Time Difference Calculator Between Two Cities

This time difference calculator compares two cities and tells you, in plain words, how far apart their clocks are, for example “London is 5 hours ahead of New York”. It shows the current local time in both places and a 24-hour meeting planner, so you can find a call time that works for everyone without converting time zones in your head.

How to compare two time zones

1. Choose the first city from the list of 91 cities.
2. Choose the second city.
3. Read the result sentence and the current local time in each city.
4. Use the swap button to view the comparison from the other side.
5. Scroll to the meeting planner to pick a suitable hour.

The page URL updates with both cities, so you can bookmark a pair you check often or send the link to the person you are scheduling with.

The 24-hour meeting planner

The planner lists every hour of the day side by side for both cities. Hours that fall between 09:00 and 18:00 in both places are highlighted, which makes the shared working window easy to spot. The current hour is marked as well. For cities that are far apart, such as Los Angeles and Singapore, you may find there is no overlap at all; in that case, look for the hours just outside the highlighted range where one side starts early or the other stays a little late.

Time zones, UTC and DST in brief

Every time zone is defined by its offset from Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). New York is UTC-5 in winter, London is UTC+0 and Tokyo is UTC+9. Some places use half-hour or 45-minute offsets, such as India at UTC+5:30 and Nepal at UTC+5:45.

Daylight saving time complicates things because countries do not switch on the same day. The US moves clocks forward on the second Sunday in March and back on the first Sunday in November. The EU switches on the last Sunday in March and the last Sunday in October. During those gaps of a few weeks, the usual difference between a US city and a European city shrinks by an hour. Japan, China, India and most other Asian countries do not observe DST, and Southern Hemisphere countries such as Australia change their clocks in the opposite season. The calculator applies all these rules automatically, so the result is correct for today’s date.

Tips for scheduling across time zones

• Always state the time zone in invitations, ideally both local times, such as 10:00 New York / 16:00 Paris.
• Double-check recurring meetings in March, October and November, when DST changes can shift them by an hour.
• Rotate inconvenient slots if a team spans many zones, so the same people do not always take the early or late call.
• Watch the date: a Monday morning call in Sydney is still Sunday afternoon in California.
• For several locations at once, keep a world clock open alongside the planner.