What is the time zone of Michigan?
The state of Michigan is divided into two time zones. The vast majority, including cities as Detroit and Grand Rapids, are in the Eastern Time zone and observing daylight savings so there are two different clocks depending on the time of year.
- Eastern Standard Time (EST): – 5:00 UTC/GMT (behind)
- Eastern Daylight Time (ECDT): – 6:00 UTC/GMT (behind)
Only the four northern Michigan counties bordering with Wisconsin and covering about 9% of the state are in the Central Time zone. They are also observing daylight savings so there are two different clocks depending on the time of year.
- Central Standard Time (CST): – 6:00 UTC/GMT (behind)
- Central Daylight Time (CDT): – 7:00 UTC/GMT (behind)
| Central Time |
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| Eastern Time |
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Zone boundary
The Michigan boundary line between two time zones follows the north borders of the counties Dickinson, Gogebic, Iron and Menominee.
The official border is defined in the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) §71.5. (a):
Daylight savings time (DST)
Michigan is using daylight savings as also documented in the Uniform Time Act of 1966. During daylight savings the time changes from Standard time to Daylight time, so CST becomes CDT and EST becomes EDT depending on the location.
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.
Michigan time news, bills and legislation
There is a continuous debate about which time should be applied. Several bills have been introduced to legalize daylight saving time as the year-round clock, whereas others try to align the time with bordering counties or states. The table below gives an overview of the latest bills in the state of Michigan.
| Date | Bill | Status/Action | Title/summary |
| 28 Apr 2021 | HB4052 | To Senate Government Operations Committee | State: other; participation in daylight savings time; eliminate. Creates new act. |
| 11 Mar 2021 | SB0231 | To Senate Government Operations Committee | State: other; participation in daylight savings time; make permanent. Creates new act. |
| 2 Feb 2021 | HB4052 | Intro, To House Commerce And Tourism Committee | State: other; participation in daylight savings time; eliminate. Creates new act. |
| 4 Mar 2020 | SF1416 | Author added Wiger | Advanced standard time effective upon authorization by federal law |
| 13 Nov 2019 | HB4303 | To House Ways And Means Committee | State: other; participation in daylight savings time; eliminate. Creates new act. |
Other US states
You can check out information and maps of other US states by clicking on the below links.