Convert CST to EST Central Standard Time ↔ Eastern Standard Time Free Online Secure
Type a time in CST and read it in EST straight away. The offset is +1 h, the arithmetic wraps at midnight, and the answer says which day it lands on.
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Through the day — Convert CST to EST (Central Standard Time ↔ Eastern Standard Time)
| CST | EST |
|---|---|
| 00:00 | 01:00 |
| 03:00 | 04:00 |
| 06:00 | 07:00 |
| 09:00 | 10:00 |
| 12:00 | 13:00 |
| 15:00 | 16:00 |
| 18:00 | 19:00 |
| 21:00 | 22:00 |
Where these units come from
Until the middle of the nineteenth century every town kept its own noon, set by the sun overhead, and nobody minded that the next town was four minutes behind. Railways ended that: a timetable cannot be written for a hundred local noons. Britain put its railways on Greenwich time in 1847, and in 1884 the International Meridian Conference in Washington chose Greenwich as the prime meridian and sketched the twenty-four-hour scheme we still use. Greenwich Mean Time was the world's reference until 1972, when Coordinated Universal Time replaced it: UTC is kept by atomic clocks and tied back to the turning Earth by leap seconds. The abbreviations on this page name standard time — the winter setting — which is why each one is a fixed number of hours rather than something that drifts through the year.
Where you meet them
A time zone becomes real the moment two people in different places have to agree on one moment: a call between offices, a flight that lands before it took off, a market that opens while you are asleep, a deadline written in somebody else's afternoon. Server logs, train and flight schedules and anything stamped with a time are kept in UTC precisely so that the question can always be settled, no matter whose clock was on the wall.
Questions people ask
What about summer time?
The offsets here are standard-time offsets, the ones a zone keeps in winter. Where summer time is observed, the same places move one hour further on for part of the year and take a different name: Central European Time becomes Central European Summer Time, Eastern Standard Time becomes Eastern Daylight Time. The switching dates are not the same in every country, and the two hemispheres change in opposite months, so for a date inside a summer-time period add an hour to whichever side observes it.
Why isn't every difference a whole number of hours?
Because offsets are decided by governments, not by geometry. India is half an hour off the hour, at UTC+05:30; Nepal is three quarters, at UTC+05:45; the Chatham Islands are at UTC+12:45. Any of these can be changed by law, and several countries have moved their offset within living memory.
Is the answer exact?
Where both units are defined in terms of one another by whole numbers, yes — the page says so above the figure, and the only rounding is in how many digits are shown. Where the ratio has no finite decimal, the page shows twelve significant digits and says the relation is approximate rather than pretending otherwise.
Does anything I type leave my device?
No. The arithmetic runs in your browser; nothing is uploaded and there is no server to upload it to. Load the page once and it keeps working with the network switched off.
From the Middle of the Country to the East Coast
A ballgame in Chicago starts at 7:05 p.m. CT. A counter in Houston shuts at 4:00 p.m. CT. A results list in Dallas goes up at 10:00 a.m. CT. Anyone reading those times in Boston, Washington or Toronto has to convert CST to EST, and the rule is the simplest of the American ones: add one hour. 7:05 p.m. CST becomes 8:05 p.m. EST, 4:00 p.m. CST becomes 5:00 p.m. EST, and 11:30 p.m. CST crosses midnight and becomes 12:30 a.m. EST on the following date.
The page opens with what happens in the middle of the continent: baseball, college football, elections, Gulf storms and Mexican holidays. It then gives the rule, the tables and the two zones, with a note on the hours when the gap briefly shifts during the clock changes. The arithmetic runs in your browser, and no figure is sent to a server.
Baseball under the Chicago lights
Evening games
A game that starts at 7:05 p.m. CT starts at 8:05 p.m. ET and ends around 11:00 p.m. in the east. A quick convert CST to EST shows at once whether the last innings are worth staying up for.
The weekend schedule
Saturday afternoon games, say at 1:20 p.m. CT, begin at 2:20 p.m. ET. For viewers in Europe in winter, that is somewhere between 20:00 and 23:00.
College football in Texas
Saturdays in a packed stadium
College games in Texas often kick off at 11:00 a.m. CT, which is 12:00 p.m. ET, in some of the biggest stadiums in the country. Fans in the east watch at midday.
The evening kick-off
A night game at 7:00 p.m. CT starts at 8:00 p.m. ET and ends near midnight. For a viewer in Europe it is the middle of the night.
