What is the time difference between New York and Chicago?

Chicago is 1 hour behind New York. 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 New York?

Between 10:00–18:00 in New York, which is 09:00–17:00 in Chicago. That is the only stretch where both cities are inside a 09:00–18:00 day.

Does New York observe daylight saving time?

Yes. New York runs on UTC-5 in winter and UTC-4 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 New York, what time is it in Chicago?

It is 11:00 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 New York and Chicago use?

New York uses America/New_York, currently UTC-4 (EDT), 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 New York time to Chicago time

Right now Chicago runs 1 hour behind New York. That gap is not fixed: it moves when either city changes its clocks.

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

The whole day mapped across: read down the left for New York, across for Chicago.

New York	Chicago
00:00	23:00previous day
01:00	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

Daylight saving time

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

New York

Observes daylight saving time

Standard: UTC-5
Daylight: UTC-4
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 8 hours wide — 10:00–18:00 in New York, 09:00–17:00 in Chicago.

New York 10:00–18:00Chicago 09:00–17:00

Reference

The zone identifiers and offsets behind everything above.

	New York	Chicago
IANA zone	America/New_York	America/Chicago
Abbreviation	EDT	CDT
Standard offset	UTC-5	UTC-6
Daylight offset	UTC-4	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 New York and Chicago?: Chicago is 1 hour behind New York. 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 New York?: Between 10:00–18:00 in New York, which is 09:00–17:00 in Chicago. That is the only stretch where both cities are inside a 09:00–18:00 day.
Does New York observe daylight saving time?: Yes. New York runs on UTC-5 in winter and UTC-4 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 New York, what time is it in Chicago?: It is 11:00 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 New York and Chicago use?: New York uses America/New_York, currently UTC-4 (EDT), and Chicago uses America/Chicago, currently UTC-5 (CDT). Those identifiers are the ones to use in code — abbreviations are ambiguous and offsets change.