MST to CST

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

CST time+1hours

Central Standard Time (US) is ahead of Mountain Standard Time — noon in MST is 1:00 pm in CDT

MDT today UTC-06:00
CDT today UTC-05:00
Working-hour overlap 7 h

Convert a specific time from Mountain Standard Time to Central Standard Time (US)
Common meeting hours converted from MST to CST
MST (Mountain Standard Time)CST (Central Standard Time (US))Working hours in both?
7:00 am 8:00 am No
8:00 am 9:00 am No
9:00 am 10:00 am Yes
10:00 am 11:00 am Yes
11:00 am 12:00 pm Yes
12:00 pm 1:00 pm Yes
1:00 pm 2:00 pm Yes
2:00 pm 3:00 pm Yes
3:00 pm 4:00 pm Yes
4:00 pm 5:00 pm No
5:00 pm 6:00 pm No
6:00 pm 7:00 pm No
7:00 pm 8:00 pm No
8:00 pm 9:00 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. MST is standard time only; MDT (UTC-6) applies from March to November. Arizona stays on MST all year. 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.

MST is behind CST by 1 hours today

On 28 August 2026, Mountain Standard Time is on MDT at UTC-06:00 and Central Standard Time (US) is on CDT at UTC-05:00. The gap between them is 1 hours, with CST ahead. So 9:00 am in MST is 10:00 am in CST, and 5:00 pm in MST is 6:00 pm in CST. Going the other way, see CST to MST.

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

Mountain Standard Time is currently observing daylight saving and changes next on 1 November 2026, when clocks go back an hour. Central Standard Time (US) is currently observing daylight saving and changes next on 1 November 2026.

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 7 overlapping hours in a normal day. In MST that window runs from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm, which is 10:00 am to 5:00 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 1-hour gap above.

Other conversions from MST

Common questions

What is the time difference between MST 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 MST the same as Mountain Standard 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 MST 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.