Airport in South Carolina
Columbia Metropolitan Airport (CAE / KCAE) is a regional airport serving South Carolina directly.
Current local time at the airport is 19:41:32.
Daylight saving time changes in South Carolina, United States
South Carolina uses the IANA time zone identifier America/New_York. The current local offset is UTC-4 / EDT.
Next change: November 1, 2026
Clock moves back from 02:00 to 01:00 local time.
Best Time to Call South Carolina
Business hours in South Carolina (9 AM-5 PM local time) fall at these local times elsewhere:
- Sao Paulo: 10:00 AM - 6:00 PM ( Convenient)
- Frankfurt: 3:00 PM - 11:00 PM ( Partial overlap)
- Johannesburg: 3:00 PM - 11:00 PM ( Partial overlap)
- Singapore: 9:00 PM - 5:00 AM (next day) ( Partial overlap)
- Hong Kong: 9:00 PM - 5:00 AM (next day) ( Partial overlap)
- Istanbul: 4:00 PM - 12:00 AM (next day) ( Partial overlap)
- Auckland: 2:00 AM (next day) - 10:00 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 South Carolina
Compare time in South Carolina with major cities worldwide.
Current Time in Cities of South Carolina, United States
About Time in South Carolina
The Last Place in America to See It
When the total solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 swept across the continental United States for the first time in 99 years, it began near Lincoln City, Oregon, and ended its American journey in South Carolina, the very last state to watch it go. According to the National Weather Service, the final spot anywhere in the country where the sun's corona remained visible was Cape Romain National Wildlife Refuge near McClellanville, on the South Carolina coast.
The eclipse entered the state at 2:36 p.m. and left the Atlantic coastline by 2:49 p.m., a journey of just thirteen minutes across South Carolina before the shadow lifted off the continent entirely and continued alone over open ocean for more than an hour with no further landfall anywhere on Earth. Columbia, sitting almost exactly on the eclipse's centerline, experienced 2 minutes and 30 seconds of totality, while Charleston, positioned just inside the shadow's southern edge, got a shorter 1 minute and 29 seconds of darkness.
South Carolina leaned into the moment. NASA estimated the state could draw as many as one million visitors for the event, and Columbia briefly became the third largest American city sitting directly on the path's centerline for what was being called the first coast to coast total eclipse the country had seen since 1918.
A Legal Argument Built on a Technicality
South Carolina's recent attempts at permanent Daylight Saving Time have taken an unusually aggressive legal approach compared to most states. Bills filed in the legislature, including 2023's Bill 3879 and its 2025 successor Bill 3325, argue that because South Carolina sits entirely within a single time zone, and because federal law already lets a state opt out of Daylight Saving Time to keep permanent Standard Time, the state is, by implication, equally entitled under existing law to advance its clock permanently in the other direction instead.
That is a considerably bolder reading of federal law than the approach most states have taken. Nineteen states, including South Carolina itself in an earlier, more conventional bill, have simply written trigger laws that wait passively for Congress to change the Uniform Time Act before doing anything. This newer South Carolina language instead directs the state's Attorney General to proactively request a formal waiver from the U.S. Secretary of Transportation, treating the existing opt out provision as grounds to act now rather than waiting for permission that has not yet arrived.
Frequently Asked Questions
What time zone is South Carolina in?
The whole of South Carolina uses the America/New_York time zone (EDT). Local time is 4 hours behind UTC (UTC-4), and all cities in the region show the same time.
Is the time in South Carolina the same as in Washington?
Yes. Columbia and most of South Carolina keep the same time as Washington, the capital of United States, so no conversion is needed for calls or meetings between them.
Do clocks change in South Carolina?
Yes. The next clock change in South Carolina is on November 1, 2026, when clocks move back from 02:00 to 01:00 local time.
What is the main city of South Carolina?
Columbia is the main city of South Carolina, with a population of about 142,416. The time, sunrise and sunset shown on this page are based on Columbia.
Which airport is closest to Columbia?
Columbia Metropolitan Airport (CAE) serves Columbia directly. Flight arrival and departure times there are shown in local time.
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