Do most Americans want to get rid of daylight saving time?

Most want to stop changing the clocks. A February 2026 YouGov poll found 64% want the switch eliminated and 16% don't, and an AP-NORC poll found only 12% favor the current system. They're split on which time to keep.

Why do doctors prefer permanent standard time?

Standard time lines the clock up with the sun, so people get more morning light, which keeps the body clock on track. The American Academy of Sleep Medicine and the American Medical Association both support permanent standard time.

Can a state stay on standard time all year?

Yes. Federal law lets states opt out of daylight saving time and stay on standard time year-round, as Hawaii and most of Arizona do. States can't adopt permanent daylight saving time without Congress changing the law.

Americans are done changing the clocks. Permanent standard time is the way to stop it

Polls agree people want the switching gone. They split on which time to keep, and the science and the law both point to standard time.

The clocks fell back an hour early this morning, and most of the country would be happy if that were the last time. Only 12% of Americans favor the current system of switching twice a year, an AP-NORC poll found last October. In a YouGov survey this February, 64% said they'd like the clocks to stop changing and just 16% said they wouldn't.

Majorities of Democrats (56%), independents (62%), and Republicans (75%) all want the switch gone, YouGov found, and the numbers barely move between early risers and late sleepers.

Where people split is on which time to keep. Ask Americans to pick, and more choose permanent daylight saving time. YouGov had it 43% to 28% over permanent standard time. AP-NORC had it 56% to 42%. Gallup, which also let people keep the switch, found the reverse in January 2025: 48% wanted permanent standard time and 24% wanted permanent daylight saving time.

The reason is easy to see in the details. Most Americans, 64%, told YouGov they prefer it to get dark later in the evening. On mornings, they're split almost evenly: 33% want it to get light earlier and 35% want it to get light later. Evening light is the draw. Mornings are where people disagree.

Look a little closer, though, and standard time isn't a hard sell. More Americans support permanent standard time than oppose it, 43% to 23%, according to YouGov. For a lot of people, the goal is ending the switch, and either answer will do.

Enthusiasm for the daylight saving version is also cooling. In a Drive Research survey this year, 54% supported the Sunshine Protection Act, the bill that would make daylight saving time permanent. In 2022 it was 68%. The share who are neutral rose to 32%, from 19%. Only 42% think the bill will become law.

The health case favors standard time. The American Academy of Sleep Medicine, the American Medical Association, and other medical groups back permanent standard time because it lines up the clock with the sun. The sleep academy says standard time "aligns best with human circadian biology." Our earlier look at the case for ending the clock change covers the crash, heart attack, and stroke research around the spring switch.

Newer work points the same way. A 2025 study from Stanford researchers Jamie Zeitzer and Lara Weed, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, modeled how each option would affect the body clock across U.S. counties. Permanent standard time came out best: about 300,000 fewer strokes a year and 2.6 million fewer people with obesity, according to Scientific American. Permanent daylight saving time delivered only about two-thirds of that benefit. Those are model estimates, and the authors said more research is needed.

Real-world evidence comes from time zone borders, where neighboring counties see sunset an hour apart. An extra hour of evening light cut sleep by an average of 19 minutes and made people more likely to report not getting enough sleep, economists Osea Giuntella and Fabrizio Mazzonna found in a 2019 study in the Journal of Health Economics. Permanent daylight saving time would put the whole country on later sunsets, all year.

Standard time doesn't need Congress. This may be the strongest practical argument. Under federal law, a state can already opt out of daylight saving time and stay on standard time all year. Hawaii and most of Arizona do, including Phoenix. Permanent daylight saving time is the one option states aren't allowed to pick on their own. That's why the 19 states that have passed laws for year-round daylight saving time, Texas most recently in 2025, are all waiting on Washington, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

Washington is stuck. The House passed the Sunshine Protection Act 308-117 on July 14, and it stalled in the Senate. Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas has blocked quick passage, arguing that winter sunrises would come too late. On October 3, President Trump posted what he said was Cotton's cellphone number on Truth Social and urged people to call him, writing "TAKE THE WIN TOM, JUST TAKE THE WIN!" CNN reported. Cotton answered on X that permanent daylight saving time had been repealed before once winter sunrises got too late.

He has history on his side. The country tried year-round daylight saving time in January 1974, and Congress voted to undo it that October, according to the Congressional Research Service. With the Senate in recess and Tuesday's election days away, the bill seems unlikely to move soon, Michigan Public reported. If it doesn't pass before this Congress ends in January, it has to start over.

Any state tired of waiting has a way out today: stay on standard time, the way Arizona has for decades. If nothing changes, the clocks spring forward again on March 14, 2027.