The North American Central Time Zone (CT) is a

time zone A time zone is an area which observes a uniform standard time for legal, commercial and social purposes. Time zones tend to follow the boundaries between countries and their subdivisions instead of strictly following longitude, because it ...

in parts of Canada, the United States, Mexico,

Central America Central America ( es, América Central or ) is a subregion of the Americas. Its boundaries are defined as bordering the United States to the north, Colombia to the south, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. ...

, some Caribbean Islands, and part of the Eastern Pacific Ocean. Central Standard Time (CST) is six hours behind Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). During summer, most of the zone uses daylight saving time (DST), and changes to Central Daylight Time (CDT) which is

five hours "Five Hours" is a 2014 single by Mexican-American DJ Deorro and has appeared in a great number of dance compilations in 2014. The song charted in a number of countries and notably reached number 8 on SNEP official French Singles Chart. In the Un ...

behind UTC. The largest city in the Central Time Zone is Mexico City; the Mexico City metropolitan area is the largest metropolitan area in the zone and in North America.

Regions using (North American) Central Time

Canada

The province of Manitoba is the only province or territory in Canada that observes Central Time in all areas. 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 The Kivalliq Region (; Inuktitut syllabics: ᑭᕙᓪᓕᖅ ) is an administrative region of Nunavut, Canada. It consists of the portion of the mainland to the west of Hudson Bay together with Southampton Island and Coats Island. The regional c ...

and part of Qikiqtaaluk Region) * Ontario (province): a portion of the northwest bordering southeastern Manitoba, in and around Kenora. Also, most of the province of Saskatchewan is on Central Standard Time year-round, never adjusting for Daylight Saving Time. Major exceptions include

Lloydminster Lloydminster is a city in Canada which has the unusual geographic distinction of straddling the provincial border between Alberta and Saskatchewan. The city is incorporated by both provinces as a single city with a single municipal administrati ...

, a city situated on the boundary between Alberta and Saskatchewan. The city charter stipulates that it shall observe

Mountain Time The Mountain Time Zone of North America keeps time by subtracting seven hours from Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) when standard time ( UTC−07:00) is in effect, and by subtracting six hours during daylight saving time ( UTC−06:00). The cloc ...

and DST, putting the community on the same time as all of Alberta, including the major cities of Calgary and Edmonton. As a result, during the summer, clocks in the entire province match those in Alberta, but during the winter, clocks in most of the province match those in Manitoba.

United States

Ten states are contained entirely in the Central Time Zone: * Alabama *

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the O ...

* 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 * 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 *

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

: 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: Most of Florida Panhandle west of the Apalachicola River; Franklin County west of the Apalachicola River and parts of Gulf County are in the Central Time Zone * Indiana: northwest ( Gary) and southwest (

Evansville Evansville is a city in, and the county seat of, Vanderburgh County, Indiana, United States. The population was 118,414 at the 2020 census, making it the state's third-most populous city after Indianapolis and Fort Wayne, the largest city in ...

) regions * Kentucky: western half * Michigan: Gogebic,

Iron Iron () is a chemical element with Symbol (chemistry), symbol Fe (from la, Wikt:ferrum, ferrum) and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 element, group 8 of the periodic table. It is, Abundanc ...

, Dickinson, and

Menominee The Menominee (; mez, omǣqnomenēwak meaning ''"Menominee People"'', also spelled Menomini, derived from the Ojibwe language word for "Wild Rice People"; known as ''Mamaceqtaw'', "the people", in the Menominee language) are a federally recog ...

counties * Tennessee: West Tennessee and Middle Tennessee, including the major cities of Nashville and

Memphis Memphis most commonly refers to: * Memphis, Egypt, a former capital of ancient Egypt * Memphis, Tennessee, a major American city Memphis may also refer to: Places United States * Memphis, Alabama * Memphis, Florida * Memphis, Indiana * Memp ...

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 Kenton is a town in Cimarron County, Oklahoma, United States. Kenton is the westernmost town in Oklahoma. From Kenton, it is approximately south to Amarillo, Texas, northwest to Colorado Springs, Colorado, northwest to Denver, Colorado, south ...

