Florida Time Zone Map
Most of Florida is in Eastern Time, but the western Panhandle is in Central Time. See the map, live clocks, county notes, and daylight saving rules.
Simplified visual guide. The legal boundary is described in 49 CFR § 71.5 and follows waterways near the Apalachicola/Jackson River area.
The Panhandle Runs an Hour Behind Miami
Florida's clocks agree everywhere except the western Panhandle. The table gives the UTC offset of each area in mid-January and mid-July, with what 9:00 AM in Miami reads there. Both Florida zones change on the same dates, so the one-hour gap between them never moves.
| Place | Mid-January | Mid-July | When it is 9:00 AM in Miami |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miami, Orlando, Tampa, Jacksonville, Tallahassee, Key West | UTC-5 | UTC-4 | 9:00 AM |
| Pensacola, Fort Walton Beach, Destin, Panama City | UTC-6 | UTC-5 | 8:00 AM |
| Mobile, Alabama (next to the Panhandle) | UTC-6 | UTC-5 | 8:00 AM |
| Atlanta, Georgia (north of Tallahassee) | UTC-5 | UTC-4 | 9:00 AM |
Which Florida Counties Are Central
Nine counties in the western Panhandle, from the Alabama border east to the Apalachicola River, are on Central Time, and one more sits on the line:
- Escambia (Pensacola), Santa Rosa (Milton), Okaloosa (Fort Walton Beach, Destin) and Walton (DeFuniak Springs)
- Holmes (Bonifay), Washington (Chipley) and Bay (Panama City, Panama City Beach)
- Jackson (Marianna) and Calhoun (Blountstown)
- Gulf County, where the line reaches the Gulf of Mexico, so addresses there are worth checking locally
Tallahassee, in Leon County, is on Eastern Time, so Pensacola and Tallahassee are in the same state, on the same highway, and an hour apart.
How the Line Is Drawn
Florida's part of the Eastern and Central boundary is in federal regulation, and it follows water, not county lines. It runs south along the Apalachicola River from Georgia, turns west along the Intracoastal Waterway, and reaches the Gulf of Mexico on the west line of Gulf County. The full wording is in 49 CFR § 71.5.
The map above is a simplified drawing. For a street address in Gulf County, ask the county or the business what clock it runs on rather than trusting a map.
Florida by Region
| Region | Cities | Time zone |
|---|---|---|
| South Florida | Miami, Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach, Naples, the Florida Keys | Eastern |
| Central Florida | Orlando, Kissimmee, Daytona Beach, Melbourne | Eastern |
| Tampa Bay and Southwest | Tampa, St. Petersburg, Sarasota, Fort Myers | Eastern |
| North Florida | Jacksonville, Gainesville, Tallahassee, St. Augustine | Eastern |
| Western Panhandle | Pensacola, Fort Walton Beach, Destin, Panama City, Marianna | Central |
Florida Wanted Permanent Daylight Time First
In March 2018 Governor Rick Scott signed the state's own Sunshine Protection Act, HB 1013, which would keep Florida on daylight time all year. It never took effect, because federal law only lets a state skip daylight time, not stay on it, and Congress had to approve the change.
Florida therefore still changes its clocks twice a year, on the second Sunday in March and the first Sunday in November: Eastern Florida goes between UTC-5 and UTC-4, and the Central Panhandle between UTC-6 and UTC-5. The federal bill with the same name is covered in the Sunshine Protection Act post, and the 2026 daylight saving page has the current dates.
The Next Three Clock Changes
The Panhandle's change falls an hour after the Eastern one, at 2:00 AM local time in both. The dates, from the time zone database:
| Date | Eastern (Miami, Tallahassee) | Central (Pensacola, Panama City) |
|---|---|---|
| Sunday, March 8, 2026 | 2:00 AM to 3:00 AMUTC-5 to UTC-4 | 2:00 AM to 3:00 AMUTC-6 to UTC-5 |
| Sunday, November 1, 2026 | 2:00 AM to 1:00 AMUTC-4 to UTC-5 | 2:00 AM to 1:00 AMUTC-5 to UTC-6 |
| Sunday, March 14, 2027 | 2:00 AM to 3:00 AMUTC-5 to UTC-4 | 2:00 AM to 3:00 AMUTC-6 to UTC-5 |
| Sunday, November 7, 2027 | 2:00 AM to 1:00 AMUTC-4 to UTC-5 | 2:00 AM to 1:00 AMUTC-5 to UTC-6 |
| Sunday, March 12, 2028 | 2:00 AM to 3:00 AMUTC-5 to UTC-4 | 2:00 AM to 3:00 AMUTC-6 to UTC-5 |
| Sunday, November 5, 2028 | 2:00 AM to 1:00 AMUTC-4 to UTC-5 | 2:00 AM to 1:00 AMUTC-5 to UTC-6 |