San José uses America/Costa_Rica — UTC-06:00 (CST) in standard time. It is located in San José, Costa Rica. The live clock shows the current local time and updates every second.
Everything you need to know about San José's time zone, UTC offset, and Daylight Saving Time schedule.
San José uses UTC-06:00 in standard time. This is the offset used outside the daylight saving period.
This zone does not observe daylight saving time and stays on UTC-06:00 year-round.
The official IANA time zone name for San José is America/Costa_Rica. This identifier is used in programming, operating systems and calendar applications worldwide.
No daylight saving transitions are scheduled for this zone.
Alajuela, Cartago
Currency: Costa Rican Colón (CRC). Calling code: +506. Languages: Spanish.
San José (Spanish: [saŋ xoˈse]; meaning "Saint Joseph") is the capital and largest city of Costa Rica, and the capital of San José Province. It is in the center of the country, in the mid-west of the Central Valley. San José is Costa Rica's seat of national government, focal point of political and economic activity, and major transportation hub.
San José is simultaneously one of Costa Rica's cantons, with its municipal land area covering 44.62 square kilometers (17.23 square miles) and having within it an estimated population of 352,381 people in 2022.
Together with several other cantons of the central valley, including Alajuela, Heredia and Cartago, it forms the country's Greater Metropolitan Area, with an estimated population of over 2 million in 2017. The city is named in honor of Joseph of Nazareth.
Founded in 1736 by order of Cabildo de León, the population of San José rose during the 18th century through the use of colonial planning. It has historically been a city of strategic importance, having been the capital of Costa Rica three times. More than a million people pass through it daily.
Source: Wikipedia contributors — San José, Costa Rica. Adapted text is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; see licence details. Reviewed by the TimeZoria AI Editorial Team.
335,007 residents (GeoNames city population; metro areas may be larger).
San José, Costa Rica.
America/Costa_Rica · UTC-06:00 (CST).
No daylight saving time.
Costa Rican Colón (CRC) · +506.
Alajuela, Cartago, David
Juan Santamaría International Airport (SJO) about 15.1 km from the city coordinates. Source: OurAirports (public domain).
2024 averages: daily highs 25.6°C and lows 16.6°C. Warmest month: March (average high 28.7°C); coolest month: August (average low 16.2°C). Source: Open-Meteo (CC BY 4.0).
Region: San José · IANA zone: America/Costa_Rica · Open data sources and licence details: TimeZoria AI licenses.
Current time in major cities compared to San José. Times update live every second.
Note on DST transitions: The offsets shown above reflect the current live offset, which changes twice a year due to Daylight Saving Time. Different regions change their clocks on different dates, which means the difference between San José and another city can vary by 1 hour for a short period in spring and autumn. Always verify the exact time difference around DST transition dates for critical scheduling.
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San José's time zone affects business hours, travel plans and international calls. The America/Costa_Rica zone is used for local scheduling, transport and everyday life in San José.
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Common questions about San José's time zone, UTC offset, and DST.