Time Zones in California, United States

Time Zone Currently Being Used in California

Offset	Time Zone Abbreviation & Name		Example City	Current Time
UTC -8	PST	Pacific Standard Time	Los Angeles	Thu, 6:47:39 pm

California Is in the Pacific Time Zone

California uses Pacific Standard Time (PST) during standard time and Pacific Daylight Time (PDT) during Daylight Saving Time (DST).

California shares its time zone and DST schedule with bordering states Oregon and Nevada. Meanwhile, most of Arizona, which also shares a border with California, is on Mountain Standard Time (MST) all year.

West Coast Time

“West Coast Time” is often used for Pacific Time (PT) time zone since it covers the entire western coastline, from Washington state in the north to California in the south.

California also shares its time zone and southern border with Baja California in Mexico.

Pacific Time in California

Time Zone Abbreviation & Name		Offset	Current Time
PT	Pacific Time	UTC -8:00 / -7:00	Thu, 6:47:39 pm

Note: Local time in these time zones changes when Daylight Saving Time begins and ends.

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Time Zone Not Currently Being Observed in California

Offset	Time Zone Abbreviation & Name		Commences
UTC -7	PDT	Pacific Daylight Time	Mar 8, 2026

The above time zone is used during other parts of the year. It will become active again after the next clock change as Daylight Saving Time begins or ends.

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