In the graph below you see the time zone difference between Central Standard Time and Eastern Daylight Time. Drag the bubble to adjust the time and to see the corresponding time in the other time zone.
Central Standard Time is the time zone of the central US and Canada, as well as most of Central America, including cities like Winnipeg, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Mexico City, San Jose and Panama City. Eastern Daylight Time is the time zone of the Canadian and US East Coast when observing daylight saving time in the summer, with places like Montreal, Ottawa, New York, Washington D.C. And Miami.
Usually it is preferable to schedule meetings in the morning for the person in CST and after lunch for the person in EDT.
More CST conversions
CST to BST, CST to CEST, CST to CDT, CST to MDT, CST to IST
More EDT conversions
EDT to IST, EDT to CET, EDT to BST, EDT to PDT, EDT to MST
Central Standard Time is the time zone of the central US and Canada, as well as Mexico and most of Central America. It is six hours behind UTC and is observed during the winter months. In the summer CST becomes CDT – Central Daylight Time. It is important to remember that not all locations in a given state or province necessarily use the time zone – make sure to check the situation for your exact location!
CST is observed in the US, Canada, Mexico and all of Central America (including Belize, Costa Rica, Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Panama and Honduras). In the US it is only the states in the central parts that observes CST, from Wisconsin in the West to Tennessee in the East, and from Michigan in the North to Florida in the South. Similarly, only Canadian provinces in the middle of the country observe CST. With the exception of the North West corner, all of Mexico observes CST.
Mexico: México (including Mexico City), Oaxaca, Yucatán, San Luis Potosi, Chiapas and more.
Canada: Saskatchewan (only Creighton and Denare Beach), Manitoba and most ports of Ontario
US: Nebraska, Wisconsin, Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Texas, Illinois to mention a few.
Most locations in Central Standard Time observe summer time between March and November, then calling it CDT – Central Daylight Time. It is always advisable to check the exact location (e.g. using our time zone converter) instead of relying on time zone abbreviations as there are sometimes exceptions, e.g. some states in the US are split between two time zones.
This is the summer time of the Eastern US, Canada and parts of the Caribbean. It is in effect between March and October for most locations and is four hours behind UTC. It is important to note that even within certain states, e.g. Florida, Michigan, and Tennessee there are locations that do NOT observe EST/EDT but instead belong to other time zones. The same goes for the Canadian provinces Ontario and Quebec.
Most of the Eastern seaboard of the US observe Eastern Daylight Time, as well as most locations in Eastern Canada although there are a few exceptions. Locations such as New York, Washington, Quebec and Ontario are all on Eastern Standard Time. Also some Caribbean locations such as Jamaica, Haiti and Panama are in this time zone.
With the exception of Panama, Jamaica and a couple of locations in Canada and the US daylight saving time is observed. Unless you are sure that the location you have in mind is truly in EST/EDT it is always better to use the exact location name rather than the time zone abbreviation.