Time in Rhode Island, as in all US states, is regulated by the United States Department of Transportation.[1] Rhode Island is in the Eastern Time Zone (ET) and observes daylight saving time (DST).
| Time | UTC | ||
| Standard time (winter) | Eastern Standard Time (EST) | ||
| Daylight time (summer) | Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) |
Independent of daylight saving time, solar noon in Rhode Island on the March equinox is about 11:53, which is earlier than most areas of the United States. The state is small enough that geographical location only results in a difference of a few minutes.
| Date (approx.) | Location | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Little Compton | ||||
| 11:54 | 11:52 | 11:52 | ||
| 11:49 | 11:47 | 11:46 | ||
| 11:40 | 11:39 | 11:38 | ||
| 11:45 | 11:44 | 11:43 | ||
Like the other five New England states, which also use the Eastern Time Zone, sunset in the winter in Rhode Island can occur as early as 4:30 p.m. Most of the New England states have considered using the Atlantic Time Zone without daylight saving to mitigate this. While Rhode Island considered such a bill in 2016,[3] it would only take effect if Massachusetts did the same.[4]
The IANA time zone database identifier for Rhode Island is America/New_York.[5]
Time in New England states: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont