Eastern Time Zone and Central Time Zone are two time zones in the United States. The difference between Eastern Time Zone and Central Time Zone is in their respective locations. However, there are also few other differences between Eastern Time Zone and Central Time Zone which are caused by several factors. In this article, we will discuss all these differences between Eastern Time Zone and the Central Time Zone.
Summary Table
| Eastern Time Zone | Central Time Zone |
| 80 degrees west longitude and 90 degrees west longitude. | 90 degrees West longitude and 105 degrees West longitude. |
| The area covered by this time zone is more than half of the total area of the United States. | The states that lie in this time zone are Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee, Ohio and parts of Illinois. |
Definitions
In the United States, the country is divided into four time zones, with each time zone covering a different area. These time zones are Eastern Time Zone, Central Time Zone, Mountain Time Zone and Pacific Time Zone. All these time zones are defined by the United States Department of Transportation.
- Eastern Time Zone
The Eastern Time Zone lies between 80 degrees west longitude and 90 degrees west longitude. The area covered by this time zone is more than half of the total area of the United States. Some states that lie in this time zone are Delaware, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Rhode Island and Massachusetts. These states are also referred to as the “eastern states” or “eastern region” of the country. This region covers an area of 7 million square miles which accounts for almost two-thirds of the total landmass in the United States.
- Central Time Zone
The Central Time Zone lies between 90 degrees west longitude and 105 degrees west longitude. The states that lie in this time zone are Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee, Ohio and parts of Illinois. These states have a large number of people who work in factories at night because they can easily reach these factories from their homes. These states also have many agricultural industries and are major producers of soybeans, corn and wheat.
- Mountain Time Zone
The Mountain Time Zone lies between 105 degrees west longitude and 115 degrees west longitude. The states that lie in this time zone are Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, Nevada, Wyoming and some parts of Idaho. These states are rich in natural resources like gold, silver, coal and copper. These states have a large number of manufacturing industries that run on these natural resources. They also have a large number of tourism industries that draw tourists from all over the world to visit their natural wonders like the Grand Canyon or Zion National Park.
- Pacific Time Zone
The Pacific Time Zone lies between 115 degrees west longitude and 125 degrees west longitude. The states that lie in this time zone are California, Oregon and Washington. These states are the most important industrial areas in the United States because they produce a large number of products like automobiles, electronic products and aircrafts for the entire country as well as for export to other countries around the world. These three states also have a large number of farms where different kinds of fruits like oranges and grapes are grown for export to other countries around the world.
Eastern Time Zone vs Central Time Zone
Now, before we compare Eastern Time Zone and Central Time Zone, let us first understand the basics of time zones.
Time zones are imaginary areas of the world, demarcated by imaginary lines that pass through the world from east to west. The boundaries of these time zones are set in such a way that each zone has an equal amount of time throughout the year. The time is measured by one or more time scales, including Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), which is a standard time scale maintained by the International Bureau of Weights and Measures (BIPM).
UTC is used as the basis for other standard time scales. These standard time scales are calculated in relation to UTC, and therefore they can be referred to as “UTC offset” or “UTC equivalent”. UTC offsets have a difference of one hour from their related standard time scale, except for UTC-11, which has a difference of two hours from its related standard time scale. For example, New York City’s UTC offset is -5 hours from UTC because it uses Eastern Standard Time (EST) with a UTC offset of -5 hours. Chicago’s UTC offset is -6 hours from UTC because it uses Central Standard Time (CST) with a UTC offset of -6 hours.
There are five standard time zones in the world, which are:
UTC -12: Pacific Time Zone
UTC -11: Alaska Time Zone
UTC -10: Hawaii-Aleutian Time Zone
UTC -9: Samoa Standard Time Zone (Western Samoa)
UTC -8: Pacific Standard Time Zone (Canada and United States)
The Eastern Time Zone is a time zone that includes most of the eastern part of the United States. It is in place during the day, and it is effective for 12 hours, starting from the 12 o’clock hour of noon.
The Central Time Zone covers all the areas in the middle part of the United States. It also has a span of 12 hours, but it starts at 1 o’clock in the afternoon.
There are some major differences between these two time zones: firstly, they are different from each other in terms of location; secondly, they have different standard times that are used for daylight saving time.
- Location: The Eastern Time Zone lies between 80 degrees west longitude and 90 degrees west longitude while the Central Time Zone lies between 90 degrees West longitude and 105 degrees West longitude. These zones include different states in the United States.
- Standard Time: For Eastern Time Zone, daylight saving time is used during summer months while it is not used during winter months. On the other hand, the Central Time Zone uses daylight saving time during both summer and winter months.
