How to convert Eastern Time to Central Time
- Type the Eastern time, like 8:00 pm or 20:00, and pick the date.
- From is set to Eastern Time and To to Central Time (Chicago, Dallas). Pick another city if you need one.
- Read the Central time and the 1-hour difference under it.
Eastern to Central time table
Every 3 hours on July 15, 2026 (EDT to CDT). The gap is the same in winter (EST to CST), so this table works all year.
| New York | Chicago |
|---|---|
| 12:00 am | 11:00 pm (previous day) |
| 3:00 am | 2:00 am |
| 6:00 am | 5:00 am |
| 9:00 am | 8:00 am |
| 12:00 pm | 11:00 am |
| 3:00 pm | 2:00 pm |
| 6:00 pm | 5:00 pm |
| 9:00 pm | 8:00 pm |
The hour on switch nights
Each zone changes its clocks at 2 am local time, so Eastern changes an hour before Central. On March 8, 2026, from 3 am to 4 am in New York, Chicago is still on CST and the gap is 2 hours. On November 1, 2026, for one hour after New York falls back, both cities show the same time. Unless you have something scheduled in the middle of the night, you’ll never notice.
For working hours, a 9 to 5 day in both cities overlaps from 10 am to 5 pm Eastern, which is 9 am to 4 pm Central.