Texas is big. You’ve heard that before, right? But until you’re actually driving across it, you don't realize just how much land that "bigness" covers. It’s so massive that it literally can't fit into a single time zone. If you are looking for texas local time now, you first have to ask: Where in Texas are you actually talking about?
Most people just assume everything from the Piney Woods to the Rio Grande follows the same clock. Honestly, that’s a mistake that leads to missed flights and awkward "you’re an hour early" phone calls.
The Weird Split of Texas Local Time Now
Basically, the Lone Star State is split between two different time zones: Central and Mountain.
The vast majority of the state—we’re talking about 252 out of 254 counties—runs on Central Time. This includes all the heavy hitters you know, like Houston, Dallas, San Antonio, and Austin. If you’re in the Hill Country or hanging out on the Gulf Coast, you’re on Central Time.
But then there’s West Texas.
El Paso and Hudspeth counties are the outliers. They sit in the Mountain Time Zone. It’s a geographical necessity. El Paso is actually closer to San Diego, California, than it is to Houston. When people in Dallas are finishing their lunch at 1:00 PM, folks in El Paso are just starting theirs at noon.
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Why the extra hour matters
It’s not just a trivia fact. It affects real life. If you’re driving west on I-10 toward New Mexico, you’ll hit a point just past Van Horn where your car’s dashboard clock might suddenly jump back an hour.
Northwestern Culberson County is another weird one. While it's officially Central, parts of it near Guadalupe Mountains National Park often unofficially use Mountain Time because it just makes more sense for the hikers and the local flow of life.
Is it Standard or Daylight Saving Time?
As of early 2026, Texas is currently in Standard Time.
We’ve been in this cycle for decades. Every spring, we "spring forward," and every fall, we "fall back." It’s a polarizing topic in the Texas Legislature. Every few years, a bill pops up in Austin trying to either stay on Daylight Saving Time permanently or scrap the switches altogether. So far, nothing has stuck.
Here is how the 2026 calendar actually looks for the time switches:
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- March 8, 2026: We move the clocks forward one hour.
- November 1, 2026: We move them back.
If you’re checking texas local time now in January or February, you’re looking at Central Standard Time (CST) or Mountain Standard Time (MST).
CST is $UTC-6$.
MST is $UTC-7$.
When March hits and we switch to Daylight Saving, those offsets change to $-5$ and $-6$ respectively.
Real Examples of the "Texas Time Gap"
Imagine you’re a business owner in Austin trying to coordinate a logistics pickup in El Paso. You schedule it for 9:00 AM "Texas time." Your driver shows up in El Paso, but the warehouse doesn't open for another hour. Why? Because while it's 9:00 AM in Austin, it's only 8:00 AM in El Paso.
This happens more than you’d think.
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Traveling across the state is a lesson in patience and chronobiology. If you leave Beaumont at sunrise and drive to the New Mexico border, you’re looking at about 12 hours of driving. By the time you arrive, you’ve "gained" an hour, but your body still feels like it’s 8:00 PM even though the local El Paso clock says 7:00 PM.
How to Stay Current Without the Headache
Honestly, the easiest way to keep track of texas local time now is to rely on your smartphone, but even that can be tricky near the border. If your phone pings a tower in a different county, it might flip the time on you without warning.
Always check the specific city.
- Dallas/Fort Worth: Central Time
- Houston: Central Time
- San Antonio: Central Time
- Austin: Central Time
- El Paso: Mountain Time
- Hudspeth County: Mountain Time
Actionable Next Steps
If you are planning a trip or a meeting across the state, don't just search for "Texas time." Specify the city. Check if it's currently March through November to account for the Daylight Saving shift. If you're driving through West Texas, keep a manual watch set to your home time so you don't get disoriented when your phone starts jumping between zones near the Hudspeth County line.