What is the time zone of Louisiana?
The state of Louisiana is in the Central Time zone. All counties and cities of the state have the same time zone, there are no exceptions. Louisiana is observing daylight savings so there are two different clocks depending on the time of the year.
- Central Standard Time (CST): – 6:00 UTC/GMT (behind)
- Central Daylight Time (CDT): – 5:00 UTC/GMT (behind)
All neighbouring states have the same time zone. So, the clocks are unchanged regardless if you cross the border with Texas, Arkansas or Mississippi.
Daylight savings time (DST)
Louisiana is using daylight savings as also documented in the Uniform Time Act of 1966. During daylight savings the time changes from Central Standard time (CST) to Central Daylight time (CDT).
It starts on the second Sunday in March and ends on the first Sunday in November. In March the clock is moved forward from 02.00 am to 03.00 am (so you will lose an hour of sleep during the night). While in November it’s reversed as the clock is moved backward from 03.00 am to 02.00 am and you will gain an extra hour of sleep. One way of remembering the movement sequence is that clocks “spring forward and fall back”.
The total period of daylight savings lasts for 34 weeks which is about 65% of the year.
Louisiana time news, bills and legislation
Date | Bill | Status/Action | Title/summary |
9 Jun 2020 | HB132 | Pass, Effective date: 08/01/2020. | Adopt daylight saving time as the standard time |
9 Mar 2020 | HB134 | To House Commerce Committee | Adopt daylight saving time as the standard time |
Other US states
You can check out information and maps of other US states by clicking on the below links.