Time in Massachusetts

{{Short description|Time zone data for this US state}}

Time in Massachusetts, as in all US states, is regulated by the United States Department of Transportation.{{cite web |title=Uniform Time |url=https://www.transportation.gov/regulations/time-act |publisher=US Department of Transportation |accessdate=24 August 2018 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20180824041248/https://www.transportation.gov/regulations/time-act |archivedate=24 August 2018 |url-status=live |language=en |date=13 February 2015 |quote=The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) oversees the Nation's time zones and the uniform observance of Daylight Saving Time. The oversight of time zones was assigned to DOT because time standards are important for many modes of transportation.}} Massachusetts is in the Eastern Time Zone (ET) and observes daylight saving time (DST).

class="wikitable" style="text-align:left;" |+Time in Massachusetts
|| Time || UTC
Standard time (winter)	Eastern Standard Time (EST)	UTC−05:00
Daylight time (summer)	Eastern Daylight Time (EDT)	UTC−04:00

Independent of daylight saving time, solar noon on the March equinox is about 12:00 in Western Massachusetts and 11:47 in Nantucket to the east. New England, which includes Massachusetts, is one of the few areas in the United States where solar noon is before noon.

File:US-Timezones-post-2007.png

class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;" |+ Solar noon (independent of DST){{cite web |url=https://www.esrl.noaa.gov/gmd/grad/solcalc/ |title=NOAA Solar Calculator |website=noaa.gov |accessdate=March 9, 2019}}
rowspan=2|Date (approx.)	colspan=3|Location
Pittsfield	Boston	Nantucket
March equinox	12:00	11:51	11:47
June solstice	11:55	11:46	11:42
September equinox	11:46	11:37	11:33
December solstice	11:51	11:42	11:38

In 2016, a committee in the state was formed to consider having Massachusetts adopt Atlantic Standard Time year round to prevent sunsets from occurring before 16:30 and eliminate the need to change clocks at the beginning and end of daylight saving time.{{Cite news |url= https://www.bostonglobe.com/business/2016/08/11/time-for-mass-move-new-time-zone/64Q51rTWormBPTH7Ggds2O/story.html |title= Is it time for Mass. to move to a new time zone? - The Boston Globe |work= BostonGlobe.com |date= 2016-08-11 |access-date= 2017-03-17}} The committee submitted its report to the state legislature in November 2017, recommending the move "under certain circumstances".{{Cite news |url= http://www.lowellsun.com/todaysheadlines/ci_31422442/report-switch-atlantic-time-zone-okd |title= Report on switch to Atlantic Time Zone OK'd |work= Lowell Sun |date= 2017-11-02 |access-date= 2018-01-17}} If passed, Massachusetts would use Atlantic Standard Time all year round without daylight saving time. Other New England states are looking into doing the same.