Time difference between Los Angeles and Sydney

The gap is not the same all year

Every converter gives one number for this pair. That number is right for most of the year and wrong for part of it, because Los Angeles goes forward on the second Sunday in March and back on the first Sunday in November and Sydney goes forward on the first Sunday in October and back on the first Sunday in April.

These two are in opposite hemispheres, so their summers do not overlap: Los Angeles is on summer time roughly when Sydney is not. The gap does not wobble by an hour around a settled figure — it swings between 17 hours and 19 hours and spends a good part of the year at each. There is no single right answer to give a calendar, which is why a recurring meeting between them is worth setting in one city's local time and letting the other side see it move.

About Los Angeles and Sydney

Los Angeles is UTC−8 in winter and UTC−7 from March to November. California voted in 2018 to move to permanent daylight saving and has not been able to: the change needs an act of Congress, which has not come.

Sydney is UTC+10 in winter and UTC+11 from October to April. Its summer is the northern hemisphere's winter, so the gap to Europe and North America swings by two hours over the year rather than staying put.

What 17 hours actually costs you

The window is 1 hour wide and that is all there is. 4:00 PM–5:00 PM in Los Angeles is 9:00 AM–10:00 AM in Sydney, and anything outside it puts somebody at their desk when they are not meant to be. A pair this tight is worth putting in a calendar rather than agreeing each time.

At 17 hours the two are far enough apart that the date stops matching. Midday in Los Angeles is 5:00 AM the next day in Sydney. "Tomorrow morning" means different things to the two of you, and a deadline given without a date attached will be missed by one side or the other.

When they can both be at their desks

Nine-to-five in both cities overlaps for 1 hour — 4:00 PM to 5:00 PM in Los Angeles, the same moment as 9:00 AM to 10:00 AM in Sydney.

Los Angeles

Sydney

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How far apart Los Angeles and Sydney are

The shortest path over the Earth's surface between the two is 12,074 km (7,502 miles). Flown along that line, an airliner at cruising speed takes roughly 15 hours 5 minutes in the air — actual routings add to it, and whether a nonstop service exists depends on the airlines rather than the distance.

Over that distance you cross 17 hours of clock, which is where jet lag comes from: the body shifts by about an hour a day, so 17 hours takes most people 17 days or so to absorb. Flying east to Sydney is the harder direction — you lose the hours and have to fall asleep earlier than your body wants.

Los Angeles to Sydney, hour by hour

On the usual gap of 17 hours.

Frequently asked questions