When it is 09:00 in Chicago it is 10:00 in New York in January and 10:00 in July. New York is 1 hour ahead Chicago right now — and the difference is the same all year. This page gives the live times in both cities, the overlap between their working days, the daylight saving dates that move the difference, and the best meeting windows.
Try the tool: Time Zone Converter — convert any time between Chicago and New York, with the offset for the date you pick.
Live times in Chicago and New York
The two cities side by side. The January column uses the winter offsets (Chicago UTC−06:00, New York UTC−05:00); the July column uses the summer offsets (Chicago UTC−05:00, New York UTC−04:00).
| Time in Chicago | New York in January | New York in July |
|---|---|---|
| 00:00 | 01:00 | 01:00 |
| 06:00 | 07:00 | 07:00 |
| 09:00 | 10:00 | 10:00 |
| 12:00 | 13:00 | 13:00 |
| 15:00 | 16:00 | 16:00 |
| 17:00 | 18:00 | 18:00 |
| 21:00 | 22:00 | 22:00 |
The world clock shows the current time in both cities live, and the individual city pages — time in Chicago and time in New York — explain each city's time zone, offsets and daylight saving in full.
The time difference between Chicago and New York
The difference is constant: New York is 1 hour ahead Chicago on every day of the year. That is the simplest case in time-zone work — the answer does not depend on the date, and a meeting set for 09:00 in Chicago is always 10:00 in New York. The reason the difference never changes is that both cities observe daylight saving and change their clocks on the same dates.
To convert a time, add the difference: 09:00 in Chicago is 10:00 in New York in January and 10:00 in July; 17:00 in Chicago — the end of the working day — is 18:00 in New York in January and 18:00 in July. To go the other way, subtract it: 09:00 in New York is 08:00 in Chicago in January. The time difference calculator does the arithmetic for any date, and the UTC to New York page gives the full conversion table for New York.
Meeting overlap between Chicago and New York
The overlap is the hours when both cities are in their working day (09:00–17:00 local time). The table marks the overlapping hours in Chicago's working day and shows what time they are in New York.
January
| Chicago time | New York time | Both working? |
|---|---|---|
| 09:00 | 10:00 | No |
| 10:00 | 11:00 | No |
| 11:00 | 12:00 | No |
| 12:00 | 13:00 | No |
| 13:00 | 14:00 | No |
| 14:00 | 15:00 | No |
| 15:00 | 16:00 | No |
| 16:00 | 17:00 | No |
In January the overlap is 0 hours: there is no hour when both cities are in their working day. In July it is 0 hours: there is no hour when both cities are in their working day. The two working days do not overlap at all — the difference is too large. The only options are to meet at the edge of the day, to rotate the awkward hour, or to record the meeting.
Daylight saving in Chicago and New York
Chicago observes daylight saving: in 2026 the clocks go forward on 8 March 2026 and back on 1 November 2026, moving the offset from UTC−06:00 to UTC−05:00.
New York observes daylight saving: in 2026 the clocks go forward on 8 March 2026 and back on 1 November 2026, moving the offset from UTC−05:00 to UTC−04:00.
The difference never changes, so there is no date on which a standing meeting moves. That does not mean the difference is the same as the difference with a third city — the difference between Chicago and London, for example, may still move when London changes its clocks. The individual DST pages — Chicago DST 2026 and New York DST 2026 — give the exact dates for each city.
Best meeting windows
There is no window inside both working days, in January or in July. The least-bad options are the edges: 08:00 in Chicago is 09:00 in New York in January — before the working day in Chicago but a reasonable evening in New York — and 17:00 in Chicago is 18:00 in New York, which is the morning in New York the next day if the difference is large. Rotate the early start between the two sides, week by week, so the same people are not always the ones getting up early.
Calling and travel notes
When it is 09:00 in Chicago it is 10:00 in New York in January; when it is 12:00 in Chicago it is 13:00 in New York; when it is 17:00 in Chicago it is 18:00 in New York. The difference is under 12 hours, so the two cities are usually on the same date — but check the date for late-evening and early-morning times, when the date can differ by a day. Scheduling inside the Americas is usually straightforward: the difference between Chicago and New York is small, and the working days overlap for most of the day. The main thing to check is daylight saving — not every place in the Americas observes it, and the ones that do change on different dates (the United States and Canada in March and November, Chile in September and April, Mexico not at all since 2022).
Worked conversions
Six conversions, for January (offsets Chicago UTC−06:00, New York UTC−05:00):
| Chicago | New York |
|---|---|
| 08:00 | 09:00 |
| 09:00 | 10:00 |
| 12:00 | 13:00 |
| 14:00 | 15:00 |
| 17:00 | 18:00 |
| 20:00 | 21:00 |
In July, the answers are the same. For the reverse direction, see New York to Chicago time.
Chicago and New York at a glance
| Fact | Chicago | New York |
|---|---|---|
| Country | United States | United States |
| Region | Americas | Americas |
| IANA time zone | America/Chicago |
America/New_York |
| Standard offset | UTC−06:00 | UTC−05:00 |
| Daylight saving offset | UTC−05:00 | UTC−04:00 |
| Offset in January 2026 | UTC−06:00 | UTC−05:00 |
| Offset in July 2026 | UTC−05:00 | UTC−04:00 |
| Observes daylight saving | Yes | Yes |
The table is the whole pair in one place. The two numbers that matter most are the January and July offsets: if they are the same in both columns for a city, that city's offset never changes; if they differ, the city observes daylight saving and the difference between the cities moves with it. The individual city pages — time in Chicago and time in New York — explain each city's time zone, and the DST pages — Chicago DST 2026 and New York DST 2026 — give the exact change dates.
Frequently asked questions
What is the time difference between Chicago and New York?
New York is 1 hour ahead Chicago right now. In January the difference is 1 hour ahead and in July it is 1 hour ahead — it is the same all year.
How do I schedule a recurring meeting between Chicago and New York?
Pick a time inside the overlap — the edge of the day, since there is no overlap — and set the calendar event in UTC so it moves correctly when the clocks change. Re-check the overlap in March and October, when the difference moves, and rotate the time if the meeting falls outside someone's working day.
What time is it in New York when it is 09:00 in Chicago?
It is 10:00 in January and 10:00 in July. The time zone converter gives the answer for any date.
What is the best time for a meeting between Chicago and New York?
There is no hour inside both working days. Meet at the edge of the day — early morning in one city, evening in the other — and rotate the awkward hour.
Does the time difference between Chicago and New York change during the year?
No. The difference is 1 hour ahead all year, because both cities change their clocks on the same dates.
What time is it in Chicago when it is 09:00 in New York?
It is 08:00 in January and 08:00 in July. See New York to Chicago time for the full comparison from New York's side.
What are the time zones of Chicago and New York?
Chicago is in America/Chicago (UTC−06:00 standard time) and New York is in America/New_York (UTC−05:00 standard time).
What time is it in Chicago when it is midnight in New York?
It is 23:00 in Chicago in January and 23:00 in July — the same day, because Chicago is ahead of New York. Midnight conversions are the ones that most often land on the wrong date, so always check the date as well as the time.
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. - TimeFlow's time zone converter and meeting planner — 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.