OBJECTIVE: To assess the timing of first antenatal care attendance and associated factors among pregnant women in Arba Minch Town and Arba Minch District, south Ethiopia. METHOD: Facility based cross-sectional study employing both quantitative and qualitative methods was conducted from February to March, 2014, in Arba Minch Town and Arba Minch District. Data were collected from 409 pregnant women attending antenatal care clinics in nine public health facilities using systematic random sampling. Analysis was done using SPSS version 20. Descriptive statistics and binary and multiple logistic regression analysis were done. RESULTS: The mean (SD±) age of the respondents was 26 ± 5.5 years. The mean gestational age at first antenatal care attendance was 5 ± 1.5 months. This study indicated that pregnant women with low monthly income (AOR = 4.9, CI: 1.71, 14.08), women who did not receive advise on when to start ANC (AOR = 3, CI: 1.48, 6.24), women with household food insecurity (AOR = 4.66, CI: 1.007, 21.59) and women with unplanned pregnancy (AOR = 4.49, CI: 2.16, 9.35) had higher odds of late antenatal care attendance compared with their counterparts. CONCLUSIONS: The study showed that majority of the pregnant women attended late for first antenatal care. Hence, providing health education on the timing of antenatal care is important.