CST (Central Standard Time) is one hour behind EST (Eastern Standard Time).
Difference
CST is UTC minus 6. EST is UTC minus 5. CST is 1 hour behind EST.
Daylight saving
In summer, they become CDT (UTC minus 5) and EDT (UTC minus 4).
Example
12:00 noon EST is 11:00 am CST.
States
Chicago, Dallas and New Orleans use Central. New York, Atlanta and Miami use Eastern.
Note
Most of the US moves clocks on the second Sunday in March and the first Sunday in November.
Offset from UTC
Central Standard Time (CST) is UTC minus 6 hours. Eastern Standard Time (EST) is UTC minus 5 hours. So CST is one hour behind EST.
Daylight saving
During daylight saving time (from the second Sunday in March to the first Sunday in November in the US), the zones become CDT (UTC minus 5) and EDT (UTC minus 4). The one hour difference between the two zones stays the same all year.
Example
When it is 12:00 noon in New York (Eastern), it is 11:00 a.m. in Chicago (Central). A meeting at 3:00 p.m. ET is at 2:00 p.m. CT.
States
States entirely in Central Time include Texas (mostly), Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Oklahoma, Kansas (mostly) and Nebraska (mostly). States entirely in Eastern Time include New York, Pennsylvania, Georgia, Florida (mostly), Ohio and Virginia. Some states are split, such as Tennessee, Kentucky, Indiana, Michigan and Florida.
Population
About 80% of Americans live in the Eastern or Central time zones when combined with other eastern regions.
Abbreviations in scheduling
Use ET or CT in meeting invites to avoid confusion about daylight saving. Time zone converters and calendar apps adjust automatically.
Time zones in the US
The US has nine standard time zones: Atlantic, Eastern, Central, Mountain, Pacific, Alaska, Hawaii-Aleutian, Samoa and Chamorro.
Law
Time zones in the US are overseen by the Department of Transportation. Standard time zones were adopted by railroads in 1883 and made law by the Standard Time Act of 1918.
Offsets and daylight time
Central Standard Time (CST) is UTC minus 6 hours, and Eastern Standard Time (EST) is UTC minus 5 hours, so Central Time is one hour behind Eastern Time. During daylight saving time, they become CDT (UTC minus 5) and EDT (UTC minus 4), and the gap stays one hour. In the US, daylight saving time begins on the second Sunday in March and ends on the first Sunday in November. When it is 3 p.m. in New York, it is 2 p.m. in Chicago. Arizona (apart from the Navajo Nation) does not observe daylight saving time.
Geography and scheduling
The Eastern zone includes about half of the US population, covering states such as New York, Florida and Georgia, and most of Texas, Illinois and Louisiana are in the Central zone. Some states, such as Indiana, Kentucky and Tennessee, are split. The Uniform Time Act of 1966 set national daylight saving rules. When scheduling meetings across zones, write the zone, for example 2 p.m. CT / 3 p.m. ET, and use tools such as calendar invitations that convert automatically. Use “ET” or “CT” in general, since they work for both standard and daylight time.
Based on data from the National Institute of Standards and Technology and the US Department of Transportation
