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By State and Country

Alabama205, 251, 256, 334, 659, 938
Alaska907
Arizona480, 520, 602, 623, 928
Arkansas479, 501, 870
California209, 213, 279, 310, 323, 341, 350, 408, 415, 424, 442, 510, 530, 559, 562, 619, 626, 628, 650, 657, 661, 669, 707, 714, 747, 760, 805, 818, 820, 831, 840, 858, 909, 916, 925, 949, 951
Canada204, 226, 236, 249, 250, 263, 289, 306, 343, 354, 365, 367, 368, 403, 416, 418, 431, 437, 438, 450, 468, 474, 506, 514, 519, 548, 579, 581, 584, 587, 604, 613, 639, 647, 672, 683, 705, 709, 742, 753, 778, 780, 782, 807, 819, 825, 867, 873, 902, 905
Colorado303, 719, 720, 970, 983
Connecticut203, 475, 860, 959
Delaware302
Florida239, 305, 321, 352, 386, 407, 448, 561, 656, 689, 727, 754, 772, 786, 813, 850, 863, 904, 941, 954
Georgia229, 404, 470, 478, 678, 706, 762, 770, 912, 943
Hawaii808
Idaho208, 986
Illinois217, 224, 309, 312, 331, 447, 464, 618, 630, 708, 773, 779, 815, 847, 872
Indiana219, 260, 317, 463, 574, 765, 812, 930
Iowa319, 515, 563, 641, 712
Kansas316, 620, 785, 913
Kentucky270, 364, 502, 606, 859
Louisiana225, 318, 337, 504, 985
Maine207
Maryland240, 301, 410, 443, 667
Massachusetts339, 351, 413, 508, 617, 774, 781, 857, 978
Michigan231, 248, 269, 313, 517, 586, 616, 734, 810, 906, 947, 989
Minnesota218, 320, 507, 612, 651, 763, 952
Mississippi228, 601, 662, 769
Missouri314, 417, 557, 573, 636, 660, 816
Montana406
Nebraska308, 402, 531
Nevada702, 725, 775
New Hampshire603
New Jersey201, 551, 609, 640, 732, 848, 856, 862, 908, 973
New Mexico505, 575
New York212, 315, 332, 347, 363, 516, 518, 585, 607, 631, 646, 680, 716, 718, 838, 845, 914, 917, 929, 934
North Carolina252, 336, 472, 704, 743, 828, 910, 919, 980, 984
North Dakota701
Ohio216, 220, 234, 326, 330, 380, 419, 440, 513, 567, 614, 740, 937
Oklahoma405, 539, 572, 580, 918
Oregon458, 503, 541, 971
Pennsylvania215, 223, 267, 272, 412, 445, 484, 570, 582, 610, 717, 724, 814, 835, 878
Rhode Island401
South Carolina803, 839, 843, 854, 864
South Dakota605
Tennessee423, 615, 629, 731, 865, 901, 931
Territories340 (VI), 670 (MP), 671 (GU), 684 (AS), 787 (PR), 939 (PR)
Texas210, 214, 254, 281, 325, 346, 361, 409, 430, 432, 469, 512, 682, 713, 726, 737, 806, 817, 830, 832, 903, 915, 936, 940, 945, 956, 972, 979
Utah385, 435, 801
Vermont802
Virginia276, 434, 540, 571, 703, 757, 804, 826, 948
Washington206, 253, 360, 425, 509, 564
Washington, DC202, 771
West Virginia304, 681
Wisconsin262, 414, 534, 608, 715, 920
Wyoming307

Where are area codes used?

Contrary to what most Americans are likely to believe, area codes exist outside of the US. There are 446 area codes in the world: 353 in the US, 52 in Canada, 20 non-geographic, and 21 others. Most of the other area codes are in the Caribbean. However, some are located in the Pacific including 684 (American Samoa), 671 (Guam), and 670 (Northern Mariana Islands).

California is the state with the most area codes at 37 followed by Texas (28), Florida (20), New York (20), and Illinois (15). 11 US states only have a single area code. While no area codes in the US cross state boundaries, 3 area codes in Canada cross province boundaries.


Format of a Telephone Number: (NPA) NXX-XXXX

telephone number format

In the US and its territories, Canada, and the Caribbean, the organization and allocation of telephone numbers is governed by the North American Numbering Plan Administration (NANPA). NANPA organizes the allocation of area codes and telephone prefixes to various phone companies. The basic format of a phone number in any of these countries is NPA-NXX-XXXX or (NPA) NXX-XXXX.

NPA: Area codes came into use during the early 1940s. NPA codes were developed by AT&T and the Bell System to divide the coverage area into "number plan areas" (abbreviated NPA). NPA codes are more commonly referred to as area codes. While the system was developed in the 40s, direct dialing of long distance did not begin until the early 50s. Some area codes are reserved for special purposes. For instance, area code 800 (commonly referred to as 800-numbers) is reserved for toll free calls where the called party is charged instead of the calling party. Also, not all area codes are currently in use.

