In the graph below you see the time zone difference between Pacific Standard Time and Central Standard Time. Drag the bubble to adjust the time and to see the corresponding time in the other time zone.
Pacific Standard Time is the time zone of the Canadian and US West Coast, including cities like Seattle, Vancouver, San Francisco and Los Angeles. Central Standard Time is the time zone of the central US and Canada, as well as most of Central America, with places like Winnipeg, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Mexico City, San Jose and Panama City.
Usually it is preferable to schedule meetings in the morning for the person in PST and after lunch for the person in CST.
More PST conversions
PST to CET, PST to IST, PST to MST, PST to BST, PST to CEST
More CST conversions
CST to MST, CST to CET, CST to PDT, CST to EDT, CST to BST
Pacific Standard Time is the time of the Western United States and Canada and is typically abbreviated as PST. It is 8 hours behind GMT. This means that when the clock is noon in London (GMT), it is 4AM in Seattle (PST).
Most of the Western US and Canada are following Pacific Standard Time.
This can be a bit tricky as most states on the US Pacific Coast do apply daylight saving time, calling PST for PDT, or Pacific Daylight Time, instead and sets the clocks in November and March respectively.
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.