Time zone · Americas
CDT
Central Daylight Time
Central Daylight Time (CDT) is the spring-forward sibling of Central Standard Time, shifting clocks ahead by an hour across the heartland of North America — from U.S. cities like Chicago, Indianapolis, and Fargo, to border hubs like Matamoros, Mexico. With 12 member zones spanning the United States, Mexico, and Canada, CDT gives the region an extra hour of evening sunshine before it reverts in late October.
Friday, June 5, 2026
Current offset
UTC-05:00
Daylight · CDT
Daylight saving
Active
Reverts 1 Nov 2026
IANA zones
12
12 observe DST, 0 don't
DST offset
—
No summer variant
About CDT
Standard time, with a summer shift.
Central Daylight Time (CDT) is the spring-forward sibling of Central Standard Time, shifting clocks ahead by an hour across the heartland of North America — from U.S. cities like Chicago, Indianapolis, and Fargo, to border hubs like Matamoros, Mexico. With 12 member zones spanning the United States, Mexico, and Canada, CDT gives the region an extra hour of evening sunshine before it reverts in late October.
IANA zones · the technical identifiers
The 12 zones that resolve to CDT.
For software, always store the IANA identifier — never the abbreviation alone. The database keeps these zones distinct because their rules can, and historically did, diverge.
Cities currently on CDT
The same hour, city by city.
15 cities · all UTC-05:00
Where CDT is used
3 countries.
Same offset · UTC-05:00
Other zones at UTC-05:00 right now.
These named zones share CDT's offset today. When daylight saving rules differ, they drift apart for part of the year.
Frequently asked questions
Common questions about CDT, daylight saving, and how to handle it in software. Can't find what you need? Email [email protected].
- Which U.S. regions remain in the Central Time zone year-round?
- Most of Indiana ignored daylight saving until 2006; today, Arizona (except the Navajo Nation) and parts like Puerto Rico stay on a single offset, but every listed Central zone still jumps between CST and CDT.
- When do Central clocks spring forward and fall back?
- Clocks move forward one hour at 2:00 a.m. local standard time on the second Sunday in March (becoming 3:00 a.m. CDT) and fall back at 2:00 a.m. CDT on the first Sunday in November (returning to 1:00 a.m. CST).
- Why does Matamoros, Mexico, appear in the CDT region?
- Mexico updated its daylight saving rules in 2007, aligning several U.S.-border cities with DST to simplify commerce and travel. Matamoros joined this group, keeping the same schedule as its Texan neighbors.
- How many time changes do most Central zones handle each year?
- Typically two — one in spring and one in autumn. However, a few U.S. territories and Mexican states have debated abolishing the practice, so future calendars may change.
- What makes fiber-optic and stock-market timing crucial in CDT?
- Chicago hosts one of the world's largest financial hubs, so futures and options markets follow CDT right up to the precise second of the market open. A one-hour shift can affect global trading schedules across Europe and Asia.
- Are there micro-regions inside CDT that ignore DST?
- Yes. When the U.S. realigned portions of Indiana, several counties opted out of daylight saving by shifting into neighboring time zones (for example, moving to Eastern Time), effectively reducing the number of official Central splits.
- How do smartphones handle the boundary between CST and CDT in remote North Dakota?
- All U.S. cell towers receive the national daylight-saving instruction at once, but your smartphone's GPS pinpoints the exact zone to display the correct offset — hence locations in Beulah or New Salem spring forward identically with the broader Central region.
Free · Developer API
Time, as JSON.
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