CST to EST, Central time in the East.

CST to EST means turning US Central time into Eastern time: Eastern is 1 hour ahead of Central. 9:00 AM in Chicago is 10:00 AM in New York. The one hour gap is the smallest of the US pairs, and it is the same in winter (CST to EST) and summer (CDT to EDT) because both zones change on the same Sunday. This page reads CST as the clock in Chicago and follows it through the year. If a schedule means a literal UTC-6 all year, you can switch the reading under Read CST as.

How to use the CST to EST converter

1. In the left box, CST, type the central Time and Date. The right box, EST, shows Eastern time.
2. Or type in the right box to find the Central time of an Eastern time. The other box follows.
3. Read CST as offers Central Time (CST or CDT), which follows Chicago, and CST only (UTC-6 all year). Read EST as does the same for the East.
4. Look at the Meeting planner. With a one hour gap most of the day is shared, so it also lists the earliest start and the latest finish for the Central side.
5. Print the chart for the table of every hour, and Copy result, Copy link or Add to calendar (.ics) to send the moment on.
6. Swap starts from the Eastern side instead.

Worked examples

Take Tuesday 14 July 2026 and Tuesday 14 January 2026. Chicago is on CDT (UTC-5) in July and CST (UTC-6) in January. New York is on EDT (UTC-4) in July and EST (UTC-5) in January. The gap is the difference of the two offsets: 1 hour in both seasons.

Eastern is always the later clock, so a Central time after 11:00 PM moves into the next date in New York. 11:30 PM Central on 14 July is 12:30 AM on 15 July in New York.

When the gap is 2 hours or 0

Chicago and New York both change at 2:00 AM local time on the same Sunday, but New York's 2:00 AM comes one hour before Chicago's. For that one hour the gap is not 1. On Sunday 8 March 2026, from 1:00 AM to 2:00 AM Central, New York is on EDT and Chicago is still on CST, so the gap is 2 hours. On Sunday 1 November 2026, from 1:00 AM to 2:00 AM Central, New York is back on EST while Chicago is still on CDT, and the two cities show the same time, a gap of 0. The converter finds these hours from the time zone data in your browser and lists them for this year and next.

Reading CST literally

CST is UTC-6, and Central Daylight Time is UTC-5. A schedule that says 9:00 AM CST in July should mean the clock in Chicago, but taken literally 9:00 AM CST is 11:00 AM in New York on EDT, a gap of 2 hours, while 9:00 AM Chicago time is 10:00 AM in New York. Both readings are on the page: Central Time (CST or CDT) follows Chicago, and CST only (UTC-6 all year) is the literal one. When a sender is in the US, assume they mean the local clock. For an automated job set in UTC-6, use the literal one.

CST does not always mean Central

The letters CST are also used for China Standard Time, which is UTC+8, and the IANA database uses CST for Cuba too. If a time comes from Asia, it may be China Standard Time. Use the time zone converter and pick the city to be sure.

States on two clocks

The boundary between Eastern and Central time is set in 49 CFR Part 71, section 71.5, and it runs through the middle of Michigan, Indiana, Kentucky and Tennessee. A state name does not always settle the clock: check the city. Texas is mostly Central, with El Paso and Hudspeth counties on Mountain time. See time in Texas.

Sources, checked 18 Oct 2026. The United States rule is in 49 CFR Part 71, section 71.2: standard time moves ahead one hour at 2 a.m. on the second Sunday in March and ends at 2 a.m. on the first Sunday in November. The US Department of Transportation says a state may exempt itself by state law. The offsets and the zone names come from the IANA time zone database (version 2026e), the same data your browser uses.

Other pairs: EST to PST, PST to EST and GMT to EST.