Indiana Time Zone Map

Indiana's clocks look simple now and were not until 2006. For decades most of the state stayed on Eastern Standard Time all year and ignored daylight time, while a few counties near Chicago and Louisville followed their big neighbors. In summer Indianapolis showed the same time as Chicago, and in winter it matched New York.

A 2005 law, Senate Bill 127, ended that: since April 2, 2006 every Indiana county changes its clocks with the rest of the country. Indianapolis is now level with New York in every month, and the Central Time counties are level with Chicago. The time zone database records the same switch for Indianapolis, from fixed EST to normal Eastern Time with daylight saving in 2006.

“Indiana time” needs a city. A 10:00 AM class in Indianapolis starts at 9:00 AM in Gary, and a 5:00 PM close in Evansville is 6:00 PM in Fort Wayne. For a statewide event, say “Eastern” or “Central” next to the time, and remember that a deadline set in Eastern time falls an hour earlier on the clocks of the Central counties.

Indiana moves with the rest of the country on the second Sunday in March and the first Sunday in November: the Eastern counties go between UTC-5 and UTC-4, and the Central counties between UTC-6 and UTC-5. The 2026 daylight saving page lists the dates, and the CST to EST converter gives the hour.

Indiana touches four states. Ohio and Michigan are on Eastern Time, like most of Indiana, and Illinois is on Central Time, like the two Indiana corners. Kentucky is split, with Louisville and the northern Kentucky suburbs of Cincinnati on Eastern Time and the western part of the state, including Owensboro, Paducah and Bowling Green, on Central.

Each Indiana corner therefore matches the state next to it: Gary and Hammond are on Chicago time, and Evansville is on the same clock as Henderson and Owensboro across the Ohio River in Kentucky.