Is Chicago on Central Time right now?

Yes. Chicago sits in the Central Time Zone year-round. The live clock shows Chicago's current time.

Is Texas on Central Time?

Most of Texas is on Central Time. The exceptions are Hudspeth County and El Paso County in far west Texas, which observe Mountain Time.

What does "8/7c" mean in TV schedules?

The "c" stands for Central. "8/7c" means the show airs at 8:00 p.m. Eastern and 7:00 p.m. Central simultaneously. Mountain and Pacific viewers usually see the same show on a tape delay or separate feed.

Does all of Florida use Central Time?

No. The Florida panhandle west of the Apalachicola River uses Central Time. The rest of Florida, including Miami, Orlando, Tampa, and Jacksonville, uses Eastern Time.

How do I know if it's CST or CDT for a future date?

Use the rule: second Sunday of March to first Sunday of November is CDT. Everything else is CST. For any specific date, the live clock always displays the correct offset.

Central Time Now (CT)

What time is it in Central Time right now?

The live clock shows the exact current time in the Central Time Zone, updating every second. Below it, the label reads CST (Central Standard Time) or CDT (Central Daylight Time) depending on the season.

The zone sits 6 hours behind Coordinated Universal Time (UTC-6) during standard time and 5 hours behind (UTC-5) during daylight saving time.

Is it CST or CDT right now?

The abbreviation changes twice a year.

CST (UTC-6) runs from the first Sunday of November until the second Sunday of March.
CDT (UTC-5) runs from the second Sunday of March until the first Sunday of November.

In 2026, Central Time springs forward to CDT on 8 March and falls back to CST on 1 November. The live clock and its label always show the correct abbreviation for today.

Central Time UTC offset explained

Period	Abbreviation	UTC Offset	When
Standard time	CST	UTC-6	Early November to mid-March
Daylight time	CDT	UTC-5	Mid-March to early November

During CDT, Central Time shares the same offset as Eastern Standard Time (EST). During CST, it shares the same offset as Mountain Standard Time (MST) when the Mountain zone is on standard time.

States and major cities on Central Time

States entirely on Central Time:

Alabama, Arkansas, Illinois, Iowa, Louisiana, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, Wisconsin.

States split between Central Time and another zone:

Central and Eastern: Florida (panhandle), Indiana (northwest and southwest counties), Kentucky (western half), Michigan (Upper Peninsula, western counties), Tennessee (western and middle).
Central and Mountain: Kansas (western counties), Nebraska (panhandle), North Dakota (southwest counties), South Dakota (western half), Texas (Hudspeth and El Paso counties).

Major cities in Central Time:

Chicago, Illinois
Dallas, Texas
Houston, Texas
Nashville, Tennessee
New Orleans, Louisiana

Central Time vs Eastern and Mountain

Central Time is always one hour behind Eastern Time and one hour ahead of Mountain Time.

This does not change during daylight saving time. When clocks shift, all three zones shift together on the same schedule. The relationship stays constant:

12:00 p.m. Eastern = 11:00 a.m. Central = 10:00 a.m. Mountain = 9:00 a.m. Pacific.
6:00 p.m. Eastern = 5:00 p.m. Central = 4:00 p.m. Mountain = 3:00 p.m. Pacific.

When Central Time observes DST

Central Time follows the same federal daylight saving schedule as the rest of the mainland US:

Spring forward: Second Sunday of March, 2:00 a.m. CT becomes 3:00 a.m. CDT.
Fall back: First Sunday of November, 2:00 a.m. CDT becomes 1:00 a.m. CST.

The only US states that do not observe DST are Arizona (Navajo Nation excepted) and Hawaii. All Central Time states observe DST.