diff --git a/python/pyspark/context.py b/python/pyspark/context.py
index 1f2b40b29faf..aeb7ad4f2f83 100644
--- a/python/pyspark/context.py
+++ b/python/pyspark/context.py
@@ -291,6 +291,11 @@ def version(self):
         """
         return self._jsc.version()
 
+    @property
+    def startTime(self):
+        """Return the epoch time when the Spark Context was started."""
+        return self._jsc.startTime()
+
     @property
     def defaultParallelism(self):
         """
diff --git a/python/pyspark/tests.py b/python/pyspark/tests.py
index d8e319994cc9..f9fb37f7fc13 100644
--- a/python/pyspark/tests.py
+++ b/python/pyspark/tests.py
@@ -1809,6 +1809,10 @@ def run():
 
             sc.stop()
 
+    def test_startTime(self):
+        with SparkContext() as sc:
+            self.assertGreater(sc.startTime, 0)
+
 
 @unittest.skipIf(not _have_scipy, "SciPy not installed")
 class SciPyTests(PySparkTestCase):