Current time in Richmond, VA
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 | 37.54° N, 77.44° W |
Time difference from Richmond
| 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 |
Richmond's clock agrees with Norfolk, Virginia Beach, Washington DC, and everywhere else in the Eastern Time Zone.
About time in Richmond
Richmond, Virginia's capital, is an independent city — Virginia's distinctive arrangement in which cities are separate from counties — built where the James River tumbles over the fall line. The General Assembly convenes, state courts sit, and executive agencies file on Eastern Time, the zone that covers Virginia without exception.
Because the state has no internal time boundary, the nearest communities keeping Central Time lie hundreds of miles west of Richmond, in middle Tennessee beyond the ET counties around Knoxville.
Richmond's longitude of 77.4° W leaves its clocks about 10 minutes ahead of the sun, and its latitude of 37.5° N gives roughly 9 hours 32 minutes of daylight at the December solstice against 14 hours 45 minutes in late June, when the sun sets close to 8:35 PM.
Frequently asked questions
What time zone is Richmond in?
Richmond, the capital of Virginia, is in the Eastern Time Zone (ET): EST (UTC−5) in winter, EDT (UTC−4) from the second Sunday of March to the first Sunday of November.
How far ahead is Richmond of Los Angeles?
Richmond keeps a constant 3-hour lead over Los Angeles in every season, because Eastern and Pacific clocks change for daylight saving together. See the EST to PST chart.
Does Richmond change clocks for daylight saving time?
Yes. Richmond advances clocks one hour at 2:00 AM on the second Sunday of March and turns them back at 2:00 AM on the first Sunday of November (March 8 and November 1 in 2026). Full dates on the DST page.