Live time conversion and hour-by-hour comparison
This page shows the live time conversion between New York and Los Angeles. The hour-by-hour chart above makes it easy to find overlapping business hours for meetings or calls. Green highlights indicate standard business hours (9 AM – 5 PM) in each city.
The time difference between New York and Los Angeles is always exactly 3 hours — both cities observe DST and change clocks on the same dates. This consistency makes coast-to-coast scheduling predictable. When it's 9 AM in New York, it's always 6 AM in LA. When it's 5 PM in LA, it's always 8 PM in New York. No seasonal complications to worry about.
The 3-hour gap creates a natural extended workday for companies spanning both coasts. New York starts at 9 AM ET when LA is at 6 AM PT — three hours of East Coast productivity before the West Coast comes online. Once LA starts at 9 AM PT (noon ET), both coasts overlap until New York signs off at 5 PM ET (2 PM PT). LA then has three more hours of solo productivity. This 12-hour effective workday (9 AM ET to 5 PM PT) is why many companies deliberately place teams on both coasts.
The ideal meeting window for coast-to-coast calls is 12 PM to 3 PM ET (9 AM to 12 PM PT). Both sides are fully operational and in their peak productivity hours. Earlier meetings (10 AM ET / 7 AM PT) are feasible but push LA early. Later meetings (4 PM ET / 1 PM PT) work but catch New York near end-of-day. Avoid scheduling for before 9 AM PT or after 5 PM ET unless absolutely necessary.
The NY-LA corridor defines several industries. Finance and media (New York) coordinate daily with entertainment and tech (LA). Publishing houses in New York work with studios in LA on book-to-film deals. Fashion (NY) and celebrity (LA) worlds intersect constantly. The 3-hour gap is baked into these industries' rhythms — morning NY calls set up afternoon LA follow-through, and LA decisions get processed in NY the next morning.