Current time in Santa Monica, United States
The current local time in Santa Monica is shown below. Santa Monica observes PST in winter and PDT during daylight saving time.
What's the daylight saving status?
When are sunrise & sunset today?
What are the timezone facts?
- Timezone
- America/Los_Angeles
- Standard abbreviation
- PST
- DST abbreviation
- PDT
- Observes daylight saving
- Yes
- Country
- 🇺🇸 United States
- Business hours
- 09:00 – 17:00 local
What's the timezone history of Santa Monica?
Santa Monica uses Pacific Time alongside the rest of California, with federal DST. Despite being just 25 kilometres from downtown Los Angeles, the city has its own independent municipal government and considers itself operationally distinct from LA proper. The Pacific time anchoring is particularly relevant for the substantial entertainment industry presence (Hulu, Lionsgate, and others headquartered in the city), where East Coast network and major-studio scheduling forces predictable late-morning starts to overlap with New York's afternoon.
What are the working hours in Santa Monica?
Technology (Snap Inc.'s headquarters is in the city) and entertainment dominate the modern Santa Monica working economy. The 'Silicon Beach' cluster running through Venice, Santa Monica, and Playa Vista hosts a substantial venture-backed startup ecosystem. Standard office hours skew 10:00 to 18:30 or 19:00 in tech and entertainment. The beach economy adds substantial peak weekend traffic. The Santa Monica Pier hosts free Twilight Concerts series Thursday evenings July through August. Federal holidays apply, with industry-specific film and television production closures around the autumn awards season.
Where is Santa Monica?
Santa Monica sits on the Pacific coast immediately west of Los Angeles, at the western end of the Los Angeles Basin. The city proper holds around 90,000 residents within the wider Los Angeles metropolitan area. The historic Santa Monica Pier, built in 1909, marks the western terminus of historic US Route 66. The Santa Monica Mountains rise immediately north, with the Pacific Palisades neighbourhood occupying the cliffs above the beach. The Third Street Promenade and the adjacent Santa Monica Place anchor the pedestrian commercial core.