✨ The new timezoneconverter.co is live: a faster converter, a meeting planner that adds calls to your calendar, and new guides.💜 Thank you for helping us reach almost 10,000 users every month.
timezoneconverter.co
☰
Converter Time now US time now UK time now Singapore time now World cities Countries All converters Guides About Plan a meeting

CST to PST converter

Convert Central Time to Pacific Time. Los Angeles is two hours behind Chicago, all year, so 9 AM in Chicago is 7 AM in California.

From
Chicago
To
Los Angeles
Live
ChicagoCST
9:00 AM
 
Working hours
Los AngelesPST
7:00 AM
 
Working hours

Los Angeles is 2 hours behind Chicago (CST vs PST).

Need a time that works for three or more people or cities? Plan a meeting →
Gap
2 hours
Los Angeles behind Chicago today
Working hours overlap
11:00 AM–5:00 PM CST
9:00 AM–3:00 PM in Los Angeles; both sides in a 9-to-5 day
Next gap change
None
The gap stays the same through 2027
9:00 AM CST
7:00 AM PST
Los Angeles is 2 hours behind Chicago, as of Nov 6, 2026

Working between Chicago and Los Angeles

Chicago and Los Angeles are one of the most common pairings inside the United States: the Midwest’s banking, freight and manufacturing base on one side, and California’s technology and entertainment industries on the other. The gap is a clean two hours and it never changes, because both regions move their clocks on the same dates.

The practical effect is a short but comfortable overlap. When the Chicago office is at its desk from 9 to 5, the Los Angeles office is working from 7 AM to 3 PM, so the shared 9-to-5 window runs from 11 AM to 5 PM in Chicago and 9 AM to 3 PM in Los Angeles. That is six hours of real overlap, the longest of any coast-to-heartland pairing.

The two-hour gap is small enough that most meetings work, but it still shifts habits at both ends.

Cross-office meetings

Chicago starts its day while Los Angeles is still waking up, so standing meetings tend to drift into the Central afternoon.

  • A 10 AM CST stand-up is 8:00 AM PST, early but workable
  • A noon CST lunch-hour call is 10:00 AM PST
  • A 4 PM CST wrap-up is 2:00 PM PST

Many teams settle on 11 AM Central as the daily sync because it is 9 AM on the West Coast.

Futures and commodities

The CME Group in Chicago prices grain, rates and indexes, and West Coast desks trade the same books.

  • Equity index futures reopen after the break at 5:00 PM CST, 3:00 PM PST
  • Grain markets open at 8:30 AM CST, 6:30 AM PST
  • Economic data at 7:30 AM CST lands at 5:30 AM PST

West Coast traders therefore start their day before sunrise during the reporting season.

Flights and events

The flight from Chicago to Los Angeles takes about four hours, and the clock change works in your favour going west.

  • Depart O’Hare at 8:00 AM CST, arrive about 10:00 AM PST
  • Leave LAX at 8:00 AM PST and land in Chicago around 2:00 PM CST
  • A game at 7:00 PM CST kicks off at 5:00 PM PST

Going west you gain two hours of the day; coming back you lose them.

Deadlines set in Central Time

Banks, universities and government offices in the Midwest quote deadlines in Central Time. A filing due at 5:00 PM CST closes at 3:00 PM PST, and an overnight cut-off at 11:59 PM CST is 9:59 PM PST for a Californian.

If you are the one in Chicago and the other party is on the West Coast, remember that the Pacific business day is two hours behind. A contract sent at 4 PM CST arrives at 2 PM PST, and an answer from California at 5 PM PST is already 7 PM in Chicago, past most Midwest closing times.

Why the gap stays at two hours

Illinois and California both follow the standard US rule: the clocks go forward on the second Sunday of March and back on the first Sunday of November, at 2 AM local time. Since both regions change on the same dates, the Central and Pacific zones keep the two-hour gap in winter and summer.

Dates for 2026–27. Calculated from the IANA time zone database on Nov 6, 2026: today Los Angeles is 2 hours behind Chicago. In northern winter the gap is 2 hours, in northern summer 2 hours. The clock changes ahead are:
  • Mar 14, 2027: Chicago and Los Angeles moves to CDT (UTC−5); the gap becomes 2 hours
  • Nov 7, 2027: Chicago and Los Angeles moves to CST (UTC−6); the gap becomes 2 hours

The one-hour exceptions come from states that do not change their clocks. Arizona does not observe daylight saving, so Phoenix sits one hour ahead of Los Angeles in winter and equal to it in summer. Saskatchewan and most of Mexico also stay on Central Standard Time all year.

Chicago to Los Angeles, every hour

Times are for Nov 6, 2026. Green rows are the hours when both places are inside a 9-to-5 day.

Chicago (CST)Los AngelesPST, −2 hrs
12:00 AM (midnight)10:00 PM previous day
1:00 AM11:00 PM previous day
2:00 AM12:00 AM
3:00 AM1:00 AM
4:00 AM2:00 AM
5:00 AM3:00 AM
6:00 AM4:00 AM
7:00 AM5:00 AM
8:00 AM6:00 AM
9:00 AM7:00 AM
10:00 AM8:00 AM
11:00 AM9:00 AM
12:00 PM (noon)10:00 AM
1:00 PM11:00 AM
2:00 PM12:00 PM
3:00 PM1:00 PM
4:00 PM2:00 PM
5:00 PM3:00 PM
6:00 PM4:00 PM
7:00 PM5:00 PM
8:00 PM6:00 PM
9:00 PM7:00 PM
10:00 PM8:00 PM
11:00 PM9:00 PM

“next day” and “previous day” mean Los Angeles is on a different calendar date from Chicago.

Quick answers

What time is 9 AM CST in PST?

7:00 AM PST. Pacific Time is two hours behind Central Time all year.

Is Chicago two hours ahead of Los Angeles?

Yes. Chicago is two hours ahead of Los Angeles in both winter and summer, because both cities change their clocks together.

What is 5 PM CST in PST?

3:00 PM PST. A Central closing time is mid-afternoon in California.

What hours do Chicago and Los Angeles both work?

From 11 AM to 5 PM in Chicago, which is 9 AM to 3 PM in Los Angeles, if both teams work 9 to 5.

Does the CST to PST gap change in summer?

No. In summer the zones are called CDT and PDT, but the gap is still two hours.