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Current Time in Denver
Denver runs on Mountain Time — MST (UTC-7) in winter, MDT (UTC-6) in summer. Here's the exact time right now, this year's clock-change dates, sunrise/sunset, moon phase, and how it compares to your own clock.
Denver time
America/Denver
Denver
Your time
Comparing to your device's time zone…
Denver-Aurora-Centennial metro, 2025 estimate
Sky & Location Data
Computed for Denver's exact coordinates — not a generic estimate.
Best Time to Call
Overlap between Denver's 8:00–17:00 workday and a typical 9:00–17:00 day elsewhere, calculated live for today.
| City | Their time now | Good window (Denver time) |
|---|---|---|
| Calculating… | ||
The Mile High City's exact marker
Denver's nickname is unusually literal. The 13th step of the Colorado State Capitol building is engraved to mark exactly 5,280 feet — one mile — above sea level, one of the more precisely surveyed elevation markers of any major American city. Surveying refinements over the decades have actually nudged the "official" step slightly more than once, but the mile-high identity has stuck regardless of which exact stair currently holds the title.
Mountain Time's irregular shape
Among the four original 1883 U.S. time zones, Mountain Time has one of the more irregular territories, carved to follow state borders and mountain ranges rather than strict longitude lines. Its western edge reaches further west than a pure 15-degrees-per-zone map would predict — parts of Idaho and even a sliver of Oregon sit in Mountain Time despite being geographically closer to the Pacific zone.
The signal that sets millions of clocks, broadcast from nearby
About 65 miles north of Denver, near Fort Collins, a National Institute of Standards and Technology radio station called WWVB has broadcast a continuous 60 kHz time signal since 1963. That signal is what quietly syncs most "radio-controlled" clocks, wall clocks, and watches sold across North America overnight, correcting their time and date without anyone touching a button. Its range covers virtually the entire continental United States from a single transmitter site, a rare case of one Colorado radio signal setting millions of clocks in homes it will never otherwise touch.
Where America's official clock actually lives
Just north of Denver, NIST's laboratories in Boulder host the cesium fountain and next-generation optical atomic clocks that help define Coordinated Universal Time for the United States. These clocks are accurate to within about one second over roughly 30 billion years, and their measurements feed into the international ensemble of atomic clocks that underlies every time zone shown on this site, including Denver's own.
Time differences from Denver
Denver follows the same U.S. DST calendar as New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles, so the gaps between them stay fixed year-round.
| City | Typical difference | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Chicago | Denver −1h (fixed) | Same U.S. DST calendar |
| New York | Denver −2h (fixed) | Same U.S. DST calendar |
| Los Angeles | Denver +1h (fixed) | Same U.S. DST calendar |
| London | Denver −7h (sometimes −6h) | UK observes DST on a different date |
| Tokyo | Denver −16h (sometimes −15h) | Tokyo has no DST |
| Dubai | Denver −11h (sometimes −10h) | Dubai has no DST |
Chicago, New York, and Los Angeles are the easiest comparisons, since all four U.S. zones shift DST on the exact same date — the gap between them never moves.
Working hours and when to call
Most Denver offices run roughly 8:00 to 17:00, Monday to Friday.
- From the US coasts: Denver sits conveniently between them, two hours from New York and one from Los Angeles.
- From Europe: a Denver morning overlaps a London or Paris late afternoon — a narrow but usable window.
- From East Asia: almost no overlap; a Denver morning call lands in the middle of the night in Tokyo or Shanghai.
- From South America: a Denver morning overlaps a São Paulo early afternoon.
Ski season (roughly late November through April) brings a noticeable seasonal surge in both business and leisure travel through Denver, worth factoring into any travel-dependent scheduling.
Daylight through the year
At roughly 39.7°N, similar in latitude to Athens or San Francisco, Denver sees a wide seasonal swing — from about 9 hours 20 minutes around the December solstice to about 14 hours 55 minutes around the June solstice, with the city's high elevation and dry climate often making the transition feel sharper than the numbers alone suggest.
How we calculate this page: the live clock and UTC offset above are read directly from the IANA America/Denver time zone data via your browser, not hard-coded. Sunrise, sunset, solar noon, and twilight times are computed from Denver's exact coordinates (39.7392°N, 104.9903°W) using standard solar position formulas, recalculated on every page load. Moon phase is derived from the current synodic month. Airport distance uses the great-circle formula from those same coordinates to the airport's published location.
Frequently asked questions
What time zone does Denver use?
Mountain Time, identified as America/Denver. It switches between Mountain Standard Time (MST, UTC-7) in winter and Mountain Daylight Time (MDT, UTC-6) in summer.
When do the clocks change in Denver?
Clocks move forward one hour on the second Sunday in March and back one hour on the first Sunday in November, per U.S. federal law — the same dates as Chicago, New York, and Los Angeles.
Why is Denver called the Mile High City?
The 13th step of the Colorado State Capitol is marked at exactly 5,280 feet (one mile) above sea level, a precisely surveyed elevation that gave the city its nickname.
What is the time difference between Denver and New York?
A fixed two hours, with New York ahead, since both cities observe daylight saving on the identical U.S. schedule.
What are normal business hours in Denver?
Roughly 8:00 to 17:00, Monday to Friday, with a seasonal surge in travel and scheduling demands during ski season from late November through April.
How do I convert Denver time to my own time zone?
Use the time zone converter, selecting Denver as the source zone and checking a specific date if the target zone observes DST on a different schedule.
What is WWVB and why is it near Denver?
WWVB is a NIST radio station near Fort Collins, Colorado, about 65 miles north of Denver, that broadcasts a continuous 60 kHz time signal used to automatically sync most "radio-controlled" clocks and watches sold across North America.
Where does official US time actually come from?
From the National Institute of Standards and Technology's laboratories in Boulder, Colorado, just north of Denver, where a set of cesium fountain and optical atomic clocks contribute to the international time standard that defines Coordinated Universal Time (UTC).
How accurate are NIST's atomic clocks?
NIST's most advanced atomic clocks in Boulder are accurate to within about one second over roughly 30 billion years, among the most precise timekeeping devices ever built.
Planning a call across time zones? Try the meeting planner or see all cities on the world clock.