Home   Time Zones   Abbreviations   CST – Central Standard Time

CST – Central Standard Time / Central Time (Standard Time)

Time Zone names, codes and abbreviations for Standard Time and Daylight Saving Time (DST) around the world.

Also known as: CT – Central Time, NACST – North American Central Standard Time

Caution: This is NOT the current local time in most locations in that time zone

North America: Only some locations are currently on CST because most places in this time zone are currently on summer time / daylight saving time and are observing CDT.

Time zone map of CST
Currently observing CST.
Observes CST part of the year.
Areas with same time currently (UTC -6).
Currently observing CST – Central Standard Time.
Observes CST – Central Standard Time part of the year, but not currently.
Currently has same time zone offset as CST (UTC -6) but different time zone name.

Central Standard Time (CST) is 6 hours behind Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). This time zone is in use during standard time in: North America, Central America.

See full time zone map

Where and When is CST Observed?

North America

U.S. states using CST in the winter and CDT in the summer:

  • Alabama
  • Arkansas
  • Florida - North-West parts Show

    Bay, Calhoun, Escambia, Holmes, Jackson, Okaloosa, Santa Rosa, Walton and Washington counties and norther Gulf county

  • Illinois
  • Indiana - these few north-western counties near Chicago (Lake, Porter, La Porte, Newton, Jasper, Starke) and these south-western counties in Indiana near Evansville Show

    Gibson, Posey, Vanderburgh, Warrick, Perry, Spencer

  • Iowa
  • Kansas - except these western counties Show

    Greeley, Hamilton, Sherman and Wallace - MST/MDT

  • Kentucky - Western part Show

    Adair, Allen, Ballard, Barren, Breckinridge, Butler, Caldwell, Calloway, Carlisle, Christian, Clinton, Crittenden, Cumberland, Daviess, Edmonson, Fulton, Graves, Grayson, Green, Hansock, Hart, Henderson, Hickman, Hopkins, Livingston, Logan, Lyon, Marshall, McCracken, McLean, Metcalfe, Monroe, Muhlenberg, Ohio, Russell, Simpson, Todd, Trigg, Union, Warren and Webster counties

  • Louisiana
  • Michigan - A few western counties Show

    Dickinson, Gogebic, Iron, and Menominee

  • Minnesota
  • Mississippi
  • Missouri
  • Nebraska - Eastern parts Show

    All except Arthur, Banner, Box Butte, Chase, Cheyenne, Dawes, Deuel, Dundy, Garden, Grant, Hooker, Keith, Kimball, Morrill, Perkins, Scotts Bluff, Sheridan, and Sioux counties and the western part of Cherry county which are on MST/MDT

  • North Dakota - North and Eastern parts Show

    counties of Barnes, Benson, Bottineau, Burke, Burleigh, Cass, Cavalier, Dickey, Divide, Eddy, Emmons, Foster, Grand Forks, Griggs, Kidder, Lamoure, Logan, McHenry, McIntosh, McLean, Mountrail, Nelson, Oliver, Pembina, Pierce, Ramsey, Ransom, Renville, Richland, Rolette, Sargent, Sheridan, Steele, Stutsman, Towner, Traill, Walsh, Ward, Wells, Williams and northern parts of McKenzie and Dunn, westernmost part of Morton and Fort Yates in Sioux

  • Oklahoma
  • South Dakota - Eastern parts Show

    counties of Aurora, Beadle, Bon Homme, Brookings, Brown, Brule, Buffalo, Campbell, Charles Mix, Clark, Clay, Codington, Davison, Day, Deuel, Douglas, Edmunds, Faulk, Grant, Gregory, Hamlin, Hand, Hanson, Hughes, Hutchinson, Hyde, Jerauld, Jones, Kingsbury, Lake, Lincoln, Lyman, Marshall, McCook, McPherson, Mellette, Miner, Minnehaha, Moody, Potter, Roberts, Spink, Sanborn, Sully, Todd, Tripp, Turner, Union, Yankton, Walworth and eastern parts of Stanley

  • Tennessee - Western part Show

    counties of Bedford, Benton, Bledsoe, Cannon, Carroll, Cheatham, Chester, Clay, Coffee, Crockett, Cumberland, Davidson, Decatur, DeKalb, Dickson, Dyer, Fayette, Fentress, Franklin, Gibson, Giles, Grundy, Hardeman, Hardin, Haywood, Henderson, Henry, Hickman, Houston, Humphreys, Jackson, Lake, Lauderdale, Lawrence, Lewis, Lincoln, McNairy, Macon, Madison, Marion, Marshall, Maury, Montgomery, Moore, Obion, Overton, Perry, Pickett, Putnam, Robertson, Rutherford, Sequatchie, Shelby, Smith, Stewart, Sumner, Tipton, Trusdale, Van Buren, Warren, Wayne Weakley, White, Willamson, Wilson

  • Texas - All, but a few counties in west Show

    El Paso and Hudspeth and part of Culberson

  • Wisconsin

Canadian provinces using CST in the winter and CDT in the summer:

Canadian provinces using CST all year:

Mexican states using CST in the winter and CDT in the summer:

Central America

Central American countries using CST all year:

Other Time Zones in UTC -6

Some time zones exist that have the same offset as CST, but can be found under a different name: