Time difference between New York and Sydney
No office hour works for both on a typical weekday — the bars below show the closest.
- Everyone at work
- Work hours
- Awake
- Night
- Weekend
Tap any column to see that moment in every city.
Different hours for each city
- 14–16 hoursSydney ahead of New York
- UTC−5 / UTC−4New York, January / July
- UTC+11 / UTC+10Sydney, January / July
- 0 hoursshared 9-to-5 time
How the gap moves through the year
Sydney is 14 hours ahead of New York for about 6 months of the year.
Sydney is 16 hours ahead of New York for about 4 months of the year.
Sydney is 15 hours ahead of New York for about 8 weeks of the year.
The short odd stretches come from the two cities changing their clocks on different weekends.
From the second Sunday in March (when New York moves forward), Sydney is 15 hours ahead of New York.
From the first Sunday in April (when Sydney falls back), Sydney is 14 hours ahead of New York.
From the first Sunday in October (when Sydney moves forward), Sydney is 15 hours ahead of New York.
From the first Sunday in November (when New York falls back), Sydney is 16 hours ahead of New York.
New York moves its clocks forward one hour on the second Sunday in March at 2:00 am local time and back on the first Sunday in November at 2:00 am, switching between Eastern Standard Time (UTC−5) and Eastern Daylight Time (UTC−4).
Sydney moves its clocks forward one hour on the first Sunday in October at 2:00 am local time and back on the first Sunday in April at 3:00 am, switching between Australian Eastern Standard Time (UTC+10) and Australian Eastern Daylight Time (UTC+11).
Next clock change for this pair, as of when this page was built (2026-10-20): New York falls back on Sun 1 November 2026.
Everything on this page also holds if you swap New York for Toronto, Havana, Montreal, Philadelphia or Port-au-Prince, or Sydney for Melbourne, Canberra or Hobart — those cities follow exactly the same clock all year.
Working hours that overlap
In January, two 9-to-5 days never meet — not a single quarter-hour is inside working hours in both cities.
July is no different.
Stretching both days to 8:00–18:00 opens 2 hours (4:00 pm–6:00 pm in New York). Beyond that, one side has to take an early-morning or evening call.
Across the week
At 9:00 on a Monday morning in New York, it is 1:00 am on Tuesday in Sydney — already a day ahead there.
8 hours of a New York working week (Monday to Friday, 9 to 5) fall on the weekend in Sydney, so part of Monday or Friday is lost for meetings.
The other way round, 7 hours of a Sydney working week fall on the New York weekend.
Daylight, distance and night calls
New York and Sydney are about 15,990 km (9,930 miles) apart and 135° of longitude apart, which by the sun alone would be 9 hours.
New York's winter clock sits within 4 minutes of the sun, and Sydney's runs 55 minutes ahead of the sun.
In mid-January the sun is up in New York from about 7:18 am to 4:52 pm, and the sun is up in Sydney from about 5:59 am to 8:09 pm; both cities are in daylight at the same time for about 3 hours.
In mid-July the sun is up in New York from about 5:37 am to 8:27 pm, and the sun is up in Sydney from about 6:58 am to 5:04 pm; both cities are in daylight at the same time for about 3 hours 30 minutes.
In January, 5 hours of a New York office day fall in Sydney's night (10 pm to 6 am), and 3 hours of a Sydney office day fall in New York's night.
In July, 7 hours of a New York office day fall in Sydney's night (10 pm to 6 am), and 5 hours of a Sydney office day fall in New York's night.
Two usual compromises in January: an early call at 7:00 am in New York is 11:00 pm in Sydney; a late call at 6:00 pm in New York is 10:00 am the next day there.
