Chicago to Sydney: time difference and best times to meet
Sydney is 15 hours ahead of Chicago. There is no overlap between a normal working day in each city, so one side has to take the call outside working hours.
America/Chicago
Australia/Sydney
Hour-by-hour overlap
Each row is one hour of the Chicago day and the matching hour in Sydney. Adjust the working hours to match how your team actually works.
| Chicago | Sydney | Suitable? |
|---|---|---|
| 12am | 3pm | Working hours in Sydney only |
| 1am | 4pm | Working hours in Sydney only |
| 2am | 5pm | Working hours in Sydney only |
| 9am | 12am | Working hours in Chicago only |
| 10am | 1am | Working hours in Chicago only |
| 11am | 2am | Working hours in Chicago only |
| 12pm | 3am | Working hours in Chicago only |
| 1pm | 4am | Working hours in Chicago only |
| 2pm | 5am | Working hours in Chicago only |
| 3pm | 6am | Working hours in Chicago only |
| 4pm | 7am | Working hours in Chicago only |
| 5pm | 8am | Working hours in Chicago only |
| 6pm | 9am | Working hours in Sydney only |
| 7pm | 10am | Working hours in Sydney only |
| 8pm | 11am | Working hours in Sydney only |
| 9pm | 12pm | Working hours in Sydney only |
| 10pm | 1pm | Working hours in Sydney only |
| 11pm | 2pm | Working hours in Sydney only |
When the gap changes in the next twelve months
- Sunday, October 4, 2026 — Sydney goes from 15 hours ahead of to 16 hours ahead of Chicago.
- Sunday, November 1, 2026 — Sydney goes from 16 hours ahead of to 17 hours ahead of Chicago.
- Sunday, March 14, 2027 — Sydney goes from 17 hours ahead of to 16 hours ahead of Chicago.
- Sunday, April 4, 2027 — Sydney goes from 16 hours ahead of to 15 hours ahead of Chicago.
Recurring meetings set as a fixed clock time in one city will move by an hour for the other on these dates.
Public holidays to avoid
Dates where one side is off work while the other is not are the most common cause of no-shows on this route.
- Friday, September 25, 2026 — Friday before AFL Grand Final — Sydney is off, Chicago is working.
- Monday, September 28, 2026 — King's Birthday — Sydney is off, Chicago is working.
- Monday, October 5, 2026 — King's Birthday — Sydney is off, Chicago is working.
- Monday, October 12, 2026 — Indigenous Peoples' Day — Chicago is off, Sydney is working.
- Tuesday, November 3, 2026 — Melbourne Cup — Sydney is off, Chicago is working.
- Wednesday, November 11, 2026 — Veterans Day — Chicago is off, Sydney is working.
- Thursday, November 26, 2026 — Thanksgiving Day — Chicago is off, Sydney is working.
- Friday, December 25, 2026 — Christmas Day and Christmas Day; both cities are off.
- Monday, December 28, 2026 — St. Stephen's Day — Sydney is off, Chicago is working.
Chicago and Sydney have no shared working hours, so a recurring live meeting always costs someone their morning or their evening. Rotating the burden, or moving the update to written form, is usually the better answer.
Sending a booking link avoids the arithmetic entirely: each side picks a time in their own zone and both calendars get the correct local time, including after a daylight-saving change. See how LemCall handles cross-timezone bookings.
Frequently asked questions
- What is the time difference between Chicago and Sydney?
- Sydney is currently 15 hours ahead of Chicago. That changes to 16 hours ahead of on Sunday, October 4, 2026, when one side shifts for daylight saving.
- When is the best time to schedule a meeting between Chicago and Sydney?
- There is no hour where both cities are inside normal working hours, so one side has to take the call early or late.
- How many hours do Chicago and Sydney overlap?
- Zero, on a standard 9–18 working day in each city.
- Does daylight saving change the Chicago–Sydney gap?
- Yes. Over the next twelve months the difference changes 4 times: Sunday, October 4, 2026 (15 hours ahead of becomes 16 hours ahead of); Sunday, November 1, 2026 (16 hours ahead of becomes 17 hours ahead of); Sunday, March 14, 2027 (17 hours ahead of becomes 16 hours ahead of); Sunday, April 4, 2027 (16 hours ahead of becomes 15 hours ahead of).
- Are there public holidays that affect Chicago–Sydney meetings?
- Yes. The next is Friday, September 25, 2026 — a public holiday where Sydney is, but a normal working day in Chicago.
Nearby pairs
Other meeting-time pages for Chicago
- Chicago ↔ MumbaiNo working-hours overlap
- Chicago ↔ BangaloreNo working-hours overlap
- Chicago ↔ SingaporeNo working-hours overlap
- Chicago ↔ Hong KongNo working-hours overlap
- Chicago ↔ TokyoNo working-hours overlap
- Chicago ↔ SeoulNo working-hours overlap
- Chicago ↔ ShanghaiNo working-hours overlap
- Chicago ↔ MelbourneNo working-hours overlap
Sources
- 1.IANA. Time Zone Database
- 2.Nager.Date. Public holidays API · Retrieved