Time Difference Between California and Seattle: What You Need to Know

Both California (major cities like Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego, Sacramento) and Seattle, Washington are in the Pacific Time Zone (PT). Therefore, there is no time difference between them for most of the year.

Standard Time (Winter)

• California (PST) = UTC-8
• Seattle (PST) = UTC-8
• Same time

Daylight Saving Time (Summer)

• California (PDT) = UTC-7
• Seattle (PDT) = UTC-7
• Same time

Exception: Eastern California

A small portion of eastern California (e.g., Death Valley, Mammoth Lakes) observes Mountain Time (MT), which is 1 hour ahead of Pacific Time. In that case, Seattle is 1 hour behind those areas.

During DST (mid-March to early November), all regions align on their respective daylight zones, maintaining the same offset.