so West Coast traders start in the dark for part of the year.

  • NYSE and Nasdaq: 6:30 AM–1:00 PM PT
  • Pre-market earnings calls at 8:30 AM ET: 5:30 AM PT
  • Federal Reserve rate decisions at 2 PM ET: 11:00 AM PT

The closing bell at 1 PM Pacific leaves the whole afternoon for everything else.

TV and live events

Network prime time is re-run on a delay for the West, so a show listed at “8/7c” still airs at 8 PM on your clock. Live events are not delayed.

  • Sunday Night Football at 8:20 PM ET = 5:20 PM PT
  • The Times Square ball drop at midnight ET = 9:00 PM PT on New Year’s Eve
  • An awards show starting at 8 PM ET in New York = 5:00 PM PT

Election nights

The first polls close in the East at 7 PM ET, which is 4:00 PM PT, while West Coast voters are still heading to the polls.

  • California polls close at 8 PM PT = 11:00 PM ET
  • Results from the East Coast are coming in for three hours before California stops voting

Deadlines quoted in Eastern Time

Plenty of US deadlines and release times are set in Eastern Time even when you are the one on the other coast. The rule is simple: take three hours off.

An application due at 11:59 PM ET closes at 8:59 PM PT. Tickets going on sale at 10 AM ET are on sale at 7:00 AM PT, before many people on the West Coast are at their desks. A noon ET product launch is 9:00 AM PT. When a form just says “midnight” without a zone, check the small print, because a West Coast company usually means midnight Pacific, three hours later than the East Coast one.

Why the gap almost never changes

Every US state that observes daylight saving time changes on the same dates: the second Sunday in March and the first Sunday in November, at 2 AM local time. Because both coasts move together, Los Angeles and New York stay 3 hours apart all year.

The one exception is the change night itself. New York switches at 2 AM Eastern, which is 11 PM Saturday in Los Angeles. For the next three hours only New York has changed, so the gap is 4 hours in March and 2 hours in November, until Los Angeles catches up at 2 AM Pacific.

The places that break the pattern are the ones that skip daylight saving altogether. Most of Arizona stays on Mountain Standard Time all year, so in summer it has the same clock time as Los Angeles, and Hawaii stays 2 hours behind Los Angeles in winter and 3 hours behind in summer.

Los Angeles to New York and Chicago, every hour

The gap is the same all year, so one table works in any season. Green rows are the hours when both Los Angeles and New York are inside a 9-to-5 day.

Los Angeles (PT)New YorkEastern, +3 hoursChicagoCentral, +2 hours
12:00 AM (midnight)3:00 AM2:00 AM
1:00 AM4:00 AM3:00 AM
2:00 AM5:00 AM4:00 AM
3:00 AM6:00 AM5:00 AM
4:00 AM7:00 AM6:00 AM
5:00 AM8:00 AM7:00 AM
6:00 AM9:00 AM8:00 AM
7:00 AM10:00 AM9:00 AM
8:00 AM11:00 AM10:00 AM
9:00 AM12:00 PM11:00 AM
10:00 AM1:00 PM12:00 PM
11:00 AM2:00 PM1:00 PM
12:00 PM (noon)3:00 PM2:00 PM
1:00 PM4:00 PM3:00 PM
2:00 PM5:00 PM4:00 PM
3:00 PM6:00 PM5:00 PM
4:00 PM7:00 PM6:00 PM
5:00 PM8:00 PM7:00 PM
6:00 PM9:00 PM8:00 PM
7:00 PM10:00 PM9:00 PM
8:00 PM11:00 PM10:00 PM
9:00 PM12:00 AM next day11:00 PM
10:00 PM1:00 AM next day12:00 AM next day
11:00 PM2:00 AM next day1:00 AM next day

“next day” means New York or Chicago has already moved on to the following date.

Quick answers

What time is 9 AM PST in New York?

12:00 PM in New York. The gap is 3 hours all year, in both standard and daylight time.

Is EST always 3 hours ahead of PST?

Yes, apart from a few hours on the nights the clocks change. New York switches three hours before Los Angeles, so from 11 PM to 2 AM Pacific on those nights the gap is briefly 4 hours (March) or 2 hours (November).

What is 5 PM EST in PST?

2:00 PM PST. A deadline of “5 PM Eastern” is early afternoon on the West Coast.

What time does the stock market open in California?

The NYSE and Nasdaq open at 9:30 AM Eastern, which is 6:30 AM Pacific, and close at 1:00 PM Pacific.

What time is the New Year’s Eve ball drop in California?

The Times Square ball drops at midnight Eastern, which is 9:00 PM on New Year’s Eve in California.

What time do polls close in California in Eastern Time?

California polls close at 8 PM Pacific, which is 11:00 PM Eastern.