EST
Eastern Standard Time
UTC−5 — No daylight saving time
Abbreviation
EST
UTC Offset
UTC−5
Full Name
Eastern Standard Time
DST
No
About EST — Eastern Standard Time
Eastern Standard Time (EST) is the time zone at UTC−5, observed in the eastern United States and Canada during the winter months (November to March). EST covers the US East Coast—including New York, Boston, Washington DC, Miami, and Toronto—the most economically significant time zone in the Western Hemisphere. During daylight saving time (second Sunday in March to first Sunday in November), most EST regions switch to Eastern Daylight Time (EDT, UTC−4). EST is home to the New York Stock Exchange and NASDAQ, making it the financial time zone of the Americas.
Countries Using EST
- United States (eastern states, winter)
- Canada (Ontario, Quebec, winter)
- Jamaica
- Panama
Major Cities in EST
Conversion Examples for EST
| UTC Time | EST (UTC−5) |
|---|---|
| 00:00 UTC | 19:00 EST |
| 06:00 UTC | 01:00 EST |
| 09:00 UTC | 04:00 EST |
| 12:00 UTC | 07:00 EST |
| 15:00 UTC | 10:00 EST |
| 18:00 UTC | 13:00 EST |
| 21:00 UTC | 16:00 EST |
Related Time Zones
Tools
About EST (EST)
EST (UTC−5) is a standard time zone designation used by United States (eastern states, winter), Canada (Ontario, Quebec, winter), Jamaica, and 1 other countries. Time zone abbreviations like EST refer to a specific UTC offset rather than a geographic region — multiple time zones around the world may share the same offset while using different local names.
When scheduling internationally, it is more reliable to refer to a city name or IANA time zone identifier (like America/New_York or Asia/Dubai) than to a short abbreviation, since abbreviations are not globally standardised and can be ambiguous — for example, CST refers to both Central Standard Time (UTC−6) in North America and China Standard Time (UTC+8).
Use the conversion table on this page to see what any UTC hour maps to in EST, and use the tools below to convert between EST and any other time zone or city in real time.
UTC Offset vs IANA Time Zone: What's the Difference?
UTC Offset
A UTC offset like UTC+4 or UTC−5 is a simple number expressing how many hours and minutes a location is ahead of or behind Coordinated Universal Time. It is fixed and does not carry any information about DST rules or transitions.
IANA Time Zone
An IANA identifier like Europe/London or Asia/Tokyo is a database entry that includes the full history of UTC offset changes, DST rules, and historical exceptions for that location. IANA identifiers should always be preferred in software and scheduling systems.
Convert EST Time
EST — Frequently Asked Questions
EST time now refers to the current time in the Eastern Standard Time zone (UTC−5), covering the US East Coast and eastern Canada during winter months. EST is only active from early November to mid-March; the rest of the year the same region uses EDT (UTC−4). Check a live world clock for the current EST time.
EST is UTC−5, observed in the eastern United States and Canada during winter (first Sunday in November to second Sunday in March). It switches to EDT (UTC−4) during summer daylight saving time.
All or part of: New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Ohio, Indiana (most), Michigan, and Kentucky (eastern part).
EST is UTC−5 (standard time, winter). EDT is UTC−4 (daylight saving time, summer). The switch happens on the second Sunday of March (forward) and the first Sunday of November (back).
EST (UTC−5) is 5 hours behind GMT (UTC+0). When it is 12:00 PM (noon) GMT, it is 7:00 AM EST.