Montana · MT · Time & calendar
Montana: Does the state observe daylight saving time?
Observes DST, law to go year-round
Montana observes daylight saving time but enacted a 2021 law for year-round Mountain Daylight Time once approvals are in place.
Senate Bill 254 (2021) makes Mountain Daylight Time the state's year-round time, but only if other states approve similar changes and the U.S. Department of Transportation or Congress approves. Those conditions have not been met, so Montanans still change clocks twice a year. A 2025 proposal to stay on standard time year-round did not pass.
Conditions
- Contingent on similar approvals in other states
- Contingent on approval by the U.S. Department of Transportation or Congress
What the law says
The year-round observed time of the entire state and all of the state's political subdivisions is mountain daylight time. The state exempts all areas of the state from mountain standard time.
Sources
- Mont. Code Ann. § 1-3-110 (Mountain daylight time), effective on occurrence of contingency; En. Sec. 1, Ch. 447, L. 2021 Official · mca.legmt.gov
- Montana Legislative Services Division, Daylight Savings Time topic primer (SB 254 title) Official · archive.legmt.gov
- NCSL, Daylight Saving Time State Legislation (updated Oct. 12, 2026) Secondary · ncsl.org
Confirm with the state
- Agency
- Montana Legislature
- Website
- leg.mt.gov
How bordering states compare
- Idaho Observes DST, law to go year-roundIdaho observes daylight saving time; a 2020 law would make it permanent in Idaho's Pacific time zone once Washington does.
- North Dakota Observes DSTNorth Dakota observes daylight saving time; 2025 bills to drop it or go year-round failed.
- South Dakota Observes DSTSouth Dakota observes daylight saving time under federal law and has not passed a law to change that.
- Wyoming Observes DST, law to go year-roundWyoming observes daylight saving time and has a 2020 law to stay on it all year if Congress and three other western states act.