What is the time zone of Nebraska?
The state of Nebraska is divided into two time zones. The majority, including the cities of Omaha and Lincoln are in the Central Time zone and 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): – 5:00 UTC/GMT (behind)
The time zone of 19 western counties, covering about 35% of Nebraska, are in the Mountain Time zone and also observing daylight savings so there are two different clocks depending on the time of year.
- Mountain Standard Time (MST): – 7:00 UTC/GMT (behind)
- Mountain Daylight Time (MDT): – 6:00 UTC/GMT (behind)
| Central Time |
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| Mountain Time |
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Nebraska neighbouring states such as Kansas, Missouri, Iowa are in the Central time zone. But you will be entering the Mountain Time zone when crossing the border with Colorado and Wyoming. The state of South Dakota is just as Nebraska split into two zones so the time depends on the location where you enter.
Zone boundary
The Nebraska boundary line between two time zones follows the easter county borders of Dundy, Chase, Perkins, Keith, Arthur and south/east border of Hooker. Cherry, being the largest county of the state, has dual times with central time being observed in about 35% of the land measured from the east county border.
The official border is defined in the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) §71.7. (c):
Daylight savings time (DST)
Nebraska 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 MST becomes MDT 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.
Nebraska 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 Nebraska.
| Date | Bill | Status/Action | Title/summary |
| 1 Apr 2021 | LB283 | Linehan name added | Provide for year-round daylight saving time |
| 13 Aug 2020 | LB1015 | Indefinitely postponed | Provide for year-round daylight saving time |
Other US states
You can check out information and maps of other US states by clicking on the below links.