What is the time zone of Minnesota?
The state of Minnesota is in the Central Time zone. All counties and cities of the state have the same time zone, there are no exceptions. Minnesota 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)
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All neighbouring US states have the same time zone. So, the clocks are unchanged regardless if you cross the border with North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa or Wisconsin. When you cross the Canadian border with either Saskatchewan or Manitoba, you will also remain in the same zone.
Daylight savings time (DST)
Minnesota 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.
Minnesota 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 Minnesota.
| Date | Bill | Status/Action | Title/summary |
| 6 Apr 2021 | HF72 | Intro, To House State Government Finance and Elections Committee | Advanced standard time/daylight saving time provided year-round effective upon federal law authorization. |
| 28 Jan 2021 | SF149 | Intro, Second reading | Advanced standard time, also known as daylight savings time, year round effective upon authorization of federal law establishment |
| 13 Feb 2020 | HF1397 | Second reading | daylight saving time effective year-round provided upon federal authorization. |
| 16 May 2019 | SF2896 | To Senate State Government Finance and Policy and Elections Committee | Resolution memorializing Congress to pass the Sunshine Protection Act |
| 13 Mar 2019 | SF475 | To Senate State Government Finance and Policy and Elections Committee | Daylight savings time abolishment |
Other US states
You can check out information and maps of other US states by clicking on the below links.