NXX: The next three digits of a landline number or cellphone number are called the NXX. The NXX is also known as the prefix or exchange. Various telephone carriers will reserve blocks of telephone numbers by reserving an NXX within an area code. Like area codes, not all prefixes are currently in use.

Subscriber: Finally, the final 4 digits of the phone number are known as the subscriber or local number. Based on the total number of active NPA and NXX combinations reserved and that each one could have up to 10,000 possible subscriber numbers, the current total possible number of telephone numbers is 1,699,140,000. Based on the total population of the US and Canada according to the US Census and the World Bank, that leaves 4 phone numbers for every person. Remember though that phone numbers are no longer just used for standard home phones. Many telephone numbers are now used for fax machines, cell phones or wireless phones, or internet connections so one person may actually need multiple phone lines.


Assignment of Phone Numbers
The History of Phone Number Allocation


The 86 Original Area Codes from 1947

86 area codes were created by AT&T and the Bell System in 1947. They were created to prepare for a nationwide unified long-distance direct dialing system - the ability to make a call to any other calling area without the need for an operator.

The first digit did not allow a zero (could be confused with the operator) or a 1 (techical reasons). The second digit was either a 0 for an area code covering an entire state/province or 1 for an area code covering part of a state/province.

At the time, rotary phones made it so that dialing lower numbers like 1 or 2 took less time to dial and dialing higher numbers took longer to dial. Area codes with lower numbers that were easier to dial were given to high population and high call volume areas. For this reason, areas such as New York (area code 212 requires 2+1+2=5 pulses), Los Angeles (area code 213 requires 2+1+3=6 pulses), and Chicago (area code 312 requires 3+1+2=6 pulses) received area codes that are much faster to dial than rural areas such as South Dakota (area code 605 requires 6+10+5=21 pulses).

The original area codes only existed in the US and Canada. Parts of Canada, Alaska, and Hawaii were not yet included.

The original 86 area codes:
201, 202, 203, 204, 205, 206, 207, 208, 212, 213, 214, 215, 216, 217, 218, 301, 302, 303, 304, 305, 306, 307, 312, 313, 314, 315, 316, 317, 319, 401, 402, 403, 404, 405, 406, 412, 413, 414, 415, 416, 418, 419, 501, 502, 503, 504, 505, 512, 513, 514, 515, 517, 518, 601, 602, 603, 604, 605, 612, 613, 614, 616, 617, 618, 701, 702, 703, 704, 712, 713, 715, 716, 717, 801, 802, 803, 812, 814, 815, 816, 901, 902, 913, 914, 915, and 916


The Growing Need for New Area Codes

General Purpose Area Codes Introduced by Decade

When the phone formats we commonly use today first came into service in the 1940s and the 1950s, blocks of phone numbers were allocated to a phone carrier in 10,000 phone numbers (ie. an entire 6 digit prefix). Frequently, the 10,000 numbers would be enough for a small town with larger towns being allocated multiple prefixes. Further, local phone carriers frequently had a monopoly on local phone service which prevented large portions of an allocated block from being unutilized.

In the 1990s, cell phones became much more popular which created an explosion of demand for new phone numbers. Cell phones also reduced the monopoly of local phone providers which reduced utilization of allocated prefixes. Instead of a single primary phone carrier, cities had two or more carriers - each needing their own prefix. In addition, the rise in popularity in the internet (dial up and DSL) and voice over IP (VOIP), local interenet service providers and cable companies started to request prefixes. Many of these prefixes included few, if any, subscribers.


The Decline of Splits in Favor of Overlays

Splits and Overlays by Year

For decades, new area codes were created through a "split" of an existing area code into multiple regions. Normally, the more populated region would continue to use the existing area code. The less populated areas would have all existing phone numbers reassigned to use a new area code to free up more numbers in the original area code. This process forced many into a new phone number which would require updates to letterhead, business cards, phone directories, personal contact lists, etc. Many people would dial the incorrect area code which caused confusion.

In 1992, area code 917 was created as the first "overlay" area code. With an overlay area code, the overlay serves the same geographic as the original to increase the pool of numbers available in the area. When the original phone systems were put in place, 7-digit dialing (without the area code) could be used to make local calls, and 10-digit dialing (with the area code) only needed to be used for long distance calls. In 1997, area code 301 was introduced as the first overlay with forced 10 digit dialing for local calls. Initially, there was substantial public resistance to overlays because of the 10-digit dialing requirement for local calls. However, the last area code split in Canada was in 1999 with the split of 403 splitting off 780 and the last