—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.Young, Norma Gene
"Cimarron County,"
''Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture'', Oklahoma Historical Society, Accessed June 30, 2015. 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 Nayarit (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Nayarit ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Nayarit), is one of the 31 states that, along with Mexico City, comprise the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 20 municipalities and its ...

) and one southeastern state (

Quintana Roo Quintana Roo ( , ), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Quintana Roo ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Quintana Roo), is one of the 31 states which, with Mexico City, constitute the 32 federal entities of Mexico. It is divided into 11 mu ...

). The federal entities of Mexico that observe Central Time: * Aguascalientes * Campeche * Chihuahuahttps://www.diputados.gob.mx/LeyesBiblio/pdf/LHHEUM.pdf * Coahuila *

Colima Colima (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Colima ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Colima), is one of the 31 states that make up the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It shares its name with its capital and main city, Colima. Colima i ...

– except for the

Revillagigedo Islands The Revillagigedo Islands ( es, Islas Revillagigedo, ) or Revillagigedo Archipelago are a group of four volcanic islands in the Pacific Ocean, known for their unique ecosystem. They lie approximately from Socorro Island south and southwest of C ...

, in which the inner islands use Mountain Time and the outer island uses Pacific Time * Chiapas * Durango * Guanajuato *

Guerrero Guerrero is one of the 32 states that comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 81 municipalities and its capital city is Chilpancingo and its largest city is Acapulcocopied from article, GuerreroAs of 2020, Guerrero the pop ...

Hidalgo Hidalgo may refer to: People * Hidalgo (nobility), members of the Spanish nobility * Hidalgo (surname) Places Mexico * Hidalgo (state), in central Mexico * Hidalgo, Coahuila, a town in the north Mexican state of Coahuila * Hidalgo, Nuevo Le� ...

* Jalisco * Mexico City * Michoacán * Morelos *

– *only the municipality of Bahía de Banderas, rest of the state uses Mountain Time * Nuevo León * Oaxaca * Puebla * Querétaro * San Luis Potosí * State of Mexico *

Tabasco Tabasco (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Tabasco ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Tabasco), is one of the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 17 municipalities and its capital city is Villahermosa. It is located in ...

* Tamaulipas * Tlaxcala * Veracruz *

Yucatán Yucatán (, also , , ; yua, Yúukatan ), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Yucatán,; yua, link=no, Xóot' Noj Lu'umil Yúukatan. is one of the 31 states which comprise the federal entities of Mexico. It comprises 106 separate mun ...

Zacatecas , image_map = Zacatecas in Mexico (location map scheme).svg , map_caption = State of Zacatecas within Mexico , coordinates = , coor_pinpoint = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type ...

Central America

Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua all use Central Standard Time year-round.

Eastern Pacific islands and other areas

The Galápagos Islands in Ecuador uses Central Standard Time all year-round; the remainder of Ecuador uses Eastern Standard Time. Both Easter Island and Salas y Gómez Island in Chile uses Central Standard Time during the Southern Hemisphere winter and Central Daylight Time during the Southern Hemisphere summer; the remainder of Chile uses Atlantic Standard Time and Atlantic Daylight Time.

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 Canada, Saskatchewan does not observe a time change. One reason for Saskatchewan's lack of a time change is that the 105th parallel of longitude, the start point for the Mountain Time Zone, divides the province into approximately equal portions. The province elected to move onto "permanent" daylight saving by being part of the Central Time Zone. The only exception is the region immediately surrounding the Saskatchewan side of the bi-provincial city of

, which has chosen to use Mountain Time with DST, synchronizing its clocks with those of Alberta. In those areas of the Canadian and American time zones that observe DST, beginning in 2007, the local time changes at 02:00 local standard time to 03:00 local daylight time on the second Sunday in March and returns at 02:00 local daylight time to 01:00 local standard time on the first Sunday in November. Mexico decided not to go along with this change and observes their 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 U.S. daylight time schedule effective in 2010. October 2022, was the last CDT in Mexico, as they abolished DST.

Alphabetical list of major Central Time Zone metropolitan areas

Acapulco, Guerrero Acapulco de Juárez (), commonly called Acapulco ( , also , nah, Acapolco), is a city and major seaport in the state of Guerrero on the Pacific Coast of Mexico, south of Mexico City. Acapulco is located on a deep, semicircular bay and has bee ...