Hour-by-hour table and common mistakes — 2 more sections
| New York | Sydney, January | Sydney, July |
|---|---|---|
| 12:00 am | 4:00 pm | 2:00 pm |
| 1:00 am | 5:00 pm | 3:00 pm |
| 2:00 am | 6:00 pm | 4:00 pm |
| 3:00 am | 7:00 pm | 5:00 pm |
| 4:00 am | 8:00 pm | 6:00 pm |
| 5:00 am | 9:00 pm | 7:00 pm |
| 6:00 am | 10:00 pm | 8:00 pm |
| 7:00 am | 11:00 pm | 9:00 pm |
| 8:00 am | 12:00 am (+1 day) | 10:00 pm |
| 9:00 am | 1:00 am (+1 day) | 11:00 pm |
| 10:00 am | 2:00 am (+1 day) | 12:00 am (+1 day) |
| 11:00 am | 3:00 am (+1 day) | 1:00 am (+1 day) |
| 12:00 pm | 4:00 am (+1 day) | 2:00 am (+1 day) |
| 1:00 pm | 5:00 am (+1 day) | 3:00 am (+1 day) |
| 2:00 pm | 6:00 am (+1 day) | 4:00 am (+1 day) |
| 3:00 pm | 7:00 am (+1 day) | 5:00 am (+1 day) |
| 4:00 pm | 8:00 am (+1 day) | 6:00 am (+1 day) |
| 5:00 pm | 9:00 am (+1 day) | 7:00 am (+1 day) |
| 6:00 pm | 10:00 am (+1 day) | 8:00 am (+1 day) |
| 7:00 pm | 11:00 am (+1 day) | 9:00 am (+1 day) |
| 8:00 pm | 12:00 pm (+1 day) | 10:00 am (+1 day) |
| 9:00 pm | 1:00 pm (+1 day) | 11:00 am (+1 day) |
| 10:00 pm | 2:00 pm (+1 day) | 12:00 pm (+1 day) |
| 11:00 pm | 3:00 pm (+1 day) | 1:00 pm (+1 day) |
Common mistakes with New York and Sydney
- Assuming the gap is fixed. Both cities change their clocks, but not on the same weekend, so a recurring meeting can land an hour off for a few weeks.
- Getting the date wrong. With a gap this large, an afternoon call in one city is the next morning — or the previous evening — in the other. Write the date for both cities in the invite.
- Writing “EST” all year for New York. In summer the zone is Eastern Daylight Time; calendar apps handle it, but a typed time in an email can be read the wrong way.
Questions
- Is Sydney ahead of New York?
- Sydney is 16 hours ahead of New York in January and 14 hours ahead of New York in July.
- What is a good time for a meeting between New York and Sydney?
- There is no hour that is inside a 9-to-5 day in both cities. The least painful option is usually early morning in one and early evening in the other; drag the slider above to see the trade-off on your date.
- Does the time difference between New York and Sydney change?
- Yes. Sydney is 14 hours ahead of New York for about 6 months of the year. Sydney is 16 hours ahead of New York for about 4 months of the year. Sydney is 15 hours ahead of New York for about 8 weeks of the year.
Related time differences
- New York and LondonLondon ahead by 5 hours · 3 hours of shared office time
- New York and ParisParis ahead by 6 hours · 2 hours of shared office time
- New York and Los AngelesLos Angeles behind by 3 hours · 5 hours of shared office time
- New York and ChicagoChicago behind by 1 hour · 7 hours of shared office time
- New York and TokyoTokyo ahead by 13–14 hours · no shared office hours
- New York and DubaiDubai ahead by 8–9 hours · no shared office hours
- New York and TorontoSame clock time · 8 hours of shared office time
- New York and PhoenixPhoenix behind by 2–3 hours · 6 hours of shared office time
- New York and SingaporeSingapore ahead by 12–13 hours · no shared office hours
- New York and Mexico CityMexico City behind by 1–2 hours · 7 hours of shared office time
New York time zone · Sydney time zone · Plan with more cities
City names, coordinates and time zone assignments: GeoNames, licensed under CC BY 4.0 (selection and renaming of some cities by this site). Clock times are computed in your browser from the IANA time zone database. Sources and limits.