Sunrise and sunset in Chicago
In Chicago today, the sun rises at 6:48 AM and sets at 6:32 PM. Day length: 11 h 44 min. Golden hour today: 6:31 AM–7:25 AM in the morning and 5:55 PM–6:49 PM in the evening.
Thursday, October 1 2026 · United States
Thursday, October 1 2026 · Times in Central Daylight Time (UTC-5)
Sunrise 6:48 AM · Sunset 6:32 PM · Day length 11 h 44 min
Twilight
| Event | Time | Direction |
|---|---|---|
| Astronomical dawn | 5:15 AM | |
| Nautical dawn | 5:47 AM | |
| Civil dawn | 6:20 AM | |
| Sunrise | 6:48 AM | E 94° |
| Solar noon | 12:40 PM | 44.7° |
| Sunset | 6:32 PM | W 266° |
| Civil dusk | 7:00 PM | |
| Nautical dusk | 7:32 PM | |
| Astronomical dusk | 8:05 PM |
Golden and blue hour
| Event | Begins | Ends |
|---|---|---|
| Morning blue hour | 6:20 AM | 6:31 AM |
| Morning golden hour | 6:31 AM | 7:25 AM |
| Evening golden hour | 5:55 PM | 6:49 PM |
| Evening blue hour | 6:49 PM | 7:00 PM |
Month table: October 2026
| Date | Civil dawn | Sunrise | Solar noon | Sunset | Civil dusk | Day length |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thu, Oct 1 | 6:20 AM | 6:48 AM | 12:40 PM | 6:32 PM | 7:00 PM | 11 h 44 min |
| Fri, Oct 2 | 6:21 AM | 6:49 AM | 12:40 PM | 6:30 PM | 6:58 PM | 11 h 42 min |
| Sat, Oct 3 | 6:22 AM | 6:50 AM | 12:39 PM | 6:29 PM | 6:56 PM | 11 h 39 min |
| Sun, Oct 4 | 6:23 AM | 6:51 AM | 12:39 PM | 6:27 PM | 6:55 PM | 11 h 36 min |
Daylight through the year
- Daylight
- Civil twilight
- Nautical twilight
- Astronomical twilight
- Night
Each column is one day. Yellow shows daylight, the blue shades show civil, nautical and astronomical twilight, dark blue is night. Steps in spring and autumn are daylight saving time changes.
Sun path
- Selected day
- June solstice
- December solstice
The sun’s path across the sky seen from above: the centre is straight overhead, the edge is the horizon. Solid: selected day. Dashed: June and December solstices.
Calculated with Astronomy Engine, an open-source library verified against the US Naval Observatory and NASA JPL. How we calculate
Sun facts in Chicago
Chicago lies at 41.8781° N, 87.6298° W, 181 m above sea level, in the America/Chicago time zone.
The longest day of 2026 is June 21, with 15 h 14 min of daylight.
The shortest day is December 21, with only 9 h 8 min.
The earliest sunset (4:19 PM) is on December 8 and the latest sunrise (7:22 AM) on October 31: neither falls on the shortest day, because of the equation of time.
At noon, the sun climbs to 72° above the horizon in June but only 25° in December.
In June, Chicago gets 1 h 55 min more daylight than Mexico City; in December the difference is 1 h 50 min the other way.
Clocks go forward on March 8 and back on November 1.
About the sun in Chicago
Chicago lies on the western shore of Lake Michigan, so sunrises here are over water: from the lakefront, the sun rises out of the lake for much of the year, north of east in summer and south of east in winter. Sunsets, by contrast, happen over the flat Midwest prairie to the west, often seen framed by the skyline from the lakefront parks and piers.