✨ The new timezoneconverter.co is live: a faster converter, a meeting planner that adds calls to your calendar, and new guides.💜 Thank you for helping us reach almost 10,000 users every month.
timezoneconverter.co
☰
Converter Time now US time now UK time now Singapore time now World cities Countries All converters Guides About Plan a meeting

CST to EST converter

New York is 1 hour ahead of Chicago all year. If you live on Central Time, most national schedules are written for the East Coast, and you are the one doing the subtraction.

From
Chicago
To
New York
Live
ChicagoCST
8:30 AM
 
Early morning
New YorkEST
9:30 AM
 
Working hours

New York is 1 hour ahead of Chicago.

Need a time that works for three or more people or cities? Plan a meeting →
Gap
1 hour
Central behind Eastern, all year
NYSE opening bell
8:30 AM CT
Closing bell at 3:00 PM CT
TV “8/7c”
7 PM CT
Prime time starts an hour earlier on your clock
Midnight ET deadline
10:59 PM CT
An hour earlier than it looks

A Central Time guide to an Eastern Time country

From Chicago, Dallas or Minneapolis, the East Coast is only an hour away on the clock, but it sets many of the times you live by: markets, TV listings, head-office meetings and online deadlines.

Reading “8/7c” TV listings

Networks print two times: Eastern, then Central. In the Central zone the live feed is not delayed, so shows air an hour earlier by your clock.

  • “8/7c” means 7 PM where you are
  • Late-night shows at 11:35 PM ET start at 10:35 PM CT
  • Sunday Night Football at 8:20 PM ET = 7:20 PM CT

Central viewers get prime time wrapped up by 10 PM, which is why local news runs at 10 rather than 11.

Markets, from New York and Chicago

New York’s exchanges run on Eastern Time; Chicago’s own futures exchange publishes its hours in Central.

  • NYSE and Nasdaq: 8:30 AM–3:00 PM CT
  • CME Globex equity futures pause daily from 4 to 5 PM CT, which is 5:00 PM–6:00 PM ET

A trader in Chicago starts the day at 8:30 and is done by 3.

Head office on the East Coast

If your company is run from New York, Atlanta or Washington, meetings arrive in Eastern Time.

  • A 9 AM ET all-hands is 8:00 AM CT
  • A “by 5 PM ET” deadline is 4:00 PM CT
  • An 11:59 PM ET online deadline closes at 10:59 PM CT

Flying east

You lose an hour on the way out and win it back coming home.

  • Leave O’Hare at 8 AM and, after a two-hour flight, land in New York around 11 AM ET
  • Coming back, a 6 PM ET departure lands in Chicago around 7:30 PM CT, after about two and a half hours in the air

CST, CDT and the places that stay on CST

CST is UTC−6 and applies from November to March; CDT is UTC−5 and applies from March to November. That means Chicago in summer has the same UTC offset that New York has in winter, which is why “EST” and “CDT” sometimes get mixed up in international invites.

Not everywhere on Central Time changes clocks. Mexico City dropped daylight saving in 2022 and Saskatchewan never used it. Both stay on CST all year, so in summer they are an hour behind Chicago and 2 hours behind New York: noon in New York in July is 10:00 AM in Mexico City and 10:00 AM in Regina.

Central Time to Eastern Time, every hour

New York is the same in every season. Mexico City only matches Chicago from November to March. Shaded rows are Central hours when New York offices are open.

Chicago (CT)New YorkEastern, +1Mexico City, Nov–Marsame as ChicagoMexico City, Mar–Nov−1 from Chicago
12:00 AM (midnight)1:00 AM12:00 AM11:00 PM prev. day
1:00 AM2:00 AM1:00 AM12:00 AM
2:00 AM3:00 AM2:00 AM1:00 AM
3:00 AM4:00 AM3:00 AM2:00 AM
4:00 AM5:00 AM4:00 AM3:00 AM
5:00 AM6:00 AM5:00 AM4:00 AM
6:00 AM7:00 AM6:00 AM5:00 AM
7:00 AM8:00 AM7:00 AM6:00 AM
8:00 AM9:00 AM8:00 AM7:00 AM
9:00 AM10:00 AM9:00 AM8:00 AM
10:00 AM11:00 AM10:00 AM9:00 AM
11:00 AM12:00 PM11:00 AM10:00 AM
12:00 PM (noon)1:00 PM12:00 PM11:00 AM
1:00 PM2:00 PM1:00 PM12:00 PM
2:00 PM3:00 PM2:00 PM1:00 PM
3:00 PM4:00 PM3:00 PM2:00 PM
4:00 PM5:00 PM4:00 PM3:00 PM
5:00 PM6:00 PM5:00 PM4:00 PM
6:00 PM7:00 PM6:00 PM5:00 PM
7:00 PM8:00 PM7:00 PM6:00 PM
8:00 PM9:00 PM8:00 PM7:00 PM
9:00 PM10:00 PM9:00 PM8:00 PM
10:00 PM11:00 PM10:00 PM9:00 PM
11:00 PM12:00 AM next day11:00 PM10:00 PM

“next day”: New York has already reached the following date.

Quick answers

What time is it in New York when it is 8:30 AM in Chicago?

9:30 AM in New York, in every season. The New York Stock Exchange opens at that moment.

What does 8/7c mean?

It is a TV listing: 8 PM Eastern, 7 PM Central. In the Central zone the show airs at 7 PM local time.

What is 3 PM CST in EST?

4:00 PM EST. In summer, 3 PM CDT is 4:00 PM EDT, still one hour ahead.

Is Mexico City on the same time as Chicago?

Only from November to March. Mexico City stopped using daylight saving time in 2022, so from March to November it is an hour behind Chicago.

What time does the stock market close in Central Time?

The NYSE and Nasdaq close at 4 PM Eastern, which is 3:00 PM Central.

Does Texas use Central or Eastern Time?

Almost all of Texas uses Central Time. The exception is the far west, including El Paso, which uses Mountain Time.