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Timezone Prime

UTC to CST converter

Convert Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) to Central Time (CST/CDT), with daylight saving applied for the exact date you pick.

From

Tue, Oct 27

To

Tue, Oct 27 Same day

UTC 9 to 5 CDT 9 to 5

From zone
Coordinated Universal Time
Offset and clock
UTC+0 No daylight saving time
IANA name
Etc/UTC
To zone
Central Daylight Time
Offset and clock
UTC−5 Daylight saving time
IANA name
America/Chicago

CDT is 5 hours behind UTC.

Time difference
CDT is 5 hours behind UTC for most of the year (238 days in 2026). The gap is 6 hours for about 18 weeks in 2026.
Meeting window
Working days of 9 AM to 5 PM overlap from 2:00 PM to 5:00 PM UTC, which is 9:00 AM to 12:00 PM CDT while UTC and CDT apply.
Daylight saving
Central Time changes its clocks twice a year; Coordinated Universal Time does not.

Where UTC and CST apply

Shaded areas follow the official zone boundaries, so a country split across zones is split here too. Hover or tap a region for its local time.

  • Coordinated Universal Time
  • Central Time
  • Same UTC offset right now, different zone rules

Drag to pan. Ctrl and scroll, or pinch, to zoom. Boundaries: timezone-boundary-builder, © OpenStreetMap contributors

Hour by hour

Every hour of Tuesday, October 27, 2026, side by side. Days with a clock change show 23 or 25 rows.

Shaded rows fall inside working hours in both places.

Hourly comparison of the two time zones. Choose a time to load it in the converter.
Greenwich meridian (UTC) Chicago (CDT) Working hours
12:00 AM 7:00 PM previous day
1:00 AM 8:00 PM previous day
2:00 AM 9:00 PM previous day
3:00 AM 10:00 PM previous day
4:00 AM 11:00 PM previous day
5:00 AM 12:00 AM
6:00 AM 1:00 AM
7:00 AM 2:00 AM
8:00 AM 3:00 AM
9:00 AM 4:00 AM
10:00 AM 5:00 AM
11:00 AM 6:00 AM
12:00 PM 7:00 AM
1:00 PM 8:00 AM
2:00 PM 9:00 AM Both working
3:00 PM 10:00 AM Both working
4:00 PM 11:00 AM Both working
5:00 PM 12:00 PM
6:00 PM 1:00 PM
7:00 PM 2:00 PM
8:00 PM 3:00 PM
9:00 PM 4:00 PM
10:00 PM 5:00 PM
11:00 PM 6:00 PM

UTC to CST conversion table

Every hour of the Coordinated Universal Time day, plus the common half hours, and their CST equivalents. The second column covers the part of the year when the clocks are on a different gap.

UTC to CST conversion table
Coordinated Universal Time CDT 5 h behind, most of the year (238 days in 2026) CST 6 h behind, about 18 weeks in 2026
12:00 AM 7:00 PM (previous day)6:00 PM (previous day)
1:00 AM 8:00 PM (previous day)7:00 PM (previous day)
2:00 AM 9:00 PM (previous day)8:00 PM (previous day)
3:00 AM 10:00 PM (previous day)9:00 PM (previous day)
4:00 AM 11:00 PM (previous day)10:00 PM (previous day)
5:00 AM 12:00 AM11:00 PM (previous day)
6:00 AM 1:00 AM12:00 AM
7:00 AM 2:00 AM1:00 AM
8:00 AM 3:00 AM2:00 AM
9:00 AM 4:00 AM3:00 AM
9:30 AM 4:30 AM3:30 AM
10:00 AM 5:00 AM4:00 AM
10:30 AM 5:30 AM4:30 AM
11:00 AM 6:00 AM5:00 AM
11:30 AM 6:30 AM5:30 AM
12:00 PM 7:00 AM6:00 AM
12:30 PM 7:30 AM6:30 AM
1:00 PM 8:00 AM7:00 AM
1:30 PM 8:30 AM7:30 AM
2:00 PM 9:00 AM8:00 AM
2:30 PM 9:30 AM8:30 AM
3:00 PM 10:00 AM9:00 AM
3:30 PM 10:30 AM9:30 AM
4:00 PM 11:00 AM10:00 AM
4:30 PM 11:30 AM10:30 AM
5:00 PM 12:00 PM11:00 AM
5:30 PM 12:30 PM11:30 AM
6:00 PM 1:00 PM12:00 PM
7:00 PM 2:00 PM1:00 PM
8:00 PM 3:00 PM2:00 PM
9:00 PM 4:00 PM3:00 PM
10:00 PM 5:00 PM4:00 PM
11:00 PM 6:00 PM5:00 PM

How the gap changes in 2026 and 2027

Each row is a stretch of days with one constant difference, split at every clock change.