Election night in Texas
When polls close
Polling places across most of Texas close at 7:00 p.m. CT, which is 8:00 p.m. ET. The first results therefore come just as the national evening coverage in the east gets going.
Reading a table
A table of closing times in CT must be read one hour later on an Eastern clock. If you convert CST to EST for each line, you stop mixing up the state’s time with your own.
The Grito in Mexico City
Mexico’s midnight
On the evening of 15 September the crowd in the capital’s main square shouts at 11:00 p.m. local time. Mexico keeps one clock all year, UTC−6, while New York in September runs on EDT, UTC−4; hence the cry is heard in Manhattan at 1:00 a.m. on the 16th.
The two-hour gap
For as long as New York keeps summer time, from March to November, the distance to Mexico is two hours instead of one. When you fix a call with an office in Mexico City, convert CST to EST with the calendar date in view rather than the weekday.
Gulf of Mexico storms
Warning bulletins
Hurricane bulletins carry the local time of the region concerned. A bulletin issued at 4:00 p.m. CT is issued at 5:00 p.m. ET. Residents of Galveston and their relatives in the east often read the same notice at different hours.
Evacuations
An evacuation ordered “by 6:00 a.m. CT” ends at 7:00 a.m. ET. When the hour is critical, write it with the zone beside it.
Sunday evening and the futures markets
The evening before the week
Futures contracts in Chicago reopen on Sunday at 5:00 p.m. CT, which is 6:00 p.m. ET. A trader in New York therefore starts the week with a busy Sunday evening.
Afternoon closing
A session that ends at 3:00 p.m. CT ends at 4:00 p.m. ET. Investors in the centre see the close an hour earlier on their own clocks.
Services and meetings online
Sunday mornings
A service streamed from 10:30 a.m. CT begins at 11:30 a.m. ET. Worshippers in the east who want to watch live must be ready an hour later than those in the centre.
Evening classes
A course at 6:30 p.m. CT is at 7:30 p.m. ET. If you convert CST to EST in advance, you do not miss the start.
How to convert CST to EST
Add one hour
CST is UTC−6 and EST is UTC−5. Eastern time runs one hour ahead of Central, so add 1 to the Central time. If the result passes 24:00, subtract 24 and move to the next date. Only 23:00 to 23:59 CST crosses into the next day.
Eight pairs
00:00 CST is 01:00 EST. 06:15 CST is 07:15 EST. 09:00 CST is 10:00 EST. 12:00 CST is 13:00 EST. 15:45 CST is 16:45 EST. 18:00 CST is 19:00 EST. 21:30 CST is 22:30 EST. 23:45 CST is 00:45 EST on the next day. Only the last one crosses the date line of the clock.
In the summer months
In summer, CDT against EDT is still one hour. 10:00 a.m. CDT is 11:00 a.m. EDT. The figure does not change, only the labels.
The Eastern zone
Where it applies
UTC−5 is the offset behind Eastern Standard Time, the cold-season clock for a long strip of the Atlantic seaboard: New York, Boston, Washington, Atlanta and Miami, plus Toronto and Montreal in Canada. When summer comes the whole strip shifts to EDT, UTC−4. National announcements often shorten both to “ET”.
Why it matters to you
Anything broadcast nationally is scheduled by Eastern time, so a reader in the centre has to convert CST to EST almost daily.
The Central zone
Who uses it
Central Standard Time sits at UTC−6 and is the cold-season clock of the Midwest and the Gulf coast: Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Minneapolis, the Canadian city of Winnipeg and the whole of Mexico. American states in this zone switch to CDT, UTC−5, in summer.
Exceptions
Mexico and the province of Saskatchewan never move their clocks and remain on UTC−6. Measured against the east, they are one hour apart in winter and two in summer.
The schedule on two clocks
The office day
A working day of 09:00 to 17:00 in the centre corresponds to 10:00 to 18:00 on the Eastern clock. The two schedules overlap for seven hours, from 10:00 to 17:00 EST, which is 09:00 to 16:00 CST.
Who calls first
An office in Chicago that rings New York at 08:00 CST reaches it at 09:00 EST, the start of the day there. A call at 16:30 CST reaches it at 17:30 EST, when many are already on their way home.
By air
A flight from Houston to New York that leaves at 07:00 CST and takes a little over three hours lands at 10:15 CST, which is 11:15 EST. The ticket shows 07:00 and 11:15, so it looks like a journey of four and a quarter hours.
Bank counters and payment cut-offs
Closing time
A transfer that has to be sent “by 4:00 p.m.” Central time has to be sent before 5:00 p.m. on an Eastern clock. A “convert CST to EST” calculation that is wrong by an hour can cost you the banking day.
