Nearest Airport to Texas
William P. Hobby Airport (HOU / KHOU) is a major international airport located about 16 km (10 mi) from Houston, the main city in Texas.
Current local time at the airport is 18:07:31.
Daylight saving time changes in Texas, United States
Texas has 2 listed IANA time zones. 2 observe daylight saving time changes in 2026.
Next change: November 1, 2026
Clock moves back from 02:00 to 01:00 local time.
Best Time to Call Texas
Business hours in Texas (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 Texas
Compare time in Texas with major cities worldwide.
Current Time in Cities of Texas, United States
About Time in Texas
The City That Defied Federal Time Zone Law for 45 Years
El Paso has one of the most brazen stories in American time zone history. When the Standard Time Act of 1918 first codified the country's time zones, El Paso and the surrounding Trans-Pecos region were placed in Mountain Time, matching their actual distance from the 105th meridian. But in 1921, Congress changed course and placed the entire state of Texas, El Paso included, into Central Time instead.
El Paso simply refused to comply. Residents and businesses kept right on operating by Mountain Time regardless of what the federal government had decreed, and nothing happened to stop them. This unofficial defiance lasted a remarkable 45 years, until the Uniform Time Act of 1966 finally forced every part of the country to conform to its officially assigned zone.
Rather than fall in line, El Paso fought back through the proper channel this time. A formal petition to the U.S. Secretary of Transportation laid out the case for staying on Mountain Time permanently: the city sat roughly 1,000 miles from the Central zone's own reference meridian but only about 120 miles from the Mountain zone's meridian, thousands of El Paso residents would end up living in one time zone and working in another under Central Time, and using Central Daylight Time for part of the year would have effectively put El Paso on Eastern Standard Time for more than half of it. The petition succeeded, and El Paso's decades of quiet lawbreaking became, at last, fully legal.
Texas Time: A Law That Waits on Washington
In June 2025, Texas became one of the more recent states to pass its own version of a permanent Daylight Saving Time law. House Bill 1393, authored by Representative Will Metcalf of Conroe, passed the Texas House 133 to 13 and the Senate 27 to 4, and Governor Greg Abbott signed it into law on June 20, 2025.
The law creates an official standard it calls Texas Time, and unlike some other states' laws, it was written to cover both of Texas's time zones at once rather than just the larger Central portion. Once federal approval arrives, the Central Time majority of the state would lock in permanently on what is currently Central Daylight Time, while El Paso and Hudspeth counties, the same corner of the state that spent 45 years defying Central Time altogether, would lock in permanently on Mountain Daylight Time instead.
As with similar laws in eighteen other states, Texas Time cannot take effect until Congress amends the federal Uniform Time Act. That effort came closer than ever on July 14, 2026, when the U.S. House passed the federal Sunshine Protection Act 308 to 117, sending it to a Senate that had not scheduled a vote as of late July. Barring federal action before November 1, 2026, Texas clocks, in both zones, were still set to fall back as scheduled that day, exactly as they always had.
Frequently Asked Questions
What time zone is Texas in?
Texas does not keep a single clock. Its territory uses 2 different UTC offsets: UTC-5 (CDT), UTC-6 (MDT). Houston, the main city, follows America/Chicago, so check the local time of a specific city before planning a call or a trip.
Is the time in Texas the same as in Washington?
No. Houston, the main city of Texas, is currently 1 hour behind Washington, the capital of United States.
Do clocks change in Texas?
Yes. The next clock change in Texas is on November 1, 2026, when clocks move back from 02:00 to 01:00 local time.
What is the main city of Texas?
Houston is the main city of Texas, with a population of about 2,314,157. The time, sunrise and sunset shown on this page are based on Houston.
Which airport is closest to Houston?
William P. Hobby Airport (HOU) is about 16 km (10 mi) from Houston. Flight arrival and departure times there are shown in local time.
Beyond the Clock
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