Clock changes
When do the clocks change next?
The countdown always points at the next change, forward or back, in your own time zone; pick a year to see both of its dates.
Clocks fall back at 2 a.m. on
Sunday, November 1, 2026
in 4 days
2:00 a.m. daylight time becomes 1:00 a.m. standard time: one more hour of sleep, and 1 a.m. to 2 a.m. happens twice.
US clocks change twice a year, both times on a Sunday at 2:00 a.m. local time. On the second Sunday of March they spring forward one hour, from 2 a.m. straight to 3 a.m., which starts daylight saving time; on the first Sunday of November they fall back one hour, from 2 a.m. to 1 a.m., which ends it. The next change after October 28, 2026, the day these pages were last checked, is the fall back of Sunday, November 1, 2026; the one after that is the spring forward of Sunday, March 14, 2027. A handy way to remember the direction is the old phrase “spring forward, fall back”. The dates are set by 15 U.S.C. 260a, as amended in 2005 with effect in 2007, which made daylight time last about eight months a year: in 2027 it runs for 238 days. Hawaii, most of Arizona and the territories do not change their clocks at all.
Clock changes of any year
Clocks fall back in 2027
Sunday, November 7, 2027
| Spring forward, 2 a.m. becomes 3 a.m. | Sunday, March 14, 2027 |
| Fall back, 2 a.m. becomes 1 a.m. | Sunday, November 7, 2027 |
| Days on daylight time | 238 |
Second Sunday of March and first Sunday of November under 15 U.S.C. 260a, unless Congress changes the law.
Holiday rules and pay calendars read by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · Method
Clock change calendar
The second Sunday of March falls between the 8th and the 14th, the first Sunday of November between the 1st and the 7th. The table gives the next years; the mini tool below goes as far as 2040.
| Year | Spring forward | Fall back | Days of daylight time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | March 8 | November 1 | 238 |
| 2027 | March 14 | November 7 | 238 |
| 2028 | March 12 | November 5 | 238 |
| 2029 | March 11 | November 4 | 238 |
| 2030 | March 10 | November 3 | 238 |
| 2031 | March 9 | November 2 | 238 |
Clock changes of any year
Clocks fall back in 2027
Sunday, November 7, 2027
| Spring forward, 2 a.m. becomes 3 a.m. | Sunday, March 14, 2027 |
| Fall back, 2 a.m. becomes 1 a.m. | Sunday, November 7, 2027 |
| Days on daylight time | 238 |
Second Sunday of March and first Sunday of November under 15 U.S.C. 260a, unless Congress changes the law.
How the rule came to be
The Uniform Time Act of 1966 set national dates for daylight saving time and let states opt out. The dates moved several times; the current ones come from the Energy Policy Act of 2005, which extended daylight time by about four weeks from 2007: it now starts three weeks earlier in March and ends one week later in November. The NIST page on daylight saving time summarizes the rule and its history, and it is NIST’s time service that many network clocks read.
The law lets a state stay on standard time all year, but not on daylight time all year. That is why the many state laws passed in recent years to adopt permanent daylight time only take effect if Congress allows it. In 2026 the House passed such a change, H.R. 139, as the roll call records; the Senate has not voted on it, so the clocks still change on the dates above.
Living with the change
The spring change is the harder one: a lost hour of sleep on a Sunday night, followed by a Monday morning in the dark. Moving bedtime fifteen minutes earlier on each of the few nights before helps. The fall change gives an hour back, but evenings grow dark about an hour earlier by the clock, which affects commutes. Medication taken at fixed hours, timers, and schedules shared across time zones are worth a check on both weekends.
At work, the change only matters for those on duty at 2 a.m.: a night shift is an hour shorter in March and an hour longer in November, and the night shift pay page shows how those hours are paid. For a countdown that always points at November, see the end of daylight saving time; for next year’s dates and what to plan around them, the 2027 page.
Time zones that stay put
Arizona stays on Mountain Standard Time all year, except the Navajo Nation, which observes daylight time. Hawaii stays on Hawaii-Aleutian Standard Time. Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands stay on Atlantic Standard Time, Guam on Chamorro Standard Time, American Samoa on Samoa Standard Time. In summer, Phoenix keeps the same clock time as Los Angeles; in winter, the same as Denver. Anyone who schedules calls or deliveries across those zones sees the gap change twice a year, on the very dates in the table above.