What is CST in NZST?
New Zealand Time is 17 hours ahead
Central Time is on UTC−5:00 and New Zealand Time is on UTC+12:00 right now. Central Time is on daylight saving, so its clocks read CDT. The gap changes during the year — see below.
- Time in Chicago
- 9:56 pm
- Time in Auckland
- 2:56 pm
- Difference
- +17 h
- Next clock change
- September 26, 2026
Convert a time
NZST — New Zealand Time
2:00 pm
Wed, the next day
When the difference changes
Central Time and New Zealand Time do not change their clocks on the same dates, so the gap between them is not the same all year. Most converters show only today’s figure. These are the periods ahead:
- Now – September 26, 2026New Zealand Time is 17 hours ahead
- September 26, 2026 – November 1, 2026New Zealand Time is 18 hours ahead
- November 1, 2026 – March 14, 2027New Zealand Time is 19 hours ahead
- March 14, 2027 – April 3, 2027New Zealand Time is 18 hours ahead
- April 3, 2027 – September 25, 2027New Zealand Time is 17 hours ahead
- September 25, 2027 – onwardsNew Zealand Time is 18 hours ahead
Periods shorter than a day are not listed: both zones change at 2am in their own local time, so there are a few hours on each transition date when the gap is briefly something else.
Daylight saving
Central Time
Clocks go back one hour at 2am local time, becoming CST.
New Zealand Time
Clocks go forward one hour at 2am local time, becoming NZDT.
CST to NZST conversion table
Every hour of Tuesday, September 22, 2026, converted from Central Time to New Zealand Time. 17 of the 24 hours fall on a different calendar day in Auckland, which is marked.
- 12:00 am CDT
- 5:00 pm NZST
- 1:00 am CDT
- 6:00 pm NZST
- 2:00 am CDT
- 7:00 pm NZST
- 3:00 am CDT
- 8:00 pm NZST
- 4:00 am CDT
- 9:00 pm NZST
- 5:00 am CDT
- 10:00 pm NZST
- 6:00 am CDT
- 11:00 pm NZST
- 7:00 am CDT
- 12:00 am NZST+1 day
- 8:00 am CDT
- 1:00 am NZST+1 day
- 9:00 am CDT
- 2:00 am NZST+1 day
- 10:00 am CDT
- 3:00 am NZST+1 day
- 11:00 am CDT
- 4:00 am NZST+1 day
- 12:00 pm CDT
- 5:00 am NZST+1 day
- 1:00 pm CDT
- 6:00 am NZST+1 day
- 2:00 pm CDT
- 7:00 am NZST+1 day
- 3:00 pm CDT
- 8:00 am NZST+1 day
- 4:00 pm CDT
- 9:00 am NZST+1 day
- 5:00 pm CDT
- 10:00 am NZST+1 day
- 6:00 pm CDT
- 11:00 am NZST+1 day
- 7:00 pm CDT
- 12:00 pm NZST+1 day
- 8:00 pm CDT
- 1:00 pm NZST+1 day
- 9:00 pm CDT
- 2:00 pm NZST+1 day
- 10:00 pm CDT
- 3:00 pm NZST+1 day
- 11:00 pm CDT
- 4:00 pm NZST+1 day
Scheduling between the two
Working hours overlap from 4:00 pm to 6:00 pm CDT, which is 9:00 am to 11:00 am NZST. Anything inside that window falls in the normal working day at both ends.
A note on CST: it can also mean China Standard Time (UTC+8) and Cuba Standard Time (UTC−5). This page means US Central Time.
Central Time (CDT) is used in Dallas, Houston, Mexico City and Winnipeg