Time difference between London and Chicago
Good time for both on a weekday: 15:00–17:00 in London = 9:00–11:00 in Chicago.
- Everyone at work
- Work hours
- Awake
- Night
- Weekend
Tap any column to see that moment in every city.
Different hours for each city
- 6 hoursChicago behind London
- UTC / UTC+1London, January / July
- UTC−6 / UTC−5Chicago, January / July
- 2 hoursshared 9-to-5 time
How the gap moves through the year
Chicago is 6 hours behind London for about 11 months of the year.
Chicago is 5 hours behind London for about 4 weeks of the year.
From the second Sunday in March (when Chicago moves forward), Chicago is 5 hours behind London.
From the last Sunday in March (when London moves forward), Chicago is 6 hours behind London.
From the last Sunday in October (when London falls back), Chicago is 5 hours behind London.
From the first Sunday in November (when Chicago falls back), Chicago is 6 hours behind London.
London moves its clocks forward one hour on the last Sunday in March at 1:00 am local time and back on the last Sunday in October at 2:00 am, switching between Greenwich Mean Time (UTC) and British Summer Time (UTC+1).
Chicago moves its clocks forward one hour on the second Sunday in March at 2:00 am local time and back on the first Sunday in November at 2:00 am, switching between Central Standard Time (UTC−6) and Central Daylight Time (UTC−5).
Next clock change for this pair, as of when this page was built (2026-10-20): London falls back on Sun 25 October 2026.
Everything on this page also holds if you swap London for Birmingham, Dublin, Glasgow, Manchester or Lisbon, or Chicago for Houston, San Antonio, Dallas, Austin or Winnipeg — those cities follow exactly the same clock all year.
Working hours that overlap
In January, a 9-to-5 day in both cities shares 2 hours: 3:00 pm–5:00 pm in London, which is 9:00 am–11:00 am in Chicago.
July gives exactly the same window.
Across the week
At 9:00 on a Monday morning in London, it is 3:00 am on Monday in Chicago.
Daylight, distance and night calls
London and Chicago are about 6,360 km (3,950 miles) apart and 88° of longitude apart, which by the sun alone would be 5 hours 45 minutes.
London's winter clock sits within 2 minutes of the sun, and Chicago's runs 9 minutes behind the sun.
In mid-January the sun is up in London from about 7:59 am to 4:19 pm, and the sun is up in Chicago from about 7:16 am to 4:43 pm; both cities are in daylight at the same time for about 3 hours.
In mid-July the sun is up in London from about 5:00 am to 9:12 pm, and the sun is up in Chicago from about 5:28 am to 8:25 pm; both cities are in daylight at the same time for about 9 hours 45 minutes.
In January, 3 hours of a London office day fall in Chicago's night (10 pm to 6 am), and 1 hour of a Chicago office day fall in London's night.
In July, 3 hours of a London office day fall in Chicago's night (10 pm to 6 am), and 1 hour of a Chicago office day fall in London's night.
Hour-by-hour table and common mistakes — 2 more sections
| London | Chicago, January | Chicago, July |
|---|---|---|
| 12:00 am | 6:00 pm (−1 day) | 6:00 pm (−1 day) |
| 1:00 am | 7:00 pm (−1 day) | 7:00 pm (−1 day) |
| 2:00 am | 8:00 pm (−1 day) | 8:00 pm (−1 day) |
| 3:00 am | 9:00 pm (−1 day) | 9:00 pm (−1 day) |
| 4:00 am | 10:00 pm (−1 day) | 10:00 pm (−1 day) |
| 5:00 am | 11:00 pm (−1 day) | 11:00 pm (−1 day) |
| 6:00 am | 12:00 am | 12:00 am |
| 7:00 am | 1:00 am | 1:00 am |
| 8:00 am | 2:00 am | 2:00 am |
| 9:00 am | 3:00 am | 3:00 am |
| 10:00 am | 4:00 am | 4:00 am |
| 11:00 am | 5:00 am | 5:00 am |
| 12:00 pm | 6:00 am | 6:00 am |
| 1:00 pm | 7:00 am | 7:00 am |
| 2:00 pm | 8:00 am | 8:00 am |
| 3:00 pm | 9:00 am | 9:00 am |
| 4:00 pm | 10:00 am | 10:00 am |
| 5:00 pm | 11:00 am | 11:00 am |
| 6:00 pm | 12:00 pm | 12:00 pm |
| 7:00 pm | 1:00 pm | 1:00 pm |
| 8:00 pm | 2:00 pm | 2:00 pm |
| 9:00 pm | 3:00 pm | 3:00 pm |
| 10:00 pm | 4:00 pm | 4:00 pm |
| 11:00 pm | 5:00 pm | 5:00 pm |
Common mistakes with London and Chicago
- Assuming the gap is fixed. Both cities change their clocks, but not on the same weekend, so a recurring meeting can land an hour off for a few weeks.
- Writing “GMT” all year for London. In summer the zone is British Summer Time; calendar apps handle it, but a typed time in an email can be read the wrong way.
Questions
- Is Chicago ahead of London?
- Chicago is 6 hours behind London for most of the year.
- What is a good time for a meeting between London and Chicago?
- With 9-to-5 days in both cities, 3:00 pm–5:00 pm London time is inside working hours in both, which gives 2 hours. The window can shift by an hour in the weeks when only one city has changed its clocks.
- Does the time difference between London and Chicago change?
- Yes. Chicago is 6 hours behind London for about 11 months of the year. Chicago is 5 hours behind London for about 4 weeks of the year.
Related time differences
- New York and LondonLondon ahead by 5 hours · 3 hours of shared office time
- London and Los AngelesLos Angeles behind by 8 hours · no shared office hours
- London and SydneySydney ahead by 9–11 hours · no shared office hours
- London and DubaiDubai ahead by 3–4 hours · 5 hours of shared office time
- London and BrisbaneBrisbane ahead by 9–10 hours · no shared office hours
- London and SingaporeSingapore ahead by 7–8 hours · 1 hour of shared office time
- London and VancouverVancouver behind by 8 hours · no shared office hours
- London and AmsterdamAmsterdam ahead by 1 hour · 7 hours of shared office time
- London and TokyoTokyo ahead by 8–9 hours · no shared office hours
- London and CalgaryCalgary behind by 7 hours · 1 hour of shared office time
London time zone · Chicago time zone · Plan with more cities
City names, coordinates and time zone assignments: GeoNames, licensed under CC BY 4.0 (selection and renaming of some cities by this site). Clock times are computed in your browser from the IANA time zone database. Sources and limits.