Aguascalientes, Aguascalientes (''Virtue in the Water, Fidelity in the Heart'') , image_skyline = AGUASCALIENTES CITY.jpg , imagesize = , image_caption = Clockwise from top: San Antonio de Padua Church, La Exedra (main square), Aguascal ...

* Amarillo, Texas * Antigua Guatemala * Arlington, Texas * Aurora, Illinois * Austin,

* Baton Rouge, Louisiana * Beaumont/Port Arthur, Texas *

Belize City, Belize Belize City is the largest city in Belize and was once the capital of the former British Honduras. According to the 2010 census, Belize City has a population of 57,169 people in 16,162 households. It is at the mouth of the Haulover Creek, whi ...

* Belmopan, Belize * Birmingham, Alabama * Bismarck, North Dakota * Bloomington, Illinois *

Bowling Green, Kentucky Bowling Green is a home rule-class city and the county seat of Warren County, Kentucky, United States. Founded by pioneers in 1798, Bowling Green was the provisional capital of Confederate Kentucky during the American Civil War. As of the ...

* Brandon, Manitoba * Cedar Rapids, Iowa *

Champaign, Illinois Champaign ( ) is a city in Champaign County, Illinois, United States. The population was 88,302 at the 2020 census. It is the tenth-most populous municipality in Illinois and the fourth most populous city in Illinois outside the Chicago metro ...

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, Illinois *

Clarksville, Tennessee Clarksville is the county seat of Montgomery County, Tennessee, United States. It is the fifth-largest city in the state behind Nashville, Memphis, Tennessee, Memphis, Knoxville, and Chattanooga. The city had a population of 166,722 as of the 202 ...

Comarca Lagunera The Comarca Lagunera or La Comarca de la Laguna ("region of lagoons") is a region of northern Mexico occupying large portions of the states of Durango and Coahuila, with rich soils produced by periodic flooding of the Nazas and Aguanaval rivers. ...

( Torreón, Gómez Palacio, Lerdo) * Columbia, Missouri *

Cookeville, Tennessee Cookeville is the county seat and largest city of Putnam County, Tennessee, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, its population was reported to be 34,842. It is recognized as one of the country's micropolitan areas, or smaller ...

Cuernavaca, Morelos Cuernavaca (; nci-IPA, Cuauhnāhuac, kʷawˈnaːwak "near the woods", ) is the capital and largest city of the state of Morelos in Mexico. The city is located around a 90-minute drive south of Mexico City using the Federal Highway 95D. The na ...

* Dallas–Fort Worth, Texas * Des Moines, Iowa *

Enid, Oklahoma Enid ( ) is the ninth-largest city in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. It is the county seat of Garfield County. As of the 2020 census, the population was 51,308. Enid was founded during the opening of the Cherokee Outlet in the Land Run of 1893, a ...

* Evansville, Indiana * Fargo, North Dakota * Fort Smith, Arkansas * Fort Walton Beach, Florida * Gary, Indiana * Grand Forks, North Dakota *

Grand Rapids, Manitoba Grand Rapids is a town in Manitoba, Canada, on the northwestern shore of Lake Winnipeg where the Saskatchewan River enters the lake. As the name implies, the river had a significant drop at this point (more than in less than ). In modern days, ...

* Green Bay, Wisconsin * Guadalajara, Jalisco * Guatemala City, Guatemala * Hammond, Indiana * Houston,

* Huntsville, Alabama * Iowa City, Iowa *

Iron Mountain, Michigan Iron Mountain is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 7,518 at the 2020 census, down from 7,624 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Dickinson County, in the state's Upper Peninsula. Iron Mountain was named for the va ...

* Jackson, Mississippi * Jackson, Tennessee *

Janesville, Wisconsin Janesville is a city in Rock County, Wisconsin, United States. It is the county seat and largest city in the county. It is a principal municipality of the Janesville, Wisconsin, Metropolitan Statistical Area and is included in the Madison–Jan ...

* Jonesboro, Arkansas *

Joplin, Missouri Joplin is a city in Jasper and Newton counties in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Missouri. The bulk of the city is in Jasper County, while the southern portion is in Newton County. Joplin is the largest city located within both Jas ...

