CST stands for Central Standard Time. It is UTC−06:00 from UTC — 6 hours behind UTC — and it is used in North America, in Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Mexico City. CST is the winter time of the Central Time Zone in the US and Canada — and the year-round time of Mexico City, since Mexico abolished daylight saving in 2022.
Try the tool: UTC Converter — convert any time to and from CST, with the offset for the date you choose.
When is CST in effect?
CST is the winter time — the standard time — of its zone. In 2026 it is in effect from the autumn clock change (Sunday, 1 November 2026) through the winter until the spring clock change (Sunday, 14 March 2027). In summer the same places move one hour forward and use the daylight saving abbreviation instead.
What time is it when it is 12:00 CST?
| City | Local time when it is 12:00 CST (15 January 2026) |
|---|---|
| New York | 1:00 pm |
| London | 6:00 pm |
| Paris | 7:00 pm |
| Dubai | 10:00 pm |
| Mumbai | 11:30 pm |
| Tokyo | 3:00 am |
| Sydney | 5:00 am |
| Los Angeles | 10:00 am |
The table is worked out from the offsets: 12:00 CST is 6:00 pm UTC, and each city's local time is UTC plus its own offset. The half-hour cities are the ones to watch: Mumbai is 30 minutes past the hour, because India is on UTC+05:30. The UTC converter does this calculation for any city and any date.
CST and CDT
CST (UTC−06:00) and CDT (UTC−05:00) are the same places at different times of the year: CST is the winter time and CDT is the summer time. They differ by exactly one hour, and the change happens twice a year — forward in spring, back in autumn. A time written with the wrong one is an hour wrong, which is why you should always write the offset as well as the abbreviation: '3pm CST (UTC−06:00)'. See what is CDT for the other half of the pair.
CST through the year
Whether CST is in effect in each month of 2026, for Chicago:
| Month | CST in effect? | Offset in effect |
|---|---|---|
| January | Yes | UTC−06:00 |
| February | Yes | UTC−06:00 |
| March | No | UTC−05:00 |
| April | No | UTC−05:00 |
| May | No | UTC−05:00 |
| June | No | UTC−05:00 |
| July | No | UTC−05:00 |
| August | No | UTC−05:00 |
| September | No | UTC−05:00 |
| October | No | UTC−05:00 |
| November | Yes | UTC−06:00 |
| December | Yes | UTC−06:00 |
CST is in effect for part of the year and not for the rest — the table shows exactly which months. The change happens on the clock-change dates, not on the first of a month, so a month that straddles a change (March or October/November) is on one offset at the start and the other at the end. The UTC converter shows the offset in effect on any date.
What time is it when it is 09:00 CST?
Nine in the morning is the start of the working day, so it is the time that matters for meetings. When it is 09:00 CST on 15 January 2026, the time in eight major cities is:
| City | Local time at 09:00 CST |
|---|---|
| New York | 10:00 am |
| London | 3:00 pm |
| Paris | 4:00 pm |
| Dubai | 7:00 pm |
| Mumbai | 8:30 pm |
| Tokyo | 12:00 am |
| Sydney | 2:00 am |
| Los Angeles | 7:00 am |
CST and UTC, worked both ways
Converting from CST to UTC: subtract the offset. 09:00 CST is 3:00 pm UTC, and 15:00 CST is 9:00 pm UTC. Converting from UTC to CST: add the offset. 12:00 UTC is 6:00 am CST, and 18:00 UTC is 12:00 pm CST. If the result crosses midnight, the date changes: 5:00 pm is the time in CST when it is 23:00 UTC, and if that is past midnight it is the next day. The UTC converter does both directions for any time and any date.
Common mistakes with CST
The commonest mistake is using CST for the wrong season: writing EST in July, when New York is on EDT, or writing EDT in January, when it is on EST. The second mistake is forgetting the place: EST means different things in North America (UTC−05:00) and Australia (UTC+10:00), and CST means different things in North America (UTC−06:00), China (UTC+08:00) and Cuba (UTC−05:00). The fix for both is the same: write the offset with the abbreviation, and check the date. The time zone converter shows the offset for any city on any date, so there is no need to guess.
Frequently asked questions
What does CST stand for?
Central Standard Time. It is UTC−06:00 from UTC, and it is used in North America, in Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Mexico City.
What is the UTC offset of CST?
UTC−06:00. That means CST is 6 hours behind UTC: when it is 12:00 UTC it is 6:00 am CST.
When is CST used?
In winter, as the standard time. In summer the same places move one hour forward and use the daylight saving abbreviation instead.
What cities use CST?
Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Mexico City. CST is the winter time of the Central Time Zone in the US and Canada — and the year-round time of Mexico City, since Mexico abolished daylight saving in 2022.
How do I convert CST to my time?
Convert CST to UTC first — subtract UTC−06:00 — then add your own offset. Or use the UTC converter: enter the time in CST and it gives the time in any city.
Is CST the same as CDT?
No. CST and CDT are the same places in different seasons, one hour apart. CST is UTC−06:00 and CDT is UTC−05:00.
What time is it in CST now?
The UTC converter shows the current time in CST live — it is UTC plus UTC−06:00. Because CST is only in effect for part of the year, the converter shows the offset in effect today, not the one in effect in another season.
Related pages
Sources
- IANA Time Zone Database, via Node.js Intl (
Intl.DateTimeFormatwithtimeZone) — offsets, daylight saving dates and local times in this article were worked out from the IANA database, not typed from memory. - TimeFlow's own time-zone data (
data/cities.ts,data/dst.ts), computed from the IANA database. - Time zone rules and offsets: the IANA Time Zone Database, as applied by this site's tools. Offsets on this page are computed from the database for the dates stated.
- TimeFlow's UTC converter and time zone converter — the live tools behind the numbers on this page.
- Time-zone and daylight saving rules are set by governments and can change. For flights, deadlines and meetings that cannot move, confirm the time with an official source.