Time in Chicago
The current local time and date in Chicago, its time zone, and a converter to your own time.
Detecting your time zone to suggest the best hour to call…
Chicago is the flagship city of US Central Time, the zone's biggest metro and the reference most people mean by "Central" (CST/CDT).
Chicago uses UTC-6 in winter (standard time) and shifts to UTC-5 in summer when daylight saving time is active.
Compare to your time zone
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Compare Chicago with another city
Chicago & London · Chicago & New York · Chicago & Tokyo · Chicago & Los Angeles · Chicago & Dubai · All world clocks →
See also: Population of United States
Other cities in the Central Time zone
Time in Houston · Time in Texas · Time in Illinois · Time in Missouri · Time in Tennessee
Popular time comparisons
London → New York · London → Tokyo · New York → Tokyo · London → Sydney
FAQ
What time is it in Chicago right now?
Chicago is on UTC-6 in winter and UTC-5 during daylight saving time in summer, which is 6 hours behind UTC. So when it is 12:00 UTC, the local time in Chicago is 06:00 in winter and 07:00 in summer. The live clock at the top of this page applies that offset to the current moment and refreshes every second.
What time zone is Chicago in?
Chicago uses the America/Chicago time zone, shown as CDT. Chicago uses UTC-6 in winter (standard time) and shifts to UTC-5 in summer when daylight saving time is active. The "compare to your time zone" section above converts any Chicago time into your own local time instantly.
Does Chicago observe daylight saving time?
Yes — Chicago does observe daylight saving time. Clocks move forward one hour in summer, taking Chicago from UTC-6 to UTC-5, and back again for winter. That means the difference between Chicago and any place holding a fixed offset changes by an hour for part of the year. This page reads the current offset from the America/Chicago zone data every time it loads, so the clock, the converter and the call window above are correct for today's date without you tracking the changeover.
How do I convert Chicago time to my time zone?
Convert Chicago time by taking its UTC-6 offset and applying the difference to your own: subtract Chicago's offset from UTC to get the UTC time, then add your own offset. For example, 09:00 in Chicago is 15:00 UTC. The converter above does this automatically after detecting your device's time zone, and the World Clock meeting planner lays several cities out on one colour-coded 24-hour grid.
What is the dialing code for Chicago?
The dialing code for Chicago is +1. To call from abroad, dial +1 before the local number. The card at the top of this page shows it alongside the live local time so you can check it is a reasonable hour before you call.
What are the best hours to call Chicago?
Standard business hours in Chicago — 9:00 to 17:00 local time — correspond to 15:00 to 23:00 UTC while standard time is in effect, shifting one hour earlier in UTC terms during daylight saving. Convert that UTC window into your own zone to find the overlap. The "best time to call" line above does this for you, using waking hours of roughly 8am–9pm on both ends so neither side is called at night.
Golden hour in Chicago
How long is golden hour in Chicago? See the data →
Learn how time zones work
UTC & GMT explained · Daylight saving explained · How to convert a time between two cities