How Do You Calculate Time Zone Difference?
Time Zones4 min readApril 1, 2026

How Do You Calculate Time Zone Difference?

How do you calculate time zone difference? Subtract one UTC offset from another. Here's the formula with examples for any two time zones in the world.

Sarah Chen
Time Zone Researcher

How Do You Calculate Time Zone Difference?

Formula: Difference = UTC offset of Zone A - UTC offset of Zone B

Examples

  • New York (UTC-5) vs London (UTC+0): -5 - 0 = -5 hours (NY is 5 hours behind)
  • Tokyo (UTC+9) vs New York (UTC-5): 9 - (-5) = 14 hours (Tokyo is 14 hours ahead)
  • LA (UTC-8) vs Berlin (UTC+1): -8 - 1 = -9 hours (LA is 9 hours behind)

Common Differences

FromToDifference
New York (EST)Los Angeles (PST)3 hours
New York (EST)London (GMT)5 hours
New York (EST)India (IST)10.5 hours
New York (EST)Tokyo (JST)14 hours
London (GMT)Sydney (AEST)10 hours

Quick Answer

Subtract one UTC offset from the other. Use our time zone converter to instantly see the difference between any two cities.

#time zone difference#UTC offset#calculation#conversion