The Central Time Zone is a time zone in parts of Canada, the United States, Mexico, Central America, and a few Caribbean Islands. It is one hour behind the Eastern Time Zone.

Daylight saving time (DST) is observed in most parts of that zone (20 states in the US, three provinces or territories in Canada, and several border municipalities in Mexico): Central Standard Time (CST) is observed from the first Sunday in November to the second Sunday in March. It is six hours behind Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) and designated internationally as UTC−6. From the second Sunday in March to the first Sunday in November, the same areas observe DST, creating the designation of Central Daylight Time (CDT), which is five hours behind UTC and known formally as UTC−5.

Regions using Central Time (CT)

Canada

Two provinces and one territory are contained entirely in the Central Time Zone, all on year-round Central Standard Time (UTC−6): Alberta Northwest Territories Saskatchewan Central Standard Time (UTC−6 year-round) is officially called Alberta Time (ABT) and Northwest Territories Time in their respective jurisdictions.

In the province of British Columbia, Central Standard Time (UTC−6 year-round) is observed in the areas noted, while all other areas observe Mountain Standard Time: Regional District of East Kootenay Town of Golden Columbia-Shuswap Regional District Area A

The following Canadian provinces and territories observe Central Time in the areas noted, while their other areas observe Eastern Time: Nunavut (territory): western areas (most of Kivalliq Region and part of Qikiqtaaluk Region) Ontario (province): a portion of the northwest bordering southeastern Manitoba, in and around Kenora. On 17 September 2026, Manitoba premier Wab Kinew announced the province of Manitoba, previously on Central Time with daylight saving time, would be adopting permanent DST, moving the province to year-round Eastern Standard Time (UTC−05:00).

United States

Ten states are contained entirely in the Central Time Zone: Alabama Arkansas Illinois Iowa Louisiana Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Oklahoma Wisconsin

Five states are split between the Central Time Zone and the Mountain Time Zone: Kansas: all except for Sherman, Wallace, Greeley, and Hamilton counties Nebraska: eastern two thirds including the east part of Cherry County North Dakota: all except for southwest regions, south part of McKenzie County, and the majority of Dunn County and far western Sioux County South Dakota: eastern half including part of Stanley County Texas: all except for El Paso, Hudspeth, and northwestern Culberson counties

Five states are split between the Central Time Zone and the Eastern Time Zone: Florida: Florida panhandle west of the Apalachicola River; Franklin County west of the Apalachicola River and the northern parts of Gulf County are in the Central Time Zone Indiana: Northwest Indiana and most of Southwestern Indiana, including the Evansville metropolitan area Kentucky: the western portion of the state, including three major cities: Bowling Green, Owensboro and Paducah Michigan: The four Upper Peninsula counties bordering Wisconsin: Gogebic, Iron, Dickinson, and Menominee counties Tennessee: West Tennessee and Middle Tennessee, including the major cities of Nashville, Memphis, and Clarksville Additionally, Phenix City, Alabama, and several nearby communities in Russell County, Alabama, unofficially observe Eastern Time. This is due to their close proximity to Columbus, Georgia, which is on Eastern Time.

Although legally located within the Central Time Zone, Kenton, Oklahoma—located to the adjacent east of the defined border of the Central and Mountain time zones (at the Oklahoma−New Mexico state line)—unofficially observes Mountain Time. This is reportedly because most people who interact with the town reside in either New Mexico or Colorado.

Mexico

Most of Mexico—roughly the eastern three-fourths—lies in the Central Time Zone, except for five northwestern states (Baja California, Baja California Sur, Sinaloa, Sonora, and most of Nayarit) and one southeastern state (Quintana Roo). It is known locally as the .

The federal entities of Mexico that observe Central Time:

Aguascalientes Campeche Chihuahua – Excluding the municipalities of Janos, Ascensión, Juárez, Guadalupe, and Práxedis Gilberto Guerrero, which observe Mountain Time with DST. Additionally, counties east of Guadalupe observe Daylight Savings in Central Time. Coahuila Colima – except for the Revillagigedo Islands, in which the inner islands use UTC−7 and the outer island uses UTC−8 Chiapas Durango Guanajuato Guerrero Hidalgo Jalisco Mexico City Michoacán Morelos Nayarit – *only the municipality of Bahía de Banderas, rest of the state uses UTC−7 Nuevo León Oaxaca Puebla Querétaro San Luis Potosí State of Mexico Tabasco Tamaulipas Tlaxcala Veracruz Yucatán Zacatecas

Central America Out of the seven countries comprising Central America, all but one use Central Standard Time year-round: Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua.

