Massachusetts: Does the state observe daylight saving time?
Massachusetts observes daylight saving time and has no enacted law to switch to year-round daylight or standard time.
A state law written in the 1900s still sets the spring-forward and fall-back rule, though it names the old April and October dates; today the federal dates in March and November apply. Bills for permanent standard time or a move to Atlantic time have been filed in recent sessions, but none has become law.
What the law says
At two o'clock ante-meridian of the last Sunday in April of each year, the standard time in this commonwealth shall be advanced one hour, and at two o'clock ante-meridian of the last Sunday in October of each year the standard time in this commonwealth shall, by the retarding of one hour, be made to coincide with the mean astronomical time of the degree of longitude governing the zone wherein the commonwealth is situated, the standard official time of which is described as United States standard eastern time, so that between the last Sunday of April at two o'clock ante-meridian and the last Sunday in October at two o'clock ante-meridian in each year the standard time in this commonwealth shall be one hour in advance of the United States standard eastern time.
Sources
- Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 4, § 10 (Daylight saving time) Official · malegislature.gov
- 15 U.S.C. § 260a (Uniform Time Act, state exemption) Mirror of official text · law.cornell.edu
- NCSL, Daylight Saving Time State Legislation (updated Oct. 12, 2026) Secondary · ncsl.org
Confirm with the state
- Agency
- Massachusetts Legislature
- Website
- malegislature.gov
How bordering states compare
- Connecticut Observes DSTConnecticut observes daylight saving time under state law and has no enacted law to change that.
- New Hampshire Observes DSTNew Hampshire observes daylight saving time under state law and has not enacted a year-round time law.
- New York Observes DSTNew York observes daylight saving time and has no enacted law to go year-round.
- Rhode Island Observes DSTRhode Island's law moves its clocks forward one hour each spring and back each fall.
- Vermont Observes DSTVermont observes daylight saving time by statute and has not passed a law to change that.
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