Kentucky Time Zone Map
Eastern Time in the east; the western half is Central.
Time zones in Kentucky
| Zone | IANA | Standard | Daylight | Abbr |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eastern Time | America/Kentucky/Louisville | UTC−5 | UTC−4 | EST / EDT |
| Eastern Time | America/Kentucky/Monticello | UTC−5 | UTC−4 | EST / EDT |
| Central Time | America/Chicago | UTC−6 | UTC−5 | CST / CDT |
Kentucky is split east–west: the eastern half (Louisville, Lexington, Frankfort) observes Eastern Time, and the western half (Bowling Green, Owensboro, Paducah) observes Central Time. The line zigzags along county borders through the middle of the state, so a drive from Louisville to Bowling Green on I-65 sets the clock back an hour.
Wayne County, around Monticello, moved from Central to Eastern Time in 2000, which is why the IANA database keeps a separate America/Kentucky/Monticello zone; today it is ordinary Eastern Time.
Frequently asked questions
How many time zones does Kentucky have?
Two: Eastern Time in the east (Louisville, Lexington) and Central Time in the west (Bowling Green, Paducah). Western Kentucky uses the IANA zone America/Chicago; Louisville uses America/Kentucky/Louisville.
What time zone is Louisville in?
Eastern Time — Louisville is in the eastern half of Kentucky, one hour ahead of western Kentucky.
What time zone is Bowling Green in?
Central Time. Bowling Green sits in western Kentucky, which keeps CST/CDT.
Sources: zone boundaries from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s time zone regulations (49 CFR Part 71); offsets and daylight saving rules from the IANA time zone database. See Data Sources for how this site uses them.