Boston Sunrise and Sunset Times Right Now

Solar noon in Boston hits roughly 11:45 AM EST in winter and 12:45 PM EDT in summer. The clock says noon. The sun disagrees.

Event Typical Time (EDT) Typical Time (EST)
Sunrise 05:06 (June solstice) to 07:09 (December solstice) 06:49 (March equinox) to 07:09 (December solstice)
Solar noon ~12:45 PM ~11:45 AM
Sunset 20:24 (June solstice) to 16:14 (December solstice) 18:55 (March equinox) to 16:14 (December solstice)

The solstice and equinox figures come from the 2026 calendar. For any other date, the live tool above gives the exact times.

Golden Hour and Twilight in Boston

Three twilight phases matter, depending on what you are doing.

  • Civil twilight (sun 0-6° below horizon): enough light to read outside. Starts roughly 30 minutes before sunrise, ends roughly 30 minutes after sunset.
  • Nautical twilight (sun 6-12° below horizon): horizon still visible at sea. Sailors use it.
  • Astronomical twilight (sun 12-18° below horizon): sky dark enough for most observing.

Golden hour is the first hour after sunrise and the last hour before sunset. The timing shifts with the seasons and with DST.

How Boston Day Length Changes Across 2026

Boston’s daylight swings more than six hours between extremes.

  • June solstice (21 June 2026): 15 h 17 min. Longest day.
  • December solstice (21 December 2026): 9 h 5 min. Shortest day.
  • March equinox (20 March 2026): 12 h 6 min.
  • September equinox (22 September 2026): 12 h 14 min.

Day length changes fastest around the equinoxes. Boston gains or loses more than 2.5 minutes of daylight per day in March and September. Around the solstices, the change slows to under 30 seconds per day.

Why Solar Noon Misses 12:00 in Boston

Two forces push solar noon off the clock.

  1. Longitude. Boston sits at 71.1°W. The Eastern Time Zone centers on the 75th meridian. That 3.9° gap delays solar noon by about 16 minutes. EST puts it near 11:45 AM. EDT shoves it to roughly 12:45 PM.

  2. The Equation of Time. Earth’s orbit is elliptical, its axis tilted. Solar noon drifts up to 16 minutes day to day. The wobble is smallest in April, June, and December. Largest in February and November.

A sundial in Boston needs both corrections. The live clock above handles them.

Getting the Right Boston Sunrise and Sunset for Your Plans

Check civil twilight, not sunrise, if you need usable light for a shoot, a run, or a job start. Astronomers want the astronomical twilight end time. That is when the sky goes fully dark.

Do not use a fixed rule like “sunrise at 7 AM.” In Boston, sunrise shifts two full hours between December and June. Pull the exact time for your date from the tool above.