Houston uses Central Time (CT) — UTC−6 in winter (CST) and UTC−5 in summer (CDT). It is the fourth most populous city in the United States, the energy capital of the world, and home to NASA's Johnson Space Center — the hub of human spaceflight operations.
Everything you need to know about Houston's time zone, UTC offset, and Daylight Saving Time schedule.
From the first Sunday of November to the second Sunday of March, Houston observes CST (UTC−6). Winter time aligns Houston with Chicago, Dallas, and most of the US energy corridor stretching to the Gulf of Mexico.
From the second Sunday of March to the first Sunday of November, Houston moves to CDT (UTC−5). With over 204 sunny days per year, longer evenings under CDT are a defining feature of Houston's subtropical summers.
The official IANA time zone name for Houston is America/Chicago, which covers the entire US Central Time Zone. Houston, despite being in Texas, uses the same identifier as Chicago, Dallas, Minneapolis and New Orleans.
Spring forward: 9 March 2025 at 02:00 → 03:00
Fall back: 2 November 2025 at 02:00 → 01:00
Spring forward: 8 March 2026 at 02:00 → 03:00
Fall back: 1 November 2026 at 02:00 → 01:00
Houston is the global headquarters of the oil and gas industry. The New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) crude oil futures — the world's benchmark — settle at 14:30 CT. Major energy firms like ExxonMobil, Shell USA, and ConocoPhillips coordinate global operations from Houston on Central Time.
NASA's Mission Control in Houston operates on Central Time. All ISS and crewed mission communications use Houston CT as the primary reference. The famous phrase "Houston, we have a problem" placed this city permanently in the global imagination as a hub of human exploration.
Houston is the fourth most populous city in the United States, with approximately 2.3 million residents within city limits and over 7.3 million in the greater Houston–The Woodlands–Sugar Land metropolitan area. Located in southeastern Texas near the Gulf of Mexico, it is the largest city in the South and one of the most economically powerful cities on the planet.
The city is the undisputed global energy capital. Houston is home to more than 4,600 energy-related firms, including the headquarters or major operations of ExxonMobil, Shell USA, ConocoPhillips, Halliburton, Schlumberger (SLB), and dozens of other oil majors and service companies. The Houston Ship Channel, one of the busiest ports in the United States, handles a vast share of the country's petroleum imports and exports, connecting Houston's refineries to global markets in Rotterdam, Singapore, Abu Dhabi and beyond.
Houston is also home to the NASA Johnson Space Center (JSC), the nerve centre of US human spaceflight. JSC houses Mission Control — the room that coordinated the Apollo moon landings, every Space Shuttle mission, and continues today as the primary command hub for the International Space Station. The centre employs over 10,000 scientists, engineers and contractors, and its work shapes the time schedules of astronauts orbiting Earth at 400 km altitude.
The Texas Medical Center, located in Houston, is the largest medical complex in the world by number of facilities — comprising over 60 institutions, including MD Anderson Cancer Center (consistently ranked among the world's best cancer hospitals), Houston Methodist, and Baylor College of Medicine. More than 10 million patient visits take place here annually, drawing patients and medical professionals from across the globe.
Houston is one of the most ethnically diverse major cities in the United States. It has no ethnic majority — Latino, White, Black, and Asian communities each represent substantial portions of the population. More than 145 languages are spoken across the metro area, and the city's culinary scene reflects this diversity with extraordinary depth, from Vietnamese pho on Bellaire Boulevard to some of the best Tex-Mex restaurants in existence.
2.3 million city / ~7.3 million metro area. Largest city in Texas and the US South, 4th largest in the United States.
Home to 4,600+ energy firms, the Houston Ship Channel, and the global headquarters of ExxonMobil, Shell USA, ConocoPhillips and Halliburton.
~9h from London, ~10h from Frankfurt, ~14h from Dubai, ~16h from Singapore, ~1h behind New York, ~2h ahead of Los Angeles.
Humid subtropical. Hot summers (avg. 34°C / 93°F in July), mild winters (avg. 11°C / 52°F in January). Hurricane season runs June–November.
English and Spanish widely spoken. Also Vietnamese, Chinese, Arabic, Urdu, Tagalog and over 145 languages across the metro — more than any US city per capita.
+1 (US country code). Area codes: 713, 281, 832, 346 (Houston metro). Currency: US Dollar (USD, $).
Current time in cities most connected to Houston — energy markets, space, medicine and trade. Times update live every second.
Note on DST transitions: The offsets shown above reflect the current live offset, which changes twice a year due to Daylight Saving Time. The US, EU, and other regions change their clocks on different dates, which means the difference between Houston and a European or Asian city can vary by 1 hour for a short period in spring and autumn. Always verify the exact time difference around DST transition dates for critical scheduling.
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Houston's Central Time zone synchronises the world's most important energy decisions — from NYMEX crude oil futures settling at 14:30 CT to offshore drilling operations coordinated across the Gulf of Mexico, the North Sea and the Arabian Gulf simultaneously. The Central Time Zone is home to over 100 million people across the US and Canada.
TimeZoria AI uses your browser's built-in Intl API and the IANA tz database to always display the correct Houston time — including DST changes — without any network requests.
Cities connected to Houston by energy, space, trade and time — check their current local time on TimeZoria AI.
Common questions about Houston's time zone, UTC offset, Daylight Saving Time, and global time differences.