On New Year's Eve, many localities in the United States and elsewhere mark the beginning of a new year through the raising or lowering of an object. Many of these events are patterned on festivities that have been held at New York City's Times Square since 1908, where a large crystal ball is lowered down a pole atop One Times Square (beginning its descent at 11:59:00 p.m. local time, and concluding at midnight). In turn, the event was inspired by the time balls used by ship navigators in the 19th century to calibrate their chronometers. Whilst some of these events use a ball in imitation of Times Square, many "drops" utilize objects that represent an aspect of local culture, geography, or history. Ball drops are by far the most common in, but not exclusive to, the United States.

List of drops or raises by time zone and location

UTC+08:00

Atlantic Time Zone

Bermuda

Puerto Rico

North American Eastern Time Zone

Delaware

Florida

Georgia

Indiana

Kentucky

Maine

Maryland

Michigan

Minnesota

New Jersey

New York

New York holds many elaborate drops, particularly the ball drop at Times Square and at the Electric Tower in Buffalo. The state comes in second in America for the most items dropped on New Year's Eve.

North Carolina

Ohio

Ontario

Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania is the state where the most objects are dropped on New Year's Eve, though the tradition has declined in recent years in places such as Lancaster County.

South Carolina

Tennessee (Eastern)

Virginia

West Virginia

US Central Time Zone

Alabama

Arkansas

Florida Panhandle

Illinois

Indiana (Northwest & Southwest)

Iowa

Kansas

Louisiana

Mississippi

Missouri

Oklahoma

Tennessee (Central and Western)

Texas

Wisconsin

US Mountain Time Zone

Arizona

Idaho

New Mexico

Wyoming

US Pacific Time Zone

California

Nevada

Oregon

Washington