What time is it in Puerto Rico?
GMT-4 · America/Puerto_Rico
Back to Puerto RicoNow in San Juan
GMT-4 UTC-04:00
UTC-04:00
all yearAtlantic Standard Time
Puerto Rico keeps Atlantic Standard Time all year, four hours behind UTC, and the clocks never change. The whole island uses the one zone, shared with the United States Virgin Islands. Because the mainland United States moves its clocks and Puerto Rico does not, San Juan shows the same time as New York and Miami in summer and the same as Bermuda and Halifax in winter.
Today
Daylight in San Juan today
DayLive
12:00
- Sunrise
- 06:14First light 05:52
- Sunset
- 18:14Last light 18:36
- Day length
- 12 h 00 min−1 min on yesterday
- Solar noon
- 12:14Sun at 69°, its highest
Plan a call
Find an hour that works in Puerto Rico and elsewhere
The two rows are the same day, hour for hour. Pick a city, then an hour, and the line between the rows marks the office hours both sides share.
Time difference
How far Puerto Rico is from other places
Around the world
- London+5 h
- New YorkSame time
- Los Angeles−3 h
- São Paulo+1 h
- Moscow+7 h
- Dubai+8 h
- Delhi+9:30 h
- Beijing+12 h
- Tokyo+13 h
- Sydney+14 h
Clock changes
Puerto Rico does not change its clocks
Summer time has been used only once. The clocks in San Juan went forward in 1942 and went back for the last time at 02:00 on 30 September 1945, and Puerto Rico has kept standard time ever since, a choice usually put down to how close the island lies to the Equator.
Daylight
Sunrise and sunset through the year in San Juan
- Sunrise
- 06:14
- Sunset
- 18:14
- Daylight
- 12 h 00 min
- Change
- −1 min
Longest day of 2026: 13 June, 13 h 14 min.
Computed for 18.47, -66.12 at sea level with the NOAA solar equations, to the nearest minute, taking no account of hills.
Writing the time
- Clock
- 12-hour
- Short date
- 03/05/26
- Long date
- 5 de marzo de 2026
- Week starts
- Sunday
- Zone names
- GMT-4
- Time zone database
- Puerto Rico
History
How the clocks in Puerto Rico got here
- 1890
- To 1898.Local mean time, UTC-04:24, before the standard zone.
- 1899
- The move from local mean time, UTC-04:24, to UTC-04:00.
- 1900
- To 1941.UTC-04:00 all year, no summer time.
- 1942
- UTC-04:00 in winter, UTC-03:00 in summer time.
- 1943
- To 1944.Summer time kept through the winter: UTC-03:00 all year.
- 1945
- UTC-04:00 in winter, UTC-03:00 in summer time.
- 1946
- To today.UTC-04:00 all year, no summer time.
From the IANA time zone database, America/Puerto_Rico, as the build machine carries it.
Common questions
Questions about the time in Puerto Rico
Which clock does Puerto Rico keep?
Atlantic Standard Time, four hours behind UTC, in every season. United States federal law, 15 U.S.C. §260, defines the standard zones for the states and territories, and Puerto Rico and the United States Virgin Islands together make up the Atlantic zone, lettered Zone Q. It is one of the nine American zones, and one the contiguous states do not use.
Do the clocks change for daylight saving time in Puerto Rico?
No. The clocks stay on Atlantic Standard Time all year, and the island has not changed them since 30 September 1945. Summer time was used only during the years from 1942 to 1945. The reason usually given for keeping standard time is how close Puerto Rico lies to the Equator. The United States Virgin Islands follow the same practice and never change their clocks either.
When does San Juan share New York's time?
Only for part of the year. From the second Sunday in March to the first Sunday in November, when New York is on daylight saving time, the clocks in San Juan and New York show the same hour, and Miami matches too. In the rest of the year New York goes back an hour and Puerto Rico does not, so San Juan is one hour ahead and matches Bermuda and Halifax in Canada instead.
Why is Puerto Rico ahead of the mainland United States in winter?
Because the mainland moves its clocks and Puerto Rico does not. Under the Uniform Time Act of 1966, as amended, most states set their clocks forward on the second Sunday in March and back on the first Sunday in November. Puerto Rico stays on Atlantic time throughout, so once the mainland falls back in November the island is an hour ahead of the Eastern zone, and the gap closes again in March.
Has Puerto Rico ever used summer time?
Once, from 1942 to 1945. The clocks in San Juan went back for the last time at 02:00 on 30 September 1945, at the end of that period, and no change has been made in any year since. None is scheduled either, so every date of the year in Puerto Rico runs on Atlantic Standard Time, four hours behind UTC, whatever the season.