Nearest Airport to Louisiana
Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport (MSY / KMSY) is a major international airport located about 19 km (12 mi) from New Orleans, the main city in Louisiana.
Current local time at the airport is 18:39:57.
Daylight saving time changes in Louisiana, United States
Louisiana uses the IANA time zone identifier America/Chicago. The current local offset is UTC-5 / CDT.
Next change: November 1, 2026
Clock moves back from 02:00 to 01:00 local time.
Best Time to Call Louisiana
Business hours in Louisiana (9 AM-5 PM local time) fall at these local times elsewhere:
- Sao Paulo: 11:00 AM - 7:00 PM ( Convenient)
- Frankfurt: 4:00 PM - 12:00 AM (next day) ( Partial overlap)
- Johannesburg: 4:00 PM - 12:00 AM (next day) ( Partial overlap)
- Singapore: 10:00 PM - 6:00 AM (next day) ( Outside normal hours)
- Hong Kong: 10:00 PM - 6:00 AM (next day) ( Outside normal hours)
- Istanbul: 5:00 PM - 1:00 AM (next day) ( Partial overlap)
- Auckland: 3:00 AM (next day) - 11:00 AM (next day) ( Outside normal hours)
Times shown reflect current UTC offsets and may shift by up to an hour around daylight saving transitions.
Time Difference from Louisiana
Compare time in Louisiana with major cities worldwide.
Current Time in Cities of Louisiana, United States
About Time in Louisiana
A Bill a Decade in the Making
Louisiana tried this once before and failed long before it eventually succeeded. In 2010, state Representative Jonathan Perry introduced House Bill 922, which would have kept Louisiana on Daylight Saving Time year round starting that November. A hearing was scheduled for April 13, 2010, then postponed, and the bill never advanced any further that session.
A decade later, the idea returned under a different sponsor and finally succeeded. Representative Dodie Horton of Haughton introduced House Bill 132 in the 2020 legislative session, proposing to adopt Daylight Saving Time as Louisiana's year round standard time. The bill passed the House by an overwhelming 89 to 0 vote and cleared the Senate 28 to 7. Governor John Bel Edwards signed it into law on June 9, 2020, with an effective date of August 1, 2020.
The law does not actually change anything about Louisiana's clocks today. Federal law under the 1966 Uniform Time Act does not currently allow any state to adopt permanent Daylight Saving Time on its own, so Horton's bill sits ready and waiting, structured to activate automatically only once Congress changes that underlying federal law, a condition that, five years after signing, still has not been met.
One State Among Nineteen, With No Guarantee of Going First
Louisiana was not acting alone when it passed HB132. By the time Horton's bill became law, it joined a growing list of states writing the same kind of trigger legislation onto their books, positioning themselves to switch the moment Washington acts rather than waiting to start the legislative process from scratch afterward.
That queued up approach means Louisiana has done everything within its own power already. The remaining obstacle sits entirely outside Baton Rouge, in a Congress that has debated permanent Daylight Saving Time repeatedly without ever finishing the job, leaving Louisiana's fully signed 2020 law in the same holding pattern as similar laws in over a dozen other states.
Frequently Asked Questions
What time zone is Louisiana in?
The whole of Louisiana uses the America/Chicago time zone (CDT). Local time is 5 hours behind UTC (UTC-5), and all cities in the region show the same time.
Is the time in Louisiana the same as in Washington?
No. New Orleans, the main city of Louisiana, is currently 1 hour behind Washington, the capital of United States.
Do clocks change in Louisiana?
Yes. The next clock change in Louisiana is on November 1, 2026, when clocks move back from 02:00 to 01:00 local time.
What is the main city of Louisiana?
New Orleans is the main city of Louisiana, with a population of about 362,701. The time, sunrise and sunset shown on this page are based on New Orleans.
Which airport is closest to New Orleans?
Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport (MSY) is about 19 km (12 mi) from New Orleans. Flight arrival and departure times there are shown in local time.
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