Current time in Atlanta, GA
Eastern Time UTC−5 · IANA zone America/New_York
Time zone details
| Time zone | Eastern Time (ET) |
|---|---|
| Standard time | EST, UTC−5 (early Nov – mid Mar) |
| Daylight time | EDT, UTC−4 (mid Mar – early Nov) |
| DST clock change | Forward 1 h, 2nd Sunday of March · Back 1 h, 1st Sunday of November |
| Sunrise today | — |
| Sunset today | — |
| Day length | — |
| Coordinates | 33.75° N, 84.39° W |
Time difference from Atlanta
| City | Local time now |
|---|---|
| Chicago | −1 h |
| Denver | −2 h |
| Phoenix | −2 / −3 h |
| Los Angeles | −3 h |
| Anchorage | −4 h |
| Honolulu | −5 / −6 h |
Atlanta shares Eastern Time with Savannah and Augusta, but crossing into Alabama — one state west — means falling back an hour to Central Time.
About time in Atlanta
Atlanta, Georgia's capital and the seat of Fulton County (with its eastern edge in DeKalb County), began in 1837 as "Terminus," the end point of the Western & Atlantic Railroad — a fitting origin for a city whose clocks would later be set by railroad standard time. Under the 1883 railroad zones the city kept Central Time, and only in 1918, when the federal Standard Time Act redrew the boundaries, did Atlanta move to Eastern.
That switch left Atlanta, at 84.4° W, one of the westernmost big cities in the Eastern zone: its clocks run nearly 38 minutes ahead of the sun, so solar noon in summer arrives around 1:38 PM EDT. The payoff is famously long evenings — late-June sunsets near 8:50 PM — balanced by January sunrises that hold off until about 7:40 AM.
Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International, the world's busiest airport by passengers, banks all of its departure waves on Eastern Time, and the Alabama state line an hour's drive west of downtown doubles as the ET/CT boundary.
Frequently asked questions
What time zone is Atlanta in?
Atlanta is in the Eastern Time Zone (ET), observing EST (UTC−5) in winter and EDT (UTC−4) from the second Sunday of March through the first Sunday of November.
How far ahead is Atlanta of Los Angeles?
Atlanta is 3 hours ahead of Los Angeles at every point in the year, because Eastern and Pacific clocks begin and end daylight saving time simultaneously. See the EST to PST chart.
Does Atlanta change clocks for daylight saving time?
Yes. Atlanta puts clocks forward one hour at 2:00 AM on the second Sunday of March and back one hour at 2:00 AM on the first Sunday of November — in 2026, March 8 and November 1. Full dates on the DST page.