What is the time difference between Los Angeles and Chicago?

Chicago is 2 hours ahead of Los Angeles. That figure is current — it changes by an hour when either city starts or ends daylight saving, and the exact dates are listed above.

When is the best time to call Chicago from Los Angeles?

Between 09:00–16:00 in Los Angeles, which is 11:00–18:00 in Chicago. That is the only stretch where both cities are inside a 09:00–18:00 day.

Does Los Angeles observe daylight saving time?

Yes. Los Angeles runs on UTC-8 in winter and UTC-7 in summer. The next change is on 2026-11-01, when clocks go back by 60 minutes.

Does Chicago observe daylight saving time?

Yes. Chicago runs on UTC-6 in winter and UTC-5 in summer. The next change is on 2026-11-01, when clocks go back by 60 minutes.

If it is midday in Los Angeles, what time is it in Chicago?

It is 14:00 in Chicago, on the same calendar date. That holds for the current offsets; it shifts by an hour around the daylight saving dates listed above.

Which time zones do Los Angeles and Chicago use?

Los Angeles uses America/Los_Angeles, currently UTC-7 (PDT), and Chicago uses America/Chicago, currently UTC-5 (CDT). Those identifiers are the ones to use in code — abbreviations are ambiguous and offsets change.

Convert Los Angeles time to Chicago time

Chicago is 2 hours ahead of Los Angeles right now, so midday in Los Angeles lands in the afternoon in Chicago.

Convert a time

From

Date

Time

Converted time

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The converter needs JavaScript to run. Everything below — offsets, daylight saving dates and the hour-by-hour table — is part of the page and works without it.

Hour by hour

Every hour of a day in Los Angeles, and what the clock reads in Chicago at that same moment.

Los Angeles	Chicago
00:00	02:00
01:00	03:00
02:00	04:00
03:00	05:00
04:00	06:00
05:00	07:00
06:00	08:00
07:00	09:00
08:00	10:00
09:00	11:00
10:00	12:00
11:00	13:00
12:00	14:00
13:00	15:00
14:00	16:00
15:00	17:00
16:00	18:00
17:00	19:00
18:00	20:00
19:00	21:00
20:00	22:00
21:00	23:00
22:00	00:00next day
23:00	01:00next day

Daylight saving time

Los Angeles and Chicago both observe daylight saving. Where their change dates differ, so does the gap between them for the weeks in between.

Los Angeles

Observes daylight saving time

Standard: UTC-8
Daylight: UTC-7
Next change: 2026-11-01 −60m

Chicago

Observes daylight saving time

Standard: UTC-6
Daylight: UTC-5
Next change: 2026-11-01 −60m

When you can actually talk

The window is 7 hours wide — 09:00–16:00 in Los Angeles, 11:00–18:00 in Chicago.

Los Angeles 09:00–16:00Chicago 11:00–18:00

Reference

The zone identifiers and offsets behind everything above.

	Los Angeles	Chicago
IANA zone	America/Los_Angeles	America/Chicago
Abbreviation	PDT	CDT
Standard offset	UTC-8	UTC-6
Daylight offset	UTC-7	UTC-5
Clock changes this year	2	2
Country	United States	United States

Example, not the current time. Live times appear once the page loads.

Common questions

What is the time difference between Los Angeles and Chicago?: Chicago is 2 hours ahead of Los Angeles. That figure is current — it changes by an hour when either city starts or ends daylight saving, and the exact dates are listed above.
When is the best time to call Chicago from Los Angeles?: Between 09:00–16:00 in Los Angeles, which is 11:00–18:00 in Chicago. That is the only stretch where both cities are inside a 09:00–18:00 day.
Does Los Angeles observe daylight saving time?: Yes. Los Angeles runs on UTC-8 in winter and UTC-7 in summer. The next change is on 2026-11-01, when clocks go back by 60 minutes.
Does Chicago observe daylight saving time?: Yes. Chicago runs on UTC-6 in winter and UTC-5 in summer. The next change is on 2026-11-01, when clocks go back by 60 minutes.
If it is midday in Los Angeles, what time is it in Chicago?: It is 14:00 in Chicago, on the same calendar date. That holds for the current offsets; it shifts by an hour around the daylight saving dates listed above.
Which time zones do Los Angeles and Chicago use?: Los Angeles uses America/Los_Angeles, currently UTC-7 (PDT), and Chicago uses America/Chicago, currently UTC-5 (CDT). Those identifiers are the ones to use in code — abbreviations are ambiguous and offsets change.