EST to CST Converter

3:00 PM EST is 2:00 PM CST, and 9:00 AM EST is 8:00 AM CST. Both zones change their clocks on the same days, so the gap never moves.

EST and CST right now

EST to CST time chart

Each hour of the day in Eastern Time and the same moment in Central Time. The gap is the same all year.

Working hours, 9 AM–5 PMNight, 10 PM–7 AM

Daylight saving time

Both zones change their clocks on the same nights, so Central Time stays 1 hour behind Eastern Time all year. Each zone changes at 2:00 a.m. its own time, so for a few hours on those nights the gap is off by one hour. The next changes:

• Sunday, November 1, 2026, 2:00 AM: clocks go back 1 hour.
• Sunday, March 14, 2027, 2:00 AM: clocks go forward 1 hour.

Standard or daylight time?

Strictly, EST and CST are standard time. From the second Sunday in March to the first Sunday in November the clocks show EDT and CDT instead. Most people keep writing EST and CST all year to mean the zone, and this page does the same: times follow the clocks in New York and Chicago whatever the season.

Reading “8/7c”

US TV and streaming schedules often say “8/7c”. It means 8:00 PM Eastern and 7:00 PM Central: the same moment, one hour apart on the clock. On the West Coast most network shows air on a delay, at the same clock time as in the East, so Pacific listings are given separately.

Working hours that overlap

The two workdays share seven hours: 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM Eastern, which is 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM Central. A 9:00 AM Eastern meeting is 8:00 AM in Chicago, Dallas and Nashville.

The states split between the two zones are listed on the CST to EST page.

Related conversions

• CST to EST
• PST to EST
• MST to EST
• UTC to EST
• Florida time zone
• All conversions
• Time difference calculator

Sources

• Wikipedia — Eastern Time Zone
• Wikipedia — Central Time Zone
• 15 U.S.C. § 260a — Advancement of time (daylight saving period)
• IANA Time Zone Database

Last checked October 21, 2026.