Current time in Seattle
Seattle is on Pacific Time: PST, UTC−8, in winter and PDT, UTC−7, from the second Sunday of March to the first Sunday of November. The clock below shows the current local time and season, along with sunrise, sunset and a quick table for calls elsewhere.
- Time zone
- —
- Abbreviation
- —
- UTC offset
- —
- Daylight saving
- —
- Compared with your clock
- —
- IANA time zone:
- America/Los_Angeles
- Country:
- United States
- Coordinates:
- 47.61° N, 122.33° W
- Clock changes in 2026:
- forward on March 8, 2026 · back on November 1, 2026 (UTC−8 / UTC−7)
Pacific Time in Washington State
All of Washington uses Pacific Time and switches with the rest of the West Coast. In 2019 the state legislature passed a law to stay on daylight time permanently, but it only takes effect if Congress allows year-round daylight saving, which it has not, so Seattle still changes clocks twice a year. Oregon and British Columbia passed similar conditional measures, and the whole corridor still changes together in the meantime.
Seattle shares its clock with Vancouver, Portland, San Francisco and Los Angeles. It is three hours behind New York, one hour ahead of Anchorage and, during the US summer, the same as Phoenix.
When to call Seattle
Hours that fall inside 9:00–17:00 both in Seattle and in the other city, using today's offsets.
Daylight in Seattle
Sunday, October 18, 2026, local time
- Sunrise
- 7:32 AM
- Sunset
- 6:15 PM
- Day length
- 10 h 42 min
- Solar noon
- 12:54 PM
| Date | Sunrise | Sunset | Day length |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sun, Oct 18 | 7:32 AM | 6:15 PM | 10 h 42 min |
| Mon, Oct 19 | 7:34 AM | 6:13 PM | 10 h 39 min−3′ |
| Tue, Oct 20 | 7:35 AM | 6:11 PM | 10 h 36 min−3′ |
| Wed, Oct 21 | 7:37 AM | 6:09 PM | 10 h 33 min−3′ |
| Thu, Oct 22 | 7:38 AM | 6:08 PM | 10 h 29 min−4′ |
| Fri, Oct 23 | 7:40 AM | 6:06 PM | 10 h 26 min−3′ |
| Sat, Oct 24 | 7:41 AM | 6:04 PM | 10 h 23 min−3′ |
Approximate times (usually within two minutes), calculated from the city's coordinates with the NOAA solar equations. Hills, tall buildings and unusual air refraction can shift what you see.
A northern city's daylight
At 47.6° north, close to the latitude of Munich, Seattle has the widest daylight swing of any large city in the contiguous United States. Around the June solstice the sun rises near 5:10 AM and sets about 9:10 PM, close to 16 hours of daylight. In December sunrise slips toward 7:55 AM and sunset to about 4:20 PM, giving roughly 8 hours 25 minutes. Grey winter skies make the short days feel shorter still.
Seattle hours for global teams
Many Seattle employers run teams across Europe and Asia. London is eight hours ahead for most of the year, so an 8:00 AM call in Seattle is 4:00 PM in London. Bengaluru is 12 hours 30 minutes ahead during PDT and 13 hours 30 minutes during PST, which makes early evening in Seattle the usual slot for India. Tokyo is 16 or 17 hours ahead. The stock market opens at 6:30 AM local time. For the full Pacific-to-Eastern table see PST to EST, and for side-by-side city clocks use the world clock.
Nearby cities and their time
| Nearby cities | Distance | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| Vancouver Canada | 200 km | same time |
| San Francisco United States | 1,090 km | same time |
| Los Angeles United States | 1,550 km | same time |
| Denver United States | 1,640 km | +1 h |
| Phoenix United States | 1,790 km | same time |
| Anchorage United States | 2,310 km | −1 h |
Frequently asked questions
- Is Seattle three hours behind New York all year?
- Yes. Both cities change clocks on the same Sundays in March and November, so the gap stays at three hours in every season.
- Why does Seattle still change clocks if the state voted for permanent daylight time?
- The 2019 Washington law only takes effect once federal law allows year-round daylight saving. Until Congress acts, the state follows the standard US schedule.
- What time is the sunset in Seattle in late June?
- About 9:10 PM, with twilight lasting until after 10:00 PM. It is one of the latest sunsets of any large US city outside Alaska.
- How many hours ahead of Seattle is Tokyo?
- Sixteen hours while Seattle is on daylight time and seventeen hours in winter. Tokyo is already on the next day for most of Seattle's afternoon.
- What time does the stock market open in Seattle?
- At 6:30 AM Pacific, which is 9:30 AM in New York. Regular trading ends at 1:00 PM Seattle time.