Current time in CST
CST is UTC-6, used across US central states. The clock below runs at that offset rather than at any one city's local time, because an abbreviation names an offset: when the region switches for the summer, the city moves and CST stays where it is.
4:17:43 AM
Wednesday, October 7, 2026
- Offset
- Etc/GMT+6
- UTC offset
- UTC-6
- 6 h behind your time
US central states is not on CST at the moment, so local time there is currently an hour away from this clock. The offset itself does not change: CST is always UTC-6.
Need to convert a specific date and time between zones? Use the timezone converter.
How it works
The offset comes from the IANA time zone database rather than a table we typed out, read through the America/Chicago entry, so it follows the same data your operating system uses and cannot drift out of date on its own.
CST and CDT are the two halves of the same region's year. Clocks move between them on the changeover dates; the offsets themselves never move.
Careful: CST is not unique. The same letters are also used by China (UTC+8). If a meeting invitation says CST and the sender is not in US central states, confirm which one they mean before you diary it.
Frequently asked questions
Does CST change with daylight saving?
No. CST is always UTC-6; what changes is which regions are using it. US central states switches to its other abbreviation for part of the year, and a clock in that region moves with the switch while CST stays put.
Does CST mean only one thing?
No, and this is the trap. CST also refers to China (UTC+8). Abbreviations are not standardised or unique, which is why calendar software works in IANA zone names like America/Chicago instead. When someone writes CST in an invitation, the offset they mean depends on where they are.
How do I convert a meeting time into CST?
Use the timezone converter linked above: pick the source zone and read the result. Doing it in your head is where mistakes come from, because you have to remember both sides' switch dates as well as the offsets, and the two hemispheres do not switch on the same weekends.