Guide · updated 2026-09-30
How many hours of daylight at each latitude?
Short answer
Hours of daylight by latitude
Northern Hemisphere latitudes. For the Southern Hemisphere, swap the June and December columns.
| Latitude | Mar 20 | Jun 21 | Sep 22 | Dec 21 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0° N | 12 h 07 min | 12 h 07 min | 12 h 06 min | 12 h 08 min |
| 10° N | 12 h 07 min | 12 h 43 min | 12 h 07 min | 11 h 33 min |
| 20° N | 12 h 07 min | 13 h 21 min | 12 h 07 min | 10 h 55 min |
| 30° N | 12 h 07 min | 14 h 05 min | 12 h 08 min | 10 h 13 min |
| 40° N | 12 h 08 min | 15 h 01 min | 12 h 10 min | 9 h 20 min |
| 50° N | 12 h 10 min | 16 h 22 min | 12 h 12 min | 8 h 04 min |
| 60° N | 12 h 13 min | 18 h 52 min | 12 h 16 min | 5 h 52 min |
| 66° N | 12 h 16 min | 24 h 00 min | 12 h 20 min | 2 h 47 min |
| 70° N | 12 h 18 min | 24 h 00 min | 12 h 24 min | 0 h 00 min |
| 80° N | 12 h 36 min | 24 h 00 min | 12 h 47 min | 0 h 00 min |
Why latitude controls day length
Earth's axis is tilted about 23.4° from the plane of its orbit. In June the Northern Hemisphere leans toward the sun, so each parallel spends more than half of its circle in daylight. The farther north the parallel, the larger that daylit share. In December the lean reverses.
At the equator the daylit share stays near half all year, so day length barely moves: 12 h 08 min in December and 12 h 07 min in June. Near the Arctic Circle it swings to the extremes of midnight sun and polar night.
The Arctic Circle and polar day
Above about 66.6° N the sun stays up for at least one full day around the June solstice and stays down for at least one full day around the December solstice. With refraction and the sun's disk counted, the midnight sun reaches slightly south of the circle, so the table's 66° row shows 24 h 00 min on June 21. Alaska's North Slope lies north of the circle. The Arctic Circle page maps the line.
What this means across the US
US state capitals run from about 21° N in Honolulu to about 58° N in Juneau. That puts the June to December swing between 2 h 36 min in Honolulu and 11 h 54 min in Juneau. The sunrise and sunset guide lists every capital, and each has its own monthly sunrise and sunset page.
How fast day length changes
Day length changes fastest near the equinoxes and slowest near the solstices, following a curve close to a sine wave. At 40° N the day grows by 2.7 minutes from March 20 to March 21, while from June 21 to June 22 it changes by 2 seconds. The monthly daylight pages show the change day by day for each capital.
Worked example: Juneau and Honolulu on the same day
On June 21, 2026, Juneau at 58.3° N gets 18 h 17 min of daylight and Honolulu at 21.3° N gets 13 h 26 min. Six months later the order flips: Juneau gets 6 h 22 min and Honolulu 10 h 50 min. Across the year both get about the same total, since what one season gives the other takes away. Latitude changes how daylight is spread over the year, not how much of it there is in total.
The Southern Hemisphere mirror
South of the equator the pattern runs in reverse. At 40° S the longest day falls in December and the shortest in June, with the same lengths as at 40° N six months apart, give or take a few minutes from the slightly uneven orbit. The day and night map shows the line between day and night moving across both hemispheres in real time.
Try it
Sunrise sunset calculator
Sunrise, sunset, golden hour, and day length on the local clock of any place.
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Questions people ask
Why is there no sunrise on some days in the table?
Above the Arctic Circle the sun can stay up or stay down for a full day. The table shows 24 h or 0 h for those days.
Which US state capital has the longest June day?
Juneau, Alaska, with 18 h 17 min of daylight on June 21, 2026.
How many hours of daylight does 40 degrees north get in June?
About 15 h 01 min on June 21, and 9 h 20 min on December 21.
Does every place get 12 hours of daylight on the equinox?
Slightly more. Counting from the sun's upper edge and including refraction, the equator gets 12 h 07 min on March 20.
Where is the longest day in the contiguous US?
The farther north, the longer the June day. The northern border states get the most June daylight.
At what latitude is there 24 hours of daylight?
At and above about 66.6° N on the June solstice, and slightly south of that once refraction is counted.
Sources and data as of
Data as of: computed with SunCalc for 2026.
How every number is computed: methodology. Spotted a wrong figure? Report an error.