Tennessee Time Zone Map
Central Time; East Tennessee is Eastern.
Time zones in Tennessee
| Zone | IANA | Standard | Daylight | Abbr |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Central Time | America/Chicago | UTC−6 | UTC−5 | CST / CDT |
| Eastern Time | America/New_York | UTC−5 | UTC−4 | EST / EDT |
Tennessee’s time-zone line roughly follows the boundary between its Middle and East “grand divisions”: West and Middle Tennessee (Memphis, Nashville, Clarksville) are on Central Time, and most of East Tennessee (Knoxville, Chattanooga, the Tri-Cities) is on Eastern Time. A drive east from Nashville to Knoxville on I-40 crosses the line on the Cumberland Plateau and moves the clock forward an hour.
Frequently asked questions
What time zone is Nashville in?
Central Time (CST/CDT), IANA zone America/Chicago.
What time zone is Knoxville in?
Eastern Time (EST/EDT), one hour ahead of Nashville and Memphis. Chattanooga is Eastern too.
How many time zones does Tennessee have?
Two: Central Time in West and Middle Tennessee, and Eastern Time in most of East Tennessee.
How does the U.S. map on this page show Tennessee?
The national map colors each state by its majority zone, so Tennessee appears Central. The zone table and city clocks on this page show the Eastern Time part around Knoxville and Chattanooga.
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.