United States
Time now in California
Monday, 24 August 2026
Sunrise 06:32Sunset 07:53Time zone UTC −5
Time zone
America/Chicago
UTC offset
UTC −5
Daylight saving
In effect now
Population
4,278
Sunrise
06:32
Sunset
07:53
Day length
13h 21m
Coordinates
38.63, -92.57
Time difference from California
Hours ahead (right) or behind (left) California right now.
California on the map
About the time in California
If you are coordinating from another country, the shortcut is the working window: a normal California day of 09:00–17:00 falls between 14:00–22:00 UTC. Convert your own hours into UTC once and you can tell at a glance whether someone there is likely to be at their desk.
California runs on America/Chicago, which puts the city UTC −5 from Coordinated Universal Time right now. The clock at the top of this page is not copied from your device: it is anchored to our reference timestamp and re-rendered every second against the IANA time zone database, so it stays right even when a laptop or phone has quietly drifted.
The zone identifier America/Chicago is the value you want in code, calendars and travel systems. Abbreviations change with the season, but America/Chicago keeps pointing at Chicago time whatever the date, which is why every timestamp on this page is built from it.
Frequently asked questions about time in California
- Does California change its clocks for daylight saving?
- Yes, and it is in effect now. Clocks change again on 1 November 2026.
- What are normal business hours in California in UTC?
- A 09:00–17:00 working day in California runs from 14:00–22:00 UTC today.
- Is the clock on this page accurate?
- It is synchronised with our server rather than your device, then formatted for America/Chicago, so a drifting device clock does not affect what you see.
- What time is it in California right now?
- The live clock above shows the current time in California, updating every second from America/Chicago (UTC −5).
87,523 places in United States
Other cities in the same country, sized by population.