Time zone · Americas
CST
Central Standard Time
Central Standard Time (CST) spans 26 zones from Central America into the heart of North America, where many clocks stay fixed year-round while others typically spring forward for daylight saving. That mixed rhythm calls for extra care when scheduling across the region, especially during the months when parts of the U.S. and Canada shift ahead while Mexico and Central America often hold steady.
Wednesday, October 14, 2026
Current offset
UTC-06:00
Standard · CST
Daylight saving
Not active
Year-round standard time
IANA zones
27
12 observe DST, 15 don't
DST offset
UTC-05:00
CDT · +1h
About CST
Standard time, with a summer shift.
Central Standard Time (CST) spans 26 zones from Central America into the heart of North America, where many clocks stay fixed year-round while others typically spring forward for daylight saving. That mixed rhythm calls for extra care when scheduling across the region, especially during the months when parts of the U.S. and Canada shift ahead while Mexico and Central America often hold steady.
IANA zones · the technical identifiers
The 27 zones that resolve to CST.
For software, always store the IANA identifier — never the abbreviation alone. The database keeps these zones distinct because their rules can, and historically did, diverge.
Cities across CST
Local time, city by city.
55 cities
Where CST is used
9 countries.
Same offset · UTC-06:00
Other zones at UTC-06:00 right now.
These named zones share CST's offset today. When daylight saving rules differ, they drift apart for part of the year.
Convert
CST to the world's clocks.
Frequently asked questions
Common questions about CST, daylight saving, and how to handle it in software. Can't find what you need? Email [email protected].
- Why is this region called Central Standard Time?
- It’s named for the central belt of North America where the standard offset is UTC‑06:00, covering much of Mexico, Central America, and the U.S. and Canadian central corridors.
- What’s unique about Central Standard Time?
- The region is split: 12 of its 26 member zones observe daylight saving while the other 14 do not, so clocks aren’t aligned all year.
- Do all of Mexico use CST?
- No. Most of Mexico, including Mexico City, stays on CST all year, and border towns such as Matamoros and Ojinaga switch to CDT with the U.S. But Baja California follows Pacific Time, Sonora, Sinaloa, most of Nayarit and Baja California Sur use UTC-07:00, and Quintana Roo (Cancún) uses UTC-05:00.
- When does daylight saving usually apply here?
- In the parts of the U.S. and Canada that do observe it, clocks typically spring forward in March and fall back in November.
- Which central time zones observe daylight saving?
- All U.S. Central zones (including Chicago, parts of Indiana, North Dakota and Menominee, Michigan), Manitoba, northwestern Ontario and parts of Nunavut in Canada, and Mexican border towns such as Matamoros and Ojinaga.
- Which central time zones do not observe daylight saving?
- Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua stay on CST year-round, as do most of Mexico (including Mexico City, Monterrey and Mérida) and most of Saskatchewan in Canada.
- How many countries are included in this region?
- Nine: Belize, Canada, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua and the United States.
Source: IANA tzdb2026d · Reviewed
Free · Developer API
This time zone, as JSON.
Its defining offset, DST status and member counts, from one endpoint.
Also in the API: time zones by coordinates, conversions that flag daylight saving gaps, and abbreviations decoded.
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