Time difference periods between UTC and CST
Dates UTC CST Difference
Thu, Jan 1, 2026 until Sun, Mar 8, 2026 UTC CST CST 6 h behind
Sun, Mar 8, 2026 until Sun, Nov 1, 2026 UTC CDT CDT 5 h behind
Sun, Nov 1, 2026 until Sun, Mar 14, 2027 UTC CST CST 6 h behind
Sun, Mar 14, 2027 until Sun, Nov 7, 2027 UTC CDT CDT 5 h behind
Sun, Nov 7, 2027 until Sat, Jan 1, 2028 UTC CST CST 6 h behind

Upcoming clock changes

  1. Central Time Sunday, November 1, 2026: at 2:00 AM clocks go back 1 hour to 1:00 AM
  2. Central Time Sunday, March 14, 2027: at 2:00 AM clocks go forward 1 hour to 3:00 AM
  3. Central Time Sunday, November 7, 2027: at 2:00 AM clocks go back 1 hour to 1:00 AM
  4. Central Time Sunday, March 12, 2028: at 2:00 AM clocks go forward 1 hour to 3:00 AM

About the two zones

Coordinated Universal Time (UTC)

Coordinated Universal Time is the reference every time zone is measured from. It never changes for daylight saving time. Servers, aviation, logs and APIs use it because it is unambiguous.

IANA zone
Etc/UTC
Offset
UTC+0 all year
Used in
no single country; it is the world reference clock

Central Time (CST / CDT)

Central Time follows the clock in Chicago: Central Standard Time (CST, UTC−6) in winter and Central Daylight Time (CDT, UTC−5) during US daylight saving time.

IANA zone
America/Chicago
Offset
UTC−6 standard, UTC−5 daylight saving
Used in
the central United States and parts of Canada
Major cities
Chicago, Houston, Dallas, Minneapolis, Winnipeg, New Orleans

CST is also used for China Standard Time (UTC+8) and Cuba Standard Time. Here CST means US Central Time (America/Chicago).

UTC and CST, answered

What is the time difference between UTC and CST?

CDT is 5 hours behind UTC for most of the year (238 days in 2026). The gap is 6 hours for about 18 weeks in 2026.

How do I work out the time in Chicago from UTC?

Chicago uses Central Time. CDT is 5 hours behind UTC for most of the year (238 days in 2026). The gap is 6 hours for about 18 weeks in 2026. Type any UTC time into the UTC to CST converter to see the Chicago time for any date.

What is 9:00 AM UTC in CST?

9:00 AM UTC is 4:00 AM CDT for most of the year (238 days in 2026). 9:00 AM UTC is 3:00 AM CST for about 18 weeks in 2026.

What is 12:00 PM UTC in CST?

12:00 PM UTC is 7:00 AM CDT for most of the year (238 days in 2026). 12:00 PM UTC is 6:00 AM CST for about 18 weeks in 2026.

What is 10:00 AM UTC in CST?

10:00 AM UTC is 5:00 AM CDT for most of the year (238 days in 2026). 10:00 AM UTC is 4:00 AM CST for about 18 weeks in 2026.

What is 5:00 PM UTC in CST?

5:00 PM UTC is 12:00 PM CDT for most of the year (238 days in 2026). 5:00 PM UTC is 11:00 AM CST for about 18 weeks in 2026.

Is CST ahead of UTC, and by how many hours?

No, CST is behind UTC. CDT is 5 hours behind UTC for most of the year (238 days in 2026). The gap is 6 hours for about 18 weeks in 2026.

What is a good meeting time for UTC and CST?

Working days of 9 AM to 5 PM overlap from 2:00 PM to 5:00 PM UTC, which is 9:00 AM to 12:00 PM CDT while UTC and CDT apply.

Does daylight saving time affect UTC to CST?

Central Time changes its clocks twice a year; Coordinated Universal Time does not. The next change is on Sunday, November 1, 2026 in Central Time.

Which CST does the UTC to CST converter use?

CST is also used for China Standard Time (UTC+8) and Cuba Standard Time. Here CST means US Central Time (America/Chicago).

Related conversions

From Coordinated Universal Time

To Central Time