Is Alaska always 4 hours behind Eastern Time?

No. Alaska is 4 hours behind Eastern Time year-round only because both zones observe DST on the same schedule. When Eastern switches to EDT, Alaska switches to AKDT at the same moment. The 4-hour gap stays constant. Hawaii's gap changes because Hawaii does not switch.

Why does Hawaii not do daylight saving?

Hawaii is close to the equator. The difference between summer and winter sunlight is small. Shifting clocks would not give extra usable daylight. The state opted out of DST permanently in 1967.

What does "HST" stand for?

HST stands for Hawaii Standard Time. It is UTC-10. There is no "HDT" in Hawaii because there is no clock change. The abbreviation "HDT" only applies to the Aleutian Islands portion of the Hawaii-Aleutian zone when they observe DST.

What is the time difference between Honolulu and Anchorage?

In winter (standard time), Honolulu is 1 hour behind Anchorage. In summer (daylight time), Honolulu is 2 hours behind Anchorage. The difference changes because Anchorage observes DST and Honolulu does not.

Does the Aleutian Islands portion of Alaska use the same time as Hawaii?

In winter, yes. Both use HST, UTC-10. In summer, no. The Aleutian Islands switch to HDT (UTC-9), while Hawaii stays on HST (UTC-10). The two places are 1 hour apart in summer.

Alaska and Hawaii Time Now

A call set for 3:00 p.m. New York time lands at 11:00 a.m. in Anchorage and 10:00 a.m. in Honolulu during winter. In summer, Honolulu drops to 9:00 a.m. while Anchorage holds at 11:00 a.m. The clocks above track every second of that shifting gap. Here is what drives the difference and the exceptions that trip people up.

Alaska: AKST (UTC-9) and AKDT (UTC-8)

Most of Alaska runs on Alaska Time. The IANA zone is America/Anchorage.

Standard time (AKST) is UTC-9. It runs from the first Sunday in November to the second Sunday in March. Summer time (AKDT) is UTC-8. It runs from the second Sunday in March to the first Sunday in November.

The clock above switches automatically between AKST and AKDT.

Alaska's two time zones

Alaska splits into two zones. Anchorage, Fairbanks, and Juneau use Alaska Time. The western Aleutian Islands (west of 169°30′ W) use Hawaii-Aleutian Time.

That creates a split with two different sets of clock-change rules. The Alaska portion of the Hawaii-Aleutian zone observes DST. The Hawaii portion does not. For full detail, see Alaska Time Zones: AKST, AKDT, and Hawaii-Aleutian.

Hawaii: HST (UTC-10), no clock changes

Hawaii uses Hawaii Standard Time (HST), UTC-10, all year. The IANA zone is Pacific/Honolulu.

Hawaii does not change its clocks. The state opted out in 1967. The reason is latitude: Hawaii sits near the equator, so the spread of sunlight across the year varies little. Shifting the clock yields no practical gain.

The consequence:

When the mainland is on standard time (November to March), Hawaii is 2 hours behind Alaska and 5 hours behind Eastern.
When the mainland is on summer time (March to November), Hawaii is 3 hours behind Alaska and 6 hours behind Eastern.

The Hawaii-Aleutian DST split

The label "Hawaii-Aleutian" covers two different behaviours.

Location	IANA Zone	Standard Offset	DST Observed?
Hawaii (all islands)	Pacific/Honolulu	UTC-10	No
Aleutian Islands (Alaska)	America/Adak	UTC-10 (HST)	Yes (UTC-9, HDT)

Scheduling with someone in the Aleutian Islands? Confirm whether they follow DST. They do. Scheduling with someone in Hawaii? They do not. This is a common source of errors. See States That Don't Observe Daylight Saving Time for the full list.

How Alaska and Hawaii compare to the mainland

The table uses Eastern Time (ET) as the reference. ET is UTC-5 (EST) in winter and UTC-4 (EDT) in summer.

Reference	When ET is on EST (winter)	When ET is on EDT (summer)
Alaska (AKST/AKDT)	4 hours behind ET	4 hours behind ET
Hawaii (HST)	5 hours behind ET	6 hours behind ET

The Alaska-to-Eastern gap stays fixed at 4 hours because both zones shift their clocks on the same schedule. Hawaii's gap widens in summer because Hawaii stays put.

Scheduling a call across Alaska and Hawaii time

Start with the live clocks at the top of the page. Confirm the DST status of each location before you send the invite. If the call includes someone in the Aleutian Islands, ask them explicitly whether they are on HST or HDT that week. Do not assume.

For the current time in every US zone, see US Time Now: Live Clock for All US Time Zones. For state-specific pages with local details, see Alaska and Hawaii.