Central Standard Time – CST Time Zone

Central Time (CT) or the Central Time Zone. This can add a bit of confusion as the term Central Time does not differentiate between standard time and Daylight Saving Time, so Central Time switches between CST and CDT in areas that use DST during part of the year.

Most North American time zones also have generic terms, including Pacific Time (PT), Mountain Time (MT), Eastern Time (ET), and Atlantic Time (AT).

Converting Central Time to Other US Time Zones

Central Standard Time (CST) is 1 hour behind Eastern Standard Time (EST).
To convert CST to EST, you have to add one hour.
Central Standard Time (CST) is 1 hour ahead of Mountain Standard Time (MST).
To convert CST to MST, you have to subtract one hour.
Central Standard Time (CST) is 2 hours ahead of Pacific Standard Time (PST).
To convert CST to PST, you have to subtract two hours.

Time Zone Converter: UTC to CST

Where and When is CST Observed?

North America

US states using CST in the winter and CDT in the summer:

Alabama
Arkansas
Florida - North-West parts Show
Bay, Calhoun, Escambia, Holmes, Jackson, Okaloosa, Santa Rosa, Walton and Washington counties and norther Gulf county
Illinois
Indiana - these few north-western counties near Chicago (Lake, Porter, La Porte, Newton, Jasper, Starke) and these south-western counties in Indiana near Evansville Show
Gibson, Posey, Vanderburgh, Warrick, Perry, Spencer
Iowa
Kansas - except these western counties Show
Greeley, Hamilton, Sherman and Wallace - MST/MDT
Kentucky - Western part Show
Adair, Allen, Ballard, Barren, Breckinridge, Butler, Caldwell, Calloway, Carlisle, Christian, Clinton, Crittenden, Cumberland, Daviess, Edmonson, Fulton, Graves, Grayson, Green, Hansock, Hart, Henderson, Hickman, Hopkins, Livingston, Logan, Lyon, Marshall, McCracken, McLean, Metcalfe, Monroe, Muhlenberg, Ohio, Russell, Simpson, Todd, Trigg, Union, Warren and Webster counties
Louisiana
Michigan - A few western counties Show
Dickinson, Gogebic, Iron, and Menominee
Minnesota
Mississippi
Missouri
Nebraska - Eastern parts Show
All except Arthur, Banner, Box Butte, Chase, Cheyenne, Dawes, Deuel, Dundy, Garden, Grant, Hooker, Keith, Kimball, Morrill, Perkins, Scotts Bluff, Sheridan, and Sioux counties and the western part of Cherry county which are on MST/MDT
North Dakota - North and Eastern parts Show
counties of Barnes, Benson, Bottineau, Burke, Burleigh, Cass, Cavalier, Dickey, Divide, Eddy, Emmons, Foster, Grand Forks, Griggs, Kidder, Lamoure, Logan, McHenry, McIntosh, McLean, Mountrail, Nelson, Oliver, Pembina, Pierce, Ramsey, Ransom, Renville, Richland, Rolette, Sargent, Sheridan, Steele, Stutsman, Towner, Traill, Walsh, Ward, Wells, Williams and northern parts of McKenzie and Dunn, westernmost part of Morton and Fort Yates in Sioux
Oklahoma
South Dakota - Eastern parts Show
counties of Aurora, Beadle, Bon Homme, Brookings, Brown, Brule, Buffalo, Campbell, Charles Mix, Clark, Clay, Codington, Davison, Day, Deuel, Douglas, Edmunds, Faulk, Grant, Gregory, Hamlin, Hand, Hanson, Hughes, Hutchinson, Hyde, Jerauld, Jones, Kingsbury, Lake, Lincoln, Lyman, Marshall, McCook, McPherson, Mellette, Miner, Minnehaha, Moody, Potter, Roberts, Spink, Sanborn, Sully, Todd, Tripp, Turner, Union, Yankton, Walworth and eastern parts of Stanley
Tennessee - Western part Show
counties of Bedford, Benton, Bledsoe, Cannon, Carroll, Cheatham, Chester, Clay, Coffee, Crockett, Cumberland, Davidson, Decatur, DeKalb, Dickson, Dyer, Fayette, Fentress, Franklin, Gibson, Giles, Grundy, Hardeman, Hardin, Haywood, Henderson, Henry, Hickman, Houston, Humphreys, Jackson, Lake, Lauderdale, Lawrence, Lewis, Lincoln, McNairy, Macon, Madison, Marion, Marshall, Maury, Montgomery, Moore, Obion, Overton, Perry, Pickett, Putnam, Robertson, Rutherford, Sequatchie, Shelby, Smith, Stewart, Sumner, Tipton, Trusdale, Van Buren, Warren, Wayne Weakley, White, Willamson, Wilson
Texas - All, but a few counties in west Show
El Paso and Hudspeth and part of Culberson
Wisconsin

Canadian provinces using CST in the winter and CDT in the summer:

Canadian provinces using CST all year:

Ontario - a few communities Show
Atikokan, New Osnaburgh, Pickle Lake
Saskatchewan - most of it Show
except Creighton and Denare Beach which use CDT during summer, and Lloydminster which is in the MST/MDT zone

Mexican states using CST in the winter and CDT in the summer:

Central America

Central American countries using CST all year:

Other Central Standard Time Zones

Time zones can have similar names and abbreviations but have a different UTC offset:

Australian Central Standard Time (ACST): UTC +9:30
Australian Central Western Standard Time (ACWST): UTC +8:45
Central European Time (CET): UTC +1
Central Africa Time (CAT): UTC +2
Central Indonesian Time (WITA): UTC +2

Other Time Zones in UTC -6

Some time zones exist that have the same offset as CST, but can be found under a different name: