What is the time zone of Illinois?
The state of Illinois is in the Central Time zone. All counties and cities of the state have the same time zone, there are no exceptions. Illinois is observing daylight savings so there are two different clocks depending on the time of the year.
Central Standard Time (CST): – 6:00 UTC/GMT (behind)
Central Daylight Time (CDT): – 5:00 UTC/GMT (behind)
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The vast majority of the neighbouring states are in the same zone (Wisconsin, Iowa, Missouri, Kentucky). But you will be entering the Mountain Time zone when you cross the northern and southern part of the border with Indiana (counties of Lake, Newton, Gibson and Posey). The clocks are unchanged when you border any other Indiana county.
Daylight savings time (DST) in Illinois
Illinois is using daylight savings as also documented in the Uniform Time Act of 1966. During daylight savings the time changes from Central Standard time (CST) to Central Daylight time (CDT).
It starts on the second Sunday in March and ends on the first Sunday in November. In March the clock is moved forward from 02.00 am to 03.00 am (so you will lose an hour of sleep during the night). While in November it’s reversed as the clock is moved backward from 03.00 am to 02.00 am and you will gain an extra hour of sleep. One way of remembering the movement sequence is that clocks “spring forward and fall back”.
The total period of daylight savings lasts for 34 weeks which is about 65% of the year.
Illinois time news, bills and legislation
There is a continuous debate about which time should be applied. Several bills have been introduced to legalize daylight saving time as the year-round clock, whereas others try to align the time with bordering counties or states. The table below gives an overview of the latest bills in the state of Illinois.
| Date | Bill | Status/Action | Title/summary |
| 23 Jul 2021 | HR0118 | To House Rules Committee | Urges the Congress of the United States of America to enact permanent Daylight Saving Time. |
| 27 Mar 2021 | HB0216 | To House Rules Committee | Amends the Time Standardization Act. Provides that the State is exempt from the provisions of the federal Uniform Time Act of 1966 that establish daylight saving time. |
| 27 Mar 2021 | HB2946 | To House Rules Committee | Amends the Time Standardization Act. Provides that the State is exempt from the provisions of the federal Uniform Time Act of 1966 that establish daylight saving time. |
| 27 Mar 2021 | HB2982 | To House Rules Committee | Amends the Time Standardization Act. Provides that the State is exempt from the provisions of the federal Uniform Time Act of 1966 that establish daylight saving time. |
| 27 Mar 2021 | HB3527 | To House Rules Committee | Amends the Time Standardization Act. Provides that the State is exempt from the provisions of the federal Uniform Time Act of 1966 that establish daylight saving time. |
| 27 Mar 2021 | HB2609 | To House Rules Committee | Amends the Time Standardization Act. Provides that the State is exempt from the provisions of the federal Uniform Time Act of 1966 that establish daylight saving time. |
| 27 Mar 2021 | HB3321 | To House Rules Committee | Amends the Time Standardization Act. Provides that the State is exempt from the provisions of the federal Uniform Time Act of 1966 that establish daylight saving time. |
| 18 Feb 2021 | HB2946 | Intro, Filed with the Clerk by Rep. Bob Morgan | Amends the Time Standardization Act. Provides that daylight saving time shall be the year-round standard time of the entire State. Makes other changes. Effective immediately. |
| 18 Feb 2021 | HB2982 | Intro, Filed with the Clerk by Rep. Thomas Morrison | Amends the Time Standardization Act. Provides that daylight saving time shall be the year-round standard time of the entire State. Makes other changes. Effective immediately. |
| 18 Feb 2021 | HB2609 | Intro, Added Chief Co-Sponsor Rep. Jonathan Carroll | Amends the Time Standardization Act. Provides that the State is exempt from the provisions of the federal Uniform Time Act of 1966 that establish daylight saving time. |
| 22 Jan 2021 | HB0216 | Intro, To House Rules Committee | Amends the Time Standardization Act. Provides that daylight saving time shall be the year-round standard time of the entire State. Makes other changes. |
| 23 Jun 2020 | HR0750 | To House Rules Committee | Urges the Congress of the United States of America to enact permanent daylight saving time. |
| 23 Jun 2020 | HB4935 | To House Rules Committee | Amends the Time Standardization Act. Provides that the State is exempt from the provisions of the federal Uniform Time Act of 1966 that establish daylight saving time. Effective July 1, 2020. |
| 22 Jan 2020 | HB4219 | To House Rules Committee | Amends the Time Standardization Act. Provides that daylight saving time shall be the year-round standard time of the entire State. Makes other changes. Effective immediately. |
| 25 Nov 2019 | SB0533 | To House Rules Committee | Amends the Time Standardization Act. Provides that daylight saving time shall be the year-round standard time of the entire State. Makes other changes. Effective July 1, 2019. |
| 8 Nov 2019 | HB3837 | To House Rules Committee | Amends the Time Standardization Act. Provides that daylight saving time shall be the year-round standard time of the entire State. Makes other changes. |
| 26 Mar 2019 | HB3821 | To House Rules Committee | Amends the Time Standardization Act. Provides that the State is exempt from the provisions of the federal Uniform Time Act of 1966 that establish daylight saving time. |
Other US states
You can check out information and maps of other US states by clicking on the below links.