What time is it when the Indiana capital is noon?Indiana is one of three U.S. states which do not Spring ahead from "standard" to "daylight saving" time or Fall back from daylight to standard six months later. Arizona and Hawaii are the others. By State Law, most of Indiana is on Eastern Standard Time (EST) all year long.
The statute creates three different time arrangements in the Hoosier State:
- 77 counties (including state capital Indianapolis) are in the Eastern Time Zone but do not change to Daylight time in April; instead they remain on Standard Time all year long; [yellow on map and chart]
- 10 counties -- five near Chicago, IL, and five near Evansville, IN, are in the Central Time Zone and use both Central Standard and Central Daylight; [green on map and chart] and
- five other counties -- two near Cincinnati, OH, and three near Louisville, KY -- are in the Eastern Time Zone but use both Eastern Standard and Eastern Daylight. [pink on map and chart]
|
|
|||
| Locations | During U.S. standard time | During U.S. daylight saving time | |
| Central Indiana (1) | Indianapolis, and most of Indiana, including Bloomington | Noon Eastern Standard EST |
Noon Eastern Standard EST |
| Western portions of Indiana (2) | Chicago, IL and Jasper, Lake, LaPorte, Newton, and Porter counties | 11:00 AM Central Standard CST |
Noon Central Daylight CDT |
| Evansville, IN and Gibson, Posey, Spencer, Vanderburgh, and Warrick counties | |||
| Eastern portions of Indiana (3) | Cincinnati, OH and Dearborn and Ohio counties | Noon Eastern Standard EST |
1:00 PM Eastern Daylight EDT |
| Louisville, KY and Clark, Floyd and Harrison counties | |||
|
|
|||
Many believe that Indiana changes time zones in the Summer. Part of the confusion stems from the fact that in the Winter, most of Indiana is the same time as New York (which is also Eastern), and in the Summer, Indiana is the same time as Chicago (which is Central).
Actually, by going to Daylight time in April, the Central Zone Springs ahead from Standard to CDT, which is the same as Eastern Standard (Indiana time). By switching from Eastern Daylight (EDT) to Standard in October, the rest of the Eastern Zone Falls back to EST (Indiana time). Indiana, Arizona, and Hawaii are constants -- always Standard time.
