What is the time difference between Sydney and San Francisco?

San Francisco is 17 hours behind Sydney. That figure is current — it changes by an hour when either city starts or ends daylight saving, and the exact dates are listed above.

When is the best time to call San Francisco from Sydney?

Between 10:00–11:00 in Sydney, which is 17:00–18:00 in San Francisco. That is the only stretch where both cities are inside a 09:00–18:00 day.

Does Sydney observe daylight saving time?

Yes. Sydney runs on UTC+10 in winter and UTC+11 in summer. The next change is on 2026-10-04, when clocks go forward by 60 minutes.

Does San Francisco observe daylight saving time?

Yes. San Francisco runs on UTC-8 in winter and UTC-7 in summer. The next change is on 2026-11-01, when clocks go back by 60 minutes.

If it is midday in Sydney, what time is it in San Francisco?

It is 19:00 in San Francisco, still on the previous day. That holds for the current offsets; it shifts by an hour around the daylight saving dates listed above.

Which time zones do Sydney and San Francisco use?

Sydney uses Australia/Sydney, currently UTC+10 (AEST), and San Francisco uses America/Los_Angeles, currently UTC-7 (PDT). Those identifiers are the ones to use in code — abbreviations are ambiguous and offsets change.

Convert Sydney time to San Francisco time

San Francisco is 17 hours behind Sydney right now, so midday in Sydney lands in the evening in San Francisco.

Convert a time

From

Date

Time

Converted time

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The converter needs JavaScript to run. Everything below — offsets, daylight saving dates and the hour-by-hour table — is part of the page and works without it.

Hour by hour

The whole day mapped across: read down the left for Sydney, across for San Francisco.

Sydney	San Francisco
00:00	07:00previous day
01:00	08:00previous day
02:00	09:00previous day
03:00	10:00previous day
04:00	11:00previous day
05:00	12:00previous day
06:00	13:00previous day
07:00	14:00previous day
08:00	15:00previous day
09:00	16:00previous day
10:00	17:00previous day
11:00	18:00previous day
12:00	19:00previous day
13:00	20:00previous day
14:00	21:00previous day
15:00	22:00previous day
16:00	23:00previous day
17:00	00:00
18:00	01:00
19:00	02:00
20:00	03:00
21:00	04:00
22:00	05:00
23:00	06:00

Daylight saving time

Both cities change their clocks, but not necessarily on the same date — which is why the difference between them shifts for a few weeks each year.

Sydney

Observes daylight saving time

Standard: UTC+10
Daylight: UTC+11
Next change: 2026-10-04 +60m

San Francisco

Observes daylight saving time

Standard: UTC-8
Daylight: UTC-7
Next change: 2026-11-01 −60m

When you can actually talk

You have 1 hour of shared working time: 10:00–11:00 in Sydney, which is 17:00–18:00 in San Francisco.

Sydney 10:00–11:00San Francisco 17:00–18:00
Sydney 09:00–10:00San Francisco 16:00–17:00

Reference

The underlying data, in case you need to put it in a calendar invitation or a configuration file.

	Sydney	San Francisco
IANA zone	Australia/Sydney	America/Los_Angeles
Abbreviation	AEST	PDT
Standard offset	UTC+10	UTC-8
Daylight offset	UTC+11	UTC-7
Clock changes this year	2	2
Country	Australia	United States

Example, not the current time. Live times appear once the page loads.

Common questions

What is the time difference between Sydney and San Francisco?: San Francisco is 17 hours behind Sydney. That figure is current — it changes by an hour when either city starts or ends daylight saving, and the exact dates are listed above.
When is the best time to call San Francisco from Sydney?: Between 10:00–11:00 in Sydney, which is 17:00–18:00 in San Francisco. That is the only stretch where both cities are inside a 09:00–18:00 day.
Does Sydney observe daylight saving time?: Yes. Sydney runs on UTC+10 in winter and UTC+11 in summer. The next change is on 2026-10-04, when clocks go forward by 60 minutes.
Does San Francisco observe daylight saving time?: Yes. San Francisco runs on UTC-8 in winter and UTC-7 in summer. The next change is on 2026-11-01, when clocks go back by 60 minutes.
If it is midday in Sydney, what time is it in San Francisco?: It is 19:00 in San Francisco, still on the previous day. That holds for the current offsets; it shifts by an hour around the daylight saving dates listed above.
Which time zones do Sydney and San Francisco use?: Sydney uses Australia/Sydney, currently UTC+10 (AEST), and San Francisco uses America/Los_Angeles, currently UTC-7 (PDT). Those identifiers are the ones to use in code — abbreviations are ambiguous and offsets change.