Convert Central Standard Time to Coordinated Universal Time
Instantly convert Central Standard Time (CST) to Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) with our free online calculator.
Central Standard Time
11:20:55 PM
Tue, Jun 23 (CST)
Coordinated Universal Time
05:20:55 AM
Wed, Jun 24 (UTC)
Convert a Specific Time
24-Hour Comparison
| CST | UTC |
|---|---|
| 12:00 AM | 6:00 AM |
| 1:00 AM | 7:00 AM |
| 2:00 AM | 8:00 AM |
| 3:00 AM | 9:00 AM |
| 4:00 AM | 10:00 AM |
| 5:00 AM | 11:00 AM |
| 6:00 AM | 12:00 PM |
| 7:00 AM | 1:00 PM |
| 8:00 AM | 2:00 PM |
| 9:00 AM | 3:00 PM |
| 10:00 AM | 4:00 PM |
| 11:00 AM | 5:00 PM |
| 12:00 PM | 6:00 PM |
| 1:00 PM | 7:00 PM |
| 2:00 PM | 8:00 PM |
| 3:00 PM | 9:00 PM |
| 4:00 PM | 10:00 PM |
| 5:00 PM | 11:00 PM |
| 6:00 PM | 12:00 AM(+1d) |
| 7:00 PM | 1:00 AM(+1d) |
| 8:00 PM | 2:00 AM(+1d) |
| 9:00 PM | 3:00 AM(+1d) |
| 10:00 PM | 4:00 AM(+1d) |
| 11:00 PM | 5:00 AM(+1d) |
How to Convert Central Standard Time to Coordinated Universal Time
Formula
To convert Central Standard Time (CST) to Coordinated Universal Time (UTC): Convert CST to UTC
About Central Standard Time (CST)
Central Standard Time (CST, IANA: America/Chicago, America/Mexico_City) is the time zone for the US Central region, central Mexico, and most of Central America, set at UTC-6:00. CST is the most populous US time zone by area covered and serves the Chicago-Dallas-Houston-Minneapolis corridor of ~80 million people across CST states (Texas, Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee western, Kansas eastern, Nebraska eastern, Oklahoma, North Dakota, South Dakota, Kentucky western, Indiana western, Michigan UP, Florida panhandle) plus Mexico (Mexico City, Guadalajara, Monterrey since 2022 DST abolition), Honduras, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Belize. CST observes DST (switching to CDT = UTC-5:00) per Energy Policy Act 2005 — except for Mexico nationally, which abolished DST in 2022 except for border zones aligning with US DST. CST affects: NYSE close at 15:00 CST, CME (Chicago Mercantile Exchange) commodity futures pit/electronic hours, Texas Medical Center coordinated patient handoffs.
About Coordinated Universal Time (UTC)
Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) is the primary time standard by which the world regulates clocks and time, defined since 1972 as the time at the Prime Meridian (0° longitude) maintained by BIPM (Bureau International des Poids et Mesures) in Sèvres, France. UTC is computed as a weighted average of approximately 400 atomic clocks at ~80 national metrology institutes (NIST in the US, NPL in UK, PTB in Germany, NICT in Japan, KRISS in Korea, etc.) per the formal definition in ITU-R Recommendation TF.460-6 (2002). UTC is functionally identical to GMT (Greenwich Mean Time) for civil purposes but differs slightly in its underlying timescale — UTC uses atomic seconds with occasional leap seconds inserted (announced by IERS Bulletin C ~6 months in advance, last leap second was December 31, 2016, and the system may be retired by 2035 per Resolution D of CGPM 2022). UTC is the standard for aviation (ICAO Annex 5), maritime navigation (IMO COLREGS), all internet protocols (NTP, PTP per IEEE 1588), all scientific publications, GPS / Galileo / GLONASS / BeiDou GNSS, and Universal Time on Wikipedia/Wikidata.