Chicago uses US Central Time: Central Standard Time (CST, UTC−6) in winter and Central Daylight Time (CDT, UTC−5) from March to November. It is one hour behind New York and two hours ahead of Los Angeles.
Time zone facts
- IANA time zone: America/Chicago
- Country: United States (US)
- Coordinates: 41.8781°, -87.6298°
The city that helped standardise time
Before 1883, every American city kept its own local time. The railway companies’ General Time Convention, which met in Chicago, introduced the standard time zones that North America still uses today.
Markets on Central Time
Chicago is home to the CME Group, whose futures markets run almost around the clock from Sunday evening to Friday afternoon Central Time. Many traders worldwide therefore keep an eye on CT as well as ET.
Since November 2026 Winnipeg stays on UTC−5, so in winter it is an hour ahead of Chicago even though both are in the ‘central’ part of the continent.