The Central Time Zone is a time zone in parts of Canada, the United States, Mexico, Central America, and a few Caribbean Islands. [ 1 ] 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. [ 2 ] 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. [ 3 ] Regions using Central Time (CT) Three provinces and one territory are contained entirely in the Central Time Zone: Northwest Territories Of these places, only Manitoba observes daylight saving time (UTC−5) during the summer. Central Standard Time (UTC−6 year-round) is officially called Alberta Time and Northwest Territories Time in their respective jurisdictions. [ 4 ] [ 5 ] 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 [ 6 ] 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 . Ten states are contained entirely in the Central Time Zone: 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. [ 7 ] 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. [ 8 ] This is reportedly because most people who interact with the town reside in either New Mexico or Colorado . [ 8 ] [ 9 ] 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 Zona Centro . [ 10 ] The federal entities of Mexico that observe Central Time: Chihuahua [ 11 ] – 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. Colima – except for the Revillagigedo Islands , in which the inner islands use UTC−7 and the outer island uses UTC−8 Nayarit – *only the municipality of Bahía de Banderas , rest of the state uses UTC−7 San Luis Potosí State of Mexico 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 . [ 12 ] Panama , which recognizes Eastern Standard Time (UTC−5) year round, is the exception. [ 12 ] 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 . [ 13 ] 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 2 am on the second Sunday in March instead of the first Sunday in April, moving the time from 2 to 3 am. Additionally, DST would end at 2 am on the first Sunday in November instead of the last Sunday in October, moving the time from 2 to 1 am. [ citation needed ] 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. [ 14 ] Alphabetical list of major Central Time Zone metropolitan areas Acapulco, Guerrero Aguascalientes, Aguascalientes Amarillo, Texas Antigua Guatemala Baton Rouge, Louisiana Beaumont/Port Arthur, Texas Belize City, Belize Belmopan, Belize Birmingham, Alabama Bismarck, North Dakota Bloomington, Illinois Bowling Green, Kentucky Brandon, Manitoba 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 Evansville, Indiana Fargo, North Dakota Fort Smith, Arkansas Fort Walton Beach, Florida Grand Forks, North Dakota Grand Rapids, Manitoba 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 Madison, Wisconsin Managua , Nicaragua Memphis, Tennessee Mérida, Yucatán 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 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 Thompson, Manitoba Toluca, Estado de México Tuscaloosa, Alabama Tulsa, Oklahoma Wichita, Kansas Wichita Falls, Texas Winnipeg, Manitoba Yellowknife , Northwest Territories Zacatecas, Zacatecas Effects of time zones on North American broadcasting ↑ "Central Time – CT Time Zone" . timeanddate.com . Retrieved November 22, 2023 . ↑ "History of Time Zones and Daylight Saving Time (DST)" . United States Department of Transportation Bureau of Transportation Statistics. January 17, 2023 . Retrieved December 28, 2023 . ↑ "Central Time (CST/CDT) | GMT" . greenwichmeantime.com . Retrieved May 22, 2020 . ↑ "Alberta's new time system" . Government of Alberta . Retrieved June 27, 2025 . ↑ "Northwest Territories Time Regulations R-090-2026" (PDF) . August 21, 2026 . Retrieved August 23, 2026 . ↑ Cobb, Ian (August 14, 2026). "East Kootenay to stay on Mountain Daylight Time | Columbia Valley, Cranbrook, East Kootenay, Elk Valley, Kimberley, Ktunaxa Nation" . East Kootenay News Online Weekly . Retrieved August 14, 2026 . ↑ "Parts of Eastern Alabama split between 2 time zones" . Archived from the original on March 10, 2016 . Retrieved March 22, 2009 . 1 2 Young, Norma Gene. "Cimarron County" . Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture . Oklahoma Historical Society . Retrieved June 30, 2015 . ↑ Bright, Sheilah (September 12, 2012). "The Last of Kenton" . This Land Press. Archived from the original on September 27, 2020 . Retrieved September 9, 2020 . ↑ "Ley de los husos horarios en los Estados Unidos Mexicanos" (PDF) (in Spanish). Chamber of Deputies of Mexico. November 2, 2022. ↑ "Leyes Bibliography" (PDF) . Archived from the original (PDF) on November 2, 2022 . Retrieved November 8, 2022 . 1 2 "Panama" , The World Factbook , Central Intelligence Agency, November 14, 2023, archived from the original on November 13, 2023 , retrieved November 22, 2023 ↑ "Central Daylight Time – CDT Time Zone" . www.timeanddate.com . May 23, 2026 . Retrieved May 23, 2026 . ↑ "S.623 - Sunshine Protection Act of 2021" . US Congress . March 16, 2022. "Hismaime zones C conversion" . Archived from the original on August 8, 2011. British Columbia Mountain (Arizona, Sonora) Time zones in the United States Articles with short description Short description is different from Wikidata Wikipedia indefinitely move-protected pages Use mdy dates from September 2024 Articles containing Spanish-language text CS1 Spanish-language sources (es) All articles with unsourced statements Articles with unsourced statements from August 2024