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Timezone Insight

The timezone in Chicago is America/Chicago (CDT).

Its current offset is GMT-05:00 (GMT-5).

What is the Timezone of Chicago?

Detailed facts, current offset, DST status, and real-time data for the America/Chicago timezone used by Chicago, USA.

IANA Name
America/Chicago
Current Offset
GMT-05:00
Standard time
Country
USA
America region
Abbreviation
CDT
41.88°, -87.63°

IANA Timezone Data

RegionUSA
Database NameAmerica/Chicago
Standard AbbreviationCDT
UTC OffsetGMT-05:00
DST StatusInactive
Coordinates41.8781°, -87.6298°

How to convert from America/Chicago to UTC

Converting a time from America/Chicago to UTC is straightforward:

UTC = Chicago time − -5 hours

For example, if it is 12:00 in Chicago, it is 17:00 UTC.

To convert the other way (UTC to Chicago), add -5 hours to the UTC time. The offset changes by ±1 hour during daylight saving transitions in spring and fall.

About the America/Chicago timezone

America/Chicago is an IANA time zone identifier — the canonical, globally unique name for the civil time observed in Chicago, USA. Every operating system, programming language, and calendar product that supports time zones recognises this string and uses it to compute the correct local time for any given moment.

IANA time zones are maintained by the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) and track the historical, current, and planned future civil time of every region — including daylight saving time (DST) transitions, country-level changes, and historical anomalies. This is why software like macOS, Linux, Windows, and major cloud services all use the same identifiers.

Related time zones in the America region

  • America/New_York
  • America/Denver
  • America/Los_Angeles
  • America/Toronto
  • America/Mexico_City
  • America/Sao_Paulo

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