Weekend payments
Payments started on Friday at 5:30 p.m. CT are from 6:30 p.m. ET and usually arrive only on Monday morning.
Ice hockey in Winnipeg
An evening in Manitoba
A game in Manitoba normally starts at 7:00 p.m. CT, which is 8:00 p.m. ET. For a fan in Toronto the game begins an hour later than the poster in Winnipeg says, something only the person who does a “convert CST to EST” calculation notices.
Broadcasts
National broadcasts use Eastern time. A match advertised for “8:00 p.m. ET” begins at 7:00 p.m. in Winnipeg.
Dated examples
January
On Monday 12 January, 14:00 CST is 15:00 EST. Both regions are on standard time.
March
On Monday 16 March, 14:00 CDT is 15:00 EDT. Both moved to summer time on 8 March.
July
On Monday 13 July, 14:00 CDT is 15:00 EDT. In Mexico City, which stays on UTC−6 all year, the same moment is 13:00.
November
On Monday 9 November, 14:00 CST is 15:00 EST. Both returned to standard time on 1 November.
When the two regions are out of step
The two Sundays
The east and the centre do not move their clocks at the same second; each does so at 2:00 a.m. its own time. On the March Sunday the east jumps first, so for one hour the New York clock is two hours ahead of Chicago’s. On the November Sunday the east falls back first, and for one hour the two clocks show exactly the same time.
How to avoid confusion
An event fixed within those hours should be written with the date and the city. At any other time a “convert CST to EST” calculation gives a single hour, whatever the month.
One more zone with every step west
How to count from the centre
On the continental map the hours rise towards the east and fall towards the west. From Chicago, New York is one hour ahead, Denver one behind and San Francisco two behind. Alaska is three hours behind and Hawaii four in winter.
A sample invitation
When it is 10:00 a.m. in Chicago, it is 11:00 a.m. in New York, 9:00 a.m. in Denver and 8:00 a.m. in Los Angeles. A message that lists all four spares the reader any convert CST to EST.
Train routes to the east
Overnight passengers
A train that leaves Chicago at 21:30 CST and reaches New York the following evening at about 19:00 EST shows 21:30 and 19:00 on the ticket, which looks like a journey of twenty-one and a half hours although it takes an hour less. Station times are always local.
Changing the watch on board
Passengers move their watches one hour forward when they enter the Eastern zone. The conductor usually announces the moment of crossing.
Morning radio
The schedule on two clocks
A morning show that runs from 6:00 to 10:00 a.m. CT reaches the east between 7:00 and 11:00 a.m. ET if a network carries it live. Listeners who catch it online keep time by the station’s clock, not their own.
Call-in lines
Anyone wanting to call in at 8:30 a.m. CT, when calls are taken, rings at 9:30 a.m. ET. The time on a phone screen belongs to the place where the listener is, so a note on paper with both hours is useful.
Why the gap does not change in summer
The year in segments
Because CST and EST follow the same calendar, the gap of 1 hour does not move; in summer they are called CDT and EDT.
How to apply it
For 2026 the dates are 29 March and 25 October in Europe and 8 March and 1 November in North America. You can convert CST to EST on any date with the same rule.
A day of conversions at a glance
CST into EST
00:00 CST is 01:00 EST. 01:00 CST is 02:00 EST. 02:00 CST is 03:00 EST. 03:00 CST is 04:00 EST. 04:00 CST is 05:00 EST. 05:00 CST is 06:00 EST. 06:00 CST is 07:00 EST. 07:00 CST is 08:00 EST. 08:00 CST is 09:00 EST. 09:00 CST is 10:00 EST. 10:00 CST is 11:00 EST. 11:00 CST is 12:00 EST. 12:00 CST is 13:00 EST. 13:00 CST is 14:00 EST. 14:00 CST is 15:00 EST. 15:00 CST is 16:00 EST. 16:00 CST is 17:00 EST. 17:00 CST is 18:00 EST. 18:00 CST is 19:00 EST. 19:00 CST is 20:00 EST. 20:00 CST is 21:00 EST. 21:00 CST is 22:00 EST. 22:00 CST is 23:00 EST. 23:00 CST is 00:00 EST (next day).
Using the table
Find the CST hour you need and read off the EST hour beside it. The rows come from the arithmetic behind each request to convert CST to EST. With a whole-hour offset the minutes are untouched; if they differ in your result, the input was misread.
