What time is it in Bristol, Tennessee?

Most of Tennessee is on Central Daylight Time, but Bristol keeps Eastern Daylight Time — 1 hour ahead the rest of the state. This is the kind of thing that catches people out, and it is why the zone is resolved from the city’s own coordinates rather than assumed from the state.

Bristol is currently on daylight saving time. The next change is Sunday, November 1, 2026, when 2:00 am becomes 1:00 am local time.

Bristol sits at 36.56°N, 82.22°W. For sunrise and sunset there — which do depend on exactly where it is, unlike the clock — see sunrise and sunset in Bristol.

The clock says the same thing everywhere in Eastern Daylight Time, but the sun does not. Over Bristol it is highest at 1:21 pm today — 81 minutes after clock noon.

A time zone is fifteen degrees of longitude wide, so a city near its eastern edge sees the sun peak well before noon by the clock and one near the western edge well after. Bristol sits at 82.2°W, toward the western side of its zone, which is why the sun stays up later here than the clock suggests. Daylight saving adds another hour on top of that until the clocks change.