What is the time difference between Paris and Chicago?

Chicago is 7 hours behind Paris. 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 Paris?

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

Does Paris observe daylight saving time?

Yes. Paris runs on UTC+1 in winter and UTC+2 in summer. The next change is on 2026-10-25, 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 Paris, what time is it in Chicago?

It is 05:00 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 Paris and Chicago use?

Paris uses Europe/Paris, currently UTC+2 (CEST), 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 Paris time to Chicago time

Right now Chicago runs 7 hours behind Paris. 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 Paris, across for Chicago.

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

Daylight saving time

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

Paris

Observes daylight saving time

Standard: UTC+1
Daylight: UTC+2
Next change: 2026-10-25 −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 2 hours wide — 16:00–18:00 in Paris, 09:00–11:00 in Chicago.

Paris 16:00–18:00Chicago 09:00–11:00

Reference

The zone identifiers and offsets behind everything above.

	Paris	Chicago
IANA zone	Europe/Paris	America/Chicago
Abbreviation	CEST	CDT
Standard offset	UTC+1	UTC-6
Daylight offset	UTC+2	UTC-5
Clock changes this year	2	2
Country	France	United States

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

Common questions

What is the time difference between Paris and Chicago?: Chicago is 7 hours behind Paris. 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 Paris?: Between 16:00–18:00 in Paris, which is 09:00–11:00 in Chicago. That is the only stretch where both cities are inside a 09:00–18:00 day.
Does Paris observe daylight saving time?: Yes. Paris runs on UTC+1 in winter and UTC+2 in summer. The next change is on 2026-10-25, 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 Paris, what time is it in Chicago?: It is 05:00 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 Paris and Chicago use?: Paris uses Europe/Paris, currently UTC+2 (CEST), and Chicago uses America/Chicago, currently UTC-5 (CDT). Those identifiers are the ones to use in code — abbreviations are ambiguous and offsets change.