In the graph below you see the time zone difference between Eastern Standard Time and Central Daylight Time. Drag the bubble to adjust the time and to see the corresponding time in the other time zone.
Eastern Standard Time is the time zone of the Canadian and US East Coast, including cities like Montreal, Ottawa, New York, Washington D.C. And Miami. Central Daylight Time is the time zone of the central US and Canada, as well as most of Central America when observing daylight saving time in, with places like Winnipeg, Chicago, Dallas, Houston and Mexico City.
Usually it is preferable to schedule meetings any time from the morning for the person in EST and any time from the morning for the person in CDT.
More EST conversions
EST to KST, EST to MDT, EST to EST, EST to PST, EST to IST
More CDT conversions
CDT to IST, CDT to GMT, CDT to PST, CDT to CST, CDT to EDT
This is the standard time of the Eastern US, Canada and parts of the Caribbean. It is in most places observed only in the winter months, from November to March. The origin of EST is the same as for most time zones – it was introduced when the railroad was built across the United States. It is important to note that there is also Eastern Standard Time in Australia, but this is usually called AEST and thus not to be confused with EST.
Most of the Eastern seaboard of the US observe EST, 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.
It is important to note that with the exception of Panama, Jamaica and a couple of locations in Canada and the US most in this time zone do observe DST and thus switch to EDT in the summer. As always, it is better to look up the actual location than the timezone itself.
Central Daylight Time is the time zone of the central US and Canada, as well as Mexico and most of Central America. It is five hours behind UTC and is observed during the summer months, between March and November. Sometimes the zone is referred to as CDST – Central Daylight Saving Time Zone. In the winter CDT becomes CST – Central Standard Time.
CDT is observed in the US, Canada, Mexico, Belize, Costa Rica, Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Panama and Honduras i.e. all Central American countries. In the US it is only the states in the central US that observes CDT, 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 CDT. All of Mexico observes CDT, except the North West corner of the country.
US: Alabama, Iowa, Louisiana, Texas, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Illinois and many more.
Canada: Manitoba, Ontario (most parts), Saskatchewan (only Creighton and Denare Beach)
Mexico: Chiapas, México, Oaxaca, Yuca tán, San Luis Potosi and more.
CDT is the daylight saving time of Central Standard Time. There are only a handful of exceptions in this time zone that do not observe DST, so it is advisable to always check the exact location (e.g. using our time zone converter) instead of relying on time zone abbreviations.