Half-hour marks
CST to EST at :30
00:30 CST is 01:30 EST. 01:30 CST is 02:30 EST. 02:30 CST is 03:30 EST. 03:30 CST is 04:30 EST. 04:30 CST is 05:30 EST. 05:30 CST is 06:30 EST. 06:30 CST is 07:30 EST. 07:30 CST is 08:30 EST. 08:30 CST is 09:30 EST. 09:30 CST is 10:30 EST. 10:30 CST is 11:30 EST. 11:30 CST is 12:30 EST. 12:30 CST is 13:30 EST. 13:30 CST is 14:30 EST. 14:30 CST is 15:30 EST. 15:30 CST is 16:30 EST. 16:30 CST is 17:30 EST. 17:30 CST is 18:30 EST. 18:30 CST is 19:30 EST. 19:30 CST is 20:30 EST. 20:30 CST is 21:30 EST. 21:30 CST is 22:30 EST. 22:30 CST is 23:30 EST. 23:30 CST is 00:30 EST (next day).
Why it helps
Many meetings, broadcasts and scheduled jobs start at half past the hour. This table gives the EST time for each of them at a glance, which saves you a second calculation.
Odd times, converted
Ten CST times and their EST equivalents
01:05 CST is 02:05 EST. 03:20 CST is 04:20 EST. 05:50 CST is 06:50 EST. 07:35 CST is 08:35 EST. 10:10 CST is 11:10 EST. 13:25 CST is 14:25 EST. 16:40 CST is 17:40 EST. 19:55 CST is 20:55 EST. 22:15 CST is 23:15 EST. 23:05 CST is 00:05 EST (next day).
Observation
Real schedules are rarely on the hour, so here are ten with awkward minutes. Only the hour moves. Minutes pass through unchanged, which makes this pair easy to check by eye.
What part of the day is it?
EST equivalents for each CST hour
06:00 CST is 07:00 EST (early morning). 08:00 CST is 09:00 EST (morning). 10:00 CST is 11:00 EST (morning). 12:00 CST is 13:00 EST (around midday). 14:00 CST is 15:00 EST (afternoon). 16:00 CST is 17:00 EST (afternoon). 18:00 CST is 19:00 EST (evening). 20:00 CST is 21:00 EST (evening). 22:00 CST is 23:00 EST (night).
How to use the list
The words in brackets describe the part of the day in EST. They help you avoid planning a call or a task for the middle of the night after you convert CST to EST.
Checklist: how to convert CST to EST
First
Check the zone names
Outside North America, CST can point to China (UTC+8) or Cuba (UTC−5); this converter always means the Central zone of the USA, Canada and Mexico. Eastern Standard Time is UTC−5; Australia uses the letters EST too, at UTC+10, which this page does not cover.
Use a 24-hour clock
Turn a.m. and p.m. into the 24-hour form first: 4:30 p.m. is 16:30 and 12:00 a.m. is 00:00. For example, 09:15 CST becomes 10:15 EST.
After the sum
The operation
Add 1 hour. If the result passes midnight, correct the date: readings from 23:00 fall on the next date.
A second example
An evening check: 22:40 CST gives 23:40 EST.
Mistakes when you convert CST to EST
Subtracting instead of adding
Because EST runs ahead of CST, the result must be a later clock reading. An earlier one points to a subtraction.
Losing the date
CST readings from 23:00 fall on the next date. Forgetting to move the date leaves the result 24 hours wrong.
Mixing up labels in summer
The summer names are CDT and EDT; the distance between the clocks stays as it was. The new names do not change the gap, so leave the sum alone.
Confusing the abbreviation
Three countries share the letters CST; only the North American one, UTC−6, is used on this page. Check that an EST in a schedule is American or Canadian rather than Australian before you convert.
Questions and answers
How far apart are CST and EST?
1 hour, and EST is ahead of CST.
What do I do to convert CST to EST?
Add 1 hour to the CST time, then fix the date if the result passes midnight.
How much is 21:45 CST in EST?
22:45 EST.
Is the gap the same in every month?
Yes, it is the same in every month.
Is my input stored or uploaded?
No. Nothing leaves the page.
More time zone converters
Other converters: Convert CST to GMT, Convert CST to IST, Convert IST to EST, Convert WET to EST, Convert EST to EET, Convert GMT to CST, Convert CST to CET, Convert CST to EET, Convert EST to WET. And the reverse of this one: Convert EST to CST.
To sum up: convert CST to EST by one rule (add 1 hour) and a glance at the calendar. The work is done on your device.