CST to EST Time Converter
Type a time in CST to see it in EST, with daylight saving handled for the date you pick. Every hour of the day is in the table below, and the meeting planner shows when both working days overlap.
In New York
10:00 amEST
9:00 am CST on Wed 14 Jan 2026 is 10:00 am EST the same day. New York is 1 h ahead of Chicago.
- Date there
- Wednesday 14 January 2026
- Offsets
- CST UTC−6 · EST UTC−5
- Date used
- Example day: Wednesday 14 January 2026
How this works: Method, 3 sources,
How this works
Method
Here CST means Central Time, CST (UTC−6) in its winter and CDT (UTC−5) in its summer, as kept in Chicago; EST means Eastern Time, EST (UTC−5) in its winter and EDT (UTC−4) in its summer, as kept in New York. So EST is 1 h ahead of CST all year. Two 9-to-5 working days overlap by 7 h all year. Full method
Sources
Privacy
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Changes
- 15 more conversion pages (IST to CST, BST to IST, SGT, GST, JST, MST and more); each conversion page shows all 24 hours with working hours shaded, and its best meeting times.
- The pickers find about a thousand more cities, states and countries (Seattle, Bangalore, Texas), and each conversion page names the next clock change on either side.
- The converter opens on the time now, live, with a Now choice beside the time, and the main converter starts from your own time zone.
- First published, with a world clock, pages for the time in 31 places and 15 common conversions such as PST to IST.
How to convert CST to EST
Here CST means Central Time, CST (UTC−6) in its winter and CDT (UTC−5) in its summer, as kept in Chicago; EST means Eastern Time, EST (UTC−5) in its winter and EDT (UTC−4) in its summer, as kept in New York. So EST is 1 h ahead of CST all year. Two 9-to-5 working days overlap by 7 h all year.
Central and Eastern Time sit next to each other, and many Americans cross between them daily: Chicago to New York, Nashville to Atlanta, or across a state line in Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee or Florida, all of which are split between the two zones. Live TV schedules often print both, as “8/7c”, meaning 8:00 pm Eastern and 7:00 pm Central.
Eastern is always one hour later than Central, because both zones go onto daylight time on the same Sunday and come off it on the same Sunday. The only wrinkle is the change night: New York moves at 2:00 am Eastern, an hour before Chicago moves at 2:00 am Central. In March, for that one hour, the two are two hours apart; in November, for one hour, they show the same time. The tables on this page ignore that hour, since nobody schedules a meeting in it. For travel, remember that a flight from Chicago to New York gains an hour on arrival, and the trip back gives it back.
Rule of thumb: Add one hour to Central time to get Eastern time: 3:00 pm in Chicago is 4:00 pm in New York.
EST = CST +1:00
- Since 2007 every US zone that observes daylight saving time has used the same dates, the second Sunday in March to the first Sunday in November, under the US rule in the tz database. Source: IANA tz database, file northamerica (United States rules).
Meeting planner: best times for CST and EST
The easiest meetings fall where both working days overlap, shaded dark on the bar for each season. The lighter shading is still between 7 am and 9 pm on both clocks, so one side starts early or stays late.
January: CST and EST
- Both at work: 9:00 am to 4:00 pm CST is 10:00 am to 5:00 pm EST (7 h).
- Early or late for one side: 7:00 am to 9:00 am CST is 8:00 am to 10:00 am EST (2 h); 4:00 pm to 8:00 pm CST is 5:00 pm to 9:00 pm EST (4 h).
July: CDT and EDT
- Both at work: 9:00 am to 4:00 pm CDT is 10:00 am to 5:00 pm EDT (7 h).
- Early or late for one side: 7:00 am to 9:00 am CDT is 8:00 am to 10:00 am EDT (2 h); 4:00 pm to 8:00 pm CDT is 5:00 pm to 9:00 pm EDT (4 h).
Both between 9 am and 5 pmBoth between 7 am and 9 pm
CST to EST time conversion table
Every hour of the CST day and the time in EST. The difference is the same all year.
| CST / CDT time | EST / EDT time |
|---|---|
| 12:00 am | 1:00 am |
| 1:00 am | 2:00 am |
| 2:00 am | 3:00 am |
| 3:00 am | 4:00 am |
| 4:00 am | 5:00 am |
| 5:00 am | 6:00 am |
| 6:00 am | 7:00 am |
| 7:00 am | 8:00 am |
| 8:00 am | 9:00 am |
| 9:00 am | 10:00 am |
| 10:00 am | 11:00 am |
| 11:00 am | 12:00 pm |
| 12:00 pm | 1:00 pm |
| 1:00 pm | 2:00 pm |
| 2:00 pm | 3:00 pm |
| 3:00 pm | 4:00 pm |
| 4:00 pm | 5:00 pm |
| 5:00 pm | 6:00 pm |
| 6:00 pm | 7:00 pm |
| 7:00 pm | 8:00 pm |
| 8:00 pm | 9:00 pm |
| 9:00 pm | 10:00 pm |
| 10:00 pm | 11:00 pm |
| 11:00 pm | 12:00 am (next day) |
Shaded: 9 am to 5 pm on that clock. Where a row is shaded on both sides, both are at work.
When the CST–EST difference changes next
| Date | What happens | Then |
|---|---|---|
| Sun 1 Nov 2026 | New York falls back (EST) | EST and CDT match |
| Sun 1 Nov 2026 | Chicago falls back (CST) | EST is 1 h ahead of CST |
| Sun 14 Mar 2027 | New York springs forward (EDT) | EDT is 2 h ahead of CST |
| Sun 14 Mar 2027 | Chicago springs forward (CDT) | EDT is 1 h ahead of CDT |
Frequently Asked Questions
What is 9 am CST in EST?
9:00 am CST is 10:00 am EST, all year round.
Is Central time one hour behind Eastern all year?
Yes. CST is one hour behind EST in winter, and CDT is one hour behind EDT in summer, because both zones change their clocks on the same weekends.
What does 8/7c mean on a TV schedule?
It means the show starts at 8:00 pm Eastern and 7:00 pm Central, the same moment in both zones. Mountain and Pacific viewers usually get their own listing, often on a delay.