The Central Time Zone (Spanish: Zona Centro) 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. Central Standard Time (CST) is the second easternmost time zone in the United States and is also used in Canada. It covers all or parts of 20 states in the US and three provinces or territories in Canada. Exact time now, time zone, time difference, sunrise/sunset time and key facts for Central Time (CT). The United States spans four standard Time Zones—Eastern, Central, Mountain, and Pacific—each Time Zone is one hour apart from east to west. That means a three-hour gap between New York and Los Angeles on the same calendar day. Central Time (CT) is the second easternmost time zone in the United States and is also used in Canada. About a third of the population in the USA live in the CT time zone. It spans from northern Canada and south to Mexico near the equator. Check exact current time in Central Time Zone and discover the key facts: where CT is observed, time change dates, UTC time offset, time zone abbreviations. See the current Central Time right now. Live CST/CDT clock with date, UTC offset, and city comparison tool. Covers all US states in the Central Time Zone. The Central Time Zone covers the central United States from the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico. Major cities include Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Minneapolis, St. Louis, and New Orleans. Complete guide to the Central Time Zone (CT). Learn which states use CST and CDT, the UTC offset, Daylight Saving dates, and how to convert Central Time. In North America, Central Time observes standard time at six hours behind UTC (UTC-6), shifting to five hours behind (UTC-5) during daylight saving time. Standard time in the zone is based on the mean solar time of the 90th meridian west of Greenwich.