Current time in Lexington, KY
Eastern Time UTC−5 · IANA zone America/New_York
Time zone details
| Time zone | Eastern Time (ET) |
|---|---|
| Standard time | EST, UTC−5 (early Nov – mid Mar) |
| Daylight time | EDT, UTC−4 (mid Mar – early Nov) |
| DST clock change | Forward 1 h, 2nd Sunday of March · Back 1 h, 1st Sunday of November |
| Sunrise today | — |
| Sunset today | — |
| Day length | — |
| Coordinates | 38.04° N, 84.50° W |
Time difference from Lexington
| City | Local time now |
|---|---|
| Chicago | −1 h |
| Denver | −2 h |
| Phoenix | −2 / −3 h |
| Los Angeles | −3 h |
| Anchorage | −4 h |
| Honolulu | −5 / −6 h |
Lexington keeps the same hour as Louisville, Cincinnati, and the whole Eastern Time Zone; Nashville to the southwest is an hour earlier.
About time in Lexington
Lexington and Fayette County have operated as a single merged urban-county government since 1974, anchoring the Bluegrass region in the Eastern Time half of Kentucky.
Drive far enough west — past the Lake Cumberland area or toward Bowling Green — and Kentucky's clocks fall back an hour at the Central Time line, one of the few state-interior zone boundaries in the eastern US.
At 38° N, Lexington's daylight runs from about 9 hours 30 minutes in late December to roughly 14 hours 50 minutes in June, when the sun sets near 9:00 PM EDT.
Frequently asked questions
What time zone is Lexington in?
Lexington sits in the Eastern Time half of Kentucky: EST (UTC−5) in winter, EDT (UTC−4) in summer. Western Kentucky, from around Bowling Green to Paducah, runs on Central Time an hour behind.
How far ahead of Los Angeles is Lexington?
Lexington runs 3 hours ahead of Los Angeles in all seasons, since both places observe daylight saving time on the same schedule. Compare on the EST to PST chart.
Does Lexington change clocks for daylight saving time?
Yes. Lexington springs forward at 2:00 AM on the second Sunday of March and falls back at 2:00 AM on the first Sunday of November — March 8 and November 1 in 2026. See the DST page.