Panama, which recognizes Eastern Standard Time (UTC−5) year round, is the exception.

Central Daylight Time

Daylight saving time (DST) is in effect in much of the Central time zone between mid-March and early November. The modified time is called "Central Daylight Time" (CDT) and is UTC−05:00.

In the United States, all time zones that observe DST were effectively changed by the Energy Policy Act of 2005. Beginning in 2007, DST would now begin at 2am on the second Sunday in March instead of the first Sunday in April, moving the time from 2 to 3am. Additionally, DST would end at 2am on the first Sunday in November instead of the last Sunday in October, moving the time from 2 to 1am.

At the time, Mexico decided not to go along with this change and observed their horario de verano ("summer schedule") from the first Sunday in April to the last Sunday in October. In December 2009, the Mexican Congress allowed ten border cities, eight of which are in states that observe Central Time, to adopt the US daylight time schedule effective in 2010. In October 2022, however, CDT was used in Mexico for the last time after DST was abolished. The US is seeing traction in the opposite direction, with the Sunshine Protection Act that proposes legislation that would make daylight saving time permanent.

Alphabetical list of major Central Time Zone metropolitan areas

Acapulco, Guerrero Aguascalientes, Aguascalientes Amarillo, Texas Antigua Guatemala Austin, Texas Baton Rouge, Louisiana Beaumont/Port Arthur, Texas Belize City, Belize Belmopan, Belize Birmingham, Alabama Bismarck, North Dakota Bloomington, Illinois Bowling Green, Kentucky Brownsville, Texas Calgary, Alberta Cedar Rapids, Iowa Champaign, Illinois Chicago, Illinois Clarksville, Tennessee Comarca Lagunera (Torreón, Gómez Palacio, Lerdo) Columbia, Missouri Cranbrook, British Columbia Cuernavaca, Morelos Dallas–Fort Worth, Texas Davenport, Iowa Des Moines, Iowa Edmonton, Alberta Enid, Oklahoma Evansville, Indiana Fargo, North Dakota Fort Smith, Arkansas Fort Walton Beach, Florida Grand Forks, North Dakota Green Bay, Wisconsin Guadalajara, Jalisco Guatemala City, Guatemala Houston, Texas Huntsville, Alabama Iowa City, Iowa Jackson, Mississippi Jackson, Tennessee Janesville, Wisconsin Jonesboro, Arkansas Joplin, Missouri Kansas City, Missouri/Kansas Killeen–Temple–Fort Hood, Texas Lafayette, Louisiana Lawrence, Kansas León, Guanajuato Lethbridge, Alberta Lincoln, Nebraska Little Rock, Arkansas Lubbock, Texas Madison, Wisconsin Managua, Nicaragua Memphis, Tennessee Mérida, Yucatán Mexico City Midland/Odessa, Texas Milwaukee, Wisconsin Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Minnesota Mobile, Alabama Monroe, Louisiana Monterrey, Nuevo León Montgomery, Alabama Morelia, Michoacán Nashville, Tennessee New Orleans, Louisiana Normal, Illinois Northwest Arkansas Oklahoma City, Oklahoma Omaha, Nebraska Owensboro, Kentucky Paducah, Kentucky Panama City, Florida Pensacola, Florida Peoria, Illinois Puebla, Puebla Quad Cities, Iowa/Illinois Racine, Wisconsin Red Deer, Alberta Regina, Saskatchewan Rockford, Illinois Rochester, Minnesota Sioux City, Iowa Sioux Falls, South Dakota St. Louis, Missouri San Antonio, Texas San José, Costa Rica San Luis Potosí, San Luis Potosí San Pedro Sula, Honduras San Salvador, El Salvador Santiago de Querétaro, Querétaro Saskatoon, Saskatchewan Shreveport–Bossier City, Louisiana Springfield, Illinois Springfield, Missouri Tampico, Tamaulipas Tegucigalpa, Honduras Toluca, Estado de México Topeka, Kansas Tuscaloosa, Alabama Tulsa, Oklahoma Wichita, Kansas Wichita Falls, Texas Yellowknife, Northwest Territories Zacatecas, Zacatecas

See also Effects of time zones on North American broadcasting

References

External links