UTC to EST
Convert Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) to US Eastern Time (EST/EDT) and back. Right now New York is 4 hours behind UTC. Daylight saving is applied for the date being converted, not for today.
| Zone | 00 | 01 | 02 | 03 | 04 | 05 | 06 | 07 | 08 | 09 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | Copy |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UTC | 00 | 01 | 02 | 03 | 04 | 05 | 06 | 07 | 08 | 09 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | |
| New York | 20 -1d | 21 -1d | 22 -1d | 23 -1d | 00 | 01 | 02 | 03 | 04 | 05 | 06 | 07 | 08 | 09 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | |
09–17 working hours 07–09 shoulder 23–06 night Hover an hour to convert it · click to pin it, then copy any row
How far apart UTC and New York really are
The difference between these two zones is not a single number. Across 2026 it takes 2 different values — 5 hours, 4 hours — because New York observes daylight saving and UTC does not.
| Period in 2026 | New York is |
|---|---|
| 1 Jan – 7 Mar | 5 hours behind UTC |
| 8 Mar – 31 Oct | 4 hours behind UTC |
| 1 Nov – 31 Dec | 5 hours behind UTC |
Working-hours overlap
Treating 09:00–17:00 as the working day in both places, there are 4 hours of overlap: 1:00 pm, 2:00 pm, 3:00 pm, 4:00 pm in UTC, which is 9:00 am, 10:00 am, 11:00 am, 12:00 pm in New York. Those are the slots to aim for; everything else costs someone their evening.
UTC to New York, hour by hour
Every hour of UTC's day and the matching local time in New York, for 22 Oct 2026. Rows where both cities are inside working hours are marked.
| UTC (UTC) | New York (EST) | Both working? |
|---|---|---|
| 12:00 am | 8:00 pm previous day | — |
| 1:00 am | 9:00 pm previous day | — |
| 2:00 am | 10:00 pm previous day | — |
| 3:00 am | 11:00 pm previous day | — |
| 4:00 am | 12:00 am | — |
| 5:00 am | 1:00 am | — |
| 6:00 am | 2:00 am | — |
| 7:00 am | 3:00 am | — |
| 8:00 am | 4:00 am | — |
| 9:00 am | 5:00 am | — |
| 10:00 am | 6:00 am | — |
| 11:00 am | 7:00 am | — |
| 12:00 pm | 8:00 am | — |
| 1:00 pm | 9:00 am | Yes |
| 2:00 pm | 10:00 am | Yes |
| 3:00 pm | 11:00 am | Yes |
| 4:00 pm | 12:00 pm | Yes |
| 5:00 pm | 1:00 pm | — |
| 6:00 pm | 2:00 pm | — |
| 7:00 pm | 3:00 pm | — |
| 8:00 pm | 4:00 pm | — |
| 9:00 pm | 5:00 pm | — |
| 10:00 pm | 6:00 pm | — |
| 11:00 pm | 7:00 pm | — |
Why you should store the zone, not the offset
Because the gap between UTC and New York changes during the year, an offset recorded as a number is only correct until the next transition. Store UTC and America/New_York — the IANA
identifiers — alongside any time a user entered locally. The identifier
carries the zone's entire history of rule changes, so a date from 1995
converts with the rules that were in force in 1995.
Internally, keep the instant as a Unix timestamp. The epoch value is identical in UTC, New York and everywhere else; the zone is applied only at the edges, when a human needs to read it. The current Unix timestamp is at the top of this page, and the zones versus offsets guide explains why the distinction bites.
Related conversions
Frequently asked questions
What time is it in New York when it is 9:00 am in UTC?
9:00 am UTC is 5:00 am in New York. The full hour-by-hour table on this page covers every other hour of the day.
How many hours ahead is EST of UTC?
Right now New York is 4 hours behind UTC. The gap is not fixed: across 2026 it takes 2 different values — 5 hours, 4 hours — because New York observes daylight saving and UTC does not.
Is EST to UTC the same conversion in reverse?
Yes — subtract instead of add. If New York is 4 hours behind UTC, then UTC is the same interval behind New York. The grid on this page reads in both directions, which is why /est-to-utc leads here rather than to a separate page.
When can UTC and New York meet during working hours?
There are 4 hours when both cities are inside 09:00–17:00: 1:00 pm UTC, 2:00 pm UTC, 3:00 pm UTC, 4:00 pm UTC. The green cells in the grid above show the same thing visually.
Does UTC or New York observe daylight saving time?
UTC does not — it stays on UTC+00:00 all year. New York does: in 2026 it moves to -04:00 and back to -05:00.