GMT to CST

Greenwich Mean Time to Central Standard Time (US), with the offset for today's date rather than an average.

CST time-5hours

Central Standard Time (US) is behind Greenwich Mean Time — noon in GMT is 7:00 am in CDT

GMT today UTC+00:00
CDT today UTC-05:00
Working-hour overlap 3 h

Convert a specific time from Greenwich Mean Time to Central Standard Time (US)
Common meeting hours converted from GMT to CST
GMT (Greenwich Mean Time)CST (Central Standard Time (US))Working hours in both?
7:00 am 2:00 am No
8:00 am 3:00 am No
9:00 am 4:00 am No
10:00 am 5:00 am No
11:00 am 6:00 am No
12:00 pm 7:00 am No
1:00 pm 8:00 am No
2:00 pm 9:00 am Yes
3:00 pm 10:00 am Yes
4:00 pm 11:00 am Yes
5:00 pm 12:00 pm No
6:00 pm 1:00 pm No
7:00 pm 2:00 pm No
8:00 pm 3:00 pm No

This calculator needs JavaScript to recalculate. Without it you are reading the answer worked out on 28 August 2026, which is exact for that date and does not change by itself. With JavaScript on, the page works the answer out again for the date you open it.

Worked out for · conventions last checked

Which zone this page means. GMT and UTC are the same offset but not the same thing: GMT is a time zone, UTC is a time standard. The United Kingdom is on GMT in winter and BST (UTC+1) in summer. CST means US Central Standard Time (UTC-6) and also China Standard Time (UTC+8) — fourteen hours apart. This page means the US zone. For the Chinese zone see China Standard Time.

GMT is ahead of CST by 5 hours today

On 28 August 2026, Greenwich Mean Time is on GMT at UTC+00:00 and Central Standard Time (US) is on CDT at UTC-05:00. The gap between them is 5 hours, with CST behind. So 9:00 am in GMT is 4:00 am in CST, and 5:00 pm in GMT is 12:00 pm in CST. Going the other way, see CST to GMT.

The gap is not constant, and that is the part that catches people out

Central Standard Time (US) is currently observing daylight saving and changes next on 1 November 2026. Greenwich Mean Time does not observe daylight saving, so the gap moves only when Central Standard Time (US) changes its clocks — twice a year, by one hour.

When you can actually both be at work

Taking a working day as 9:00 am to 5:00 pm local at each end, there are 3 overlapping hours in a normal day. In GMT that window runs from 2:00 pm to 5:00 pm, which is 9:00 am to 12:00 pm in CST. Anything outside it needs one side to start early or finish late.

Zone rules are set by legislation and change, sometimes at short notice. This page is built against tzdata 2026a, last reviewed 2026-08-18. Quarterly. Zone rules change by legislation, sometimes at short notice. Version and review date are shown on every zone page. The converter above reads your browser's own copy of the zone database, so if a rule has changed since this page was built the live answer follows the new rule — and so does everything above, which is worked out from the same database when you open the page.

Every convention used above — whether the start date counts, how month ends are clamped, which holidays close an office — is written out on the methodology page, including the daylight-saving rules behind the 5-hour gap above.

Other conversions from GMT

Common questions

What is the time difference between GMT and CST?
The current offset is shown at the top of this page. It is computed for today's date rather than quoted as an average, because the two regions change their clocks on different dates and the gap is different for a few weeks each year.
Is GMT the same as Greenwich Mean Time all year?
Not necessarily. Standard time and summer time are separate zones with separate abbreviations, so much of the year the technically correct abbreviation is the daylight one. The page states which is in force on today's date.
When do the clocks change in these zones?
The next change date for each zone is shown in the result panel, along with what the offset becomes afterwards.
What is a good meeting time between GMT and CST?
The business-hours overlap window is shown below the converter. Where there is no overlap the page says so rather than suggesting an impossible time.

This page could not bring itself up to date in your browser, so the dates above are the ones worked out on 28 August 2026. They are exact for that date and do not change by themselves. Enter your own dates in the calculator above for an answer worked out now.