* Kansas City, Missouri- Kansas *

Kenosha, Wisconsin Kenosha () is a city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the seat of Kenosha County. Per the 2020 census, the population was 99,986 which made it the fourth-largest city in Wisconsin. Situated on the southwestern shore of Lake Michigan, Kenos ...

* Killeen-Temple-Fort Hood, Texas * Lafayette, Louisiana * Lawrence, Kansas * Lawton, Oklahoma * León, Guanajuato * Lincoln, Nebraska * Little Rock, Arkansas * Lubbock, Texas * Madison, Wisconsin * Managua, Nicaragua * Memphis, Tennessee * Mérida, Yucatán * Mexico City * Midland/Odessa, Texas *

Milwaukee Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee ...

, Wisconsin * Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota *

Minot, North Dakota Minot ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Ward County, North Dakota, United States, in the state's north-central region. It is most widely known for the Air Force base approximately north of the city. With a population of 48,377 at the 2 ...

* Mobile, Alabama * Monroe, Louisiana * Monterrey, Nuevo León * Montgomery, Alabama *

Morelia Morelia (; from 1545 to 1828 known as Valladolid) is a city and municipal seat of the municipality of Morelia in the north-central part of the state of Michoacán in central Mexico. The city is in the Guayangareo Valley and is the capital and lar ...

, Michoacán * Nashville, Tennessee * New Orleans, Louisiana * Normal, Illinois *

Northwest Arkansas Northwest Arkansas (NWA) is a metropolitan area and region in Arkansas within the Ozark Mountains. It includes four of the ten largest cities in the state: Fayetteville, Arkansas, Fayetteville, Springdale, Arkansas, Springdale, Rogers, Arkansas, ...

* Oklahoma City, Oklahoma * Omaha, Nebraska *

Panama City, Florida Panama City is a city in and the county seat of Bay County, Florida, United States. Located along U.S. Highway 98 (US 98), it is the largest city between Tallahassee and Pensacola. It is the more populated city of the Panama City–Lynn ...

* Pensacola, Florida * Peoria, Illinois *

Puebla, Puebla Puebla de Zaragoza (; nah, Cuetlaxcoapan), formally Heroica Puebla de Zaragoza, formerly Puebla de los Ángeles during colonial times, or known in English simply as Puebla, is the seat of Puebla Municipality. It is the capital and largest city ...

Quad Cities The Quad Cities is a region of cities (originally four, see History) in the U.S. states of Iowa and Illinois: Davenport and Bettendorf in southeastern Iowa, and Rock Island, Moline and East Moline in northwestern Illinois. These cities are t ...

, Iowa/ Illinois * Racine, Wisconsin * Red Lake, Ontario * Regina, Saskatchewan * Rockford, Illinois * Rochester, Minnesota * Ruston, Louisiana * Sioux City, Iowa *

Sioux Falls, South Dakota Sioux Falls () is the most populous city in the U.S. state of South Dakota and the 130th-most populous city in the United States. It is the county seat of Minnehaha County and also extends into Lincoln County to the south, which continues up ...

St. Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

, Missouri * San Antonio,

* San José, Costa Rica * San Luis Potosí City * San Pedro Sula, Honduras * San Salvador, El Salvador * Santiago de Querétaro, Querétaro * Saskatoon, Saskatchewan * Shreveport–Bossier City, Louisiana * Springfield, Illinois * Springfield, Missouri *

Tampico Tampico is a city and port in the southeastern part of the state of Tamaulipas, Mexico. It is located on the north bank of the Pánuco River, about inland from the Gulf of Mexico, and directly north of the state of Veracruz. Tampico is the fifth ...

, Tamaulipas * Tegucigalpa, Honduras * Thompson, Manitoba * Toluca, Estado de México * Topeka, Kansas * Tuscaloosa, Alabama * Tulsa, Oklahoma * Waukegan, Illinois * Wheaton, Illinois * Wichita, Kansas * Wichita Falls, Texas * Winnipeg, Manitoba *

Zacatecas, Zacatecas Zacatecas () is the principal city within the municipality in Mexico of the same name, and the capital and the largest city of the state of Zacatecas. Located in north-central Mexico, the city had its start as a Spanish mining camp in the mid- ...

References

External links

Hismaime zones C conversion

Official times across Canada
{{North American time zones Time zones Time in Canada Time in Mexico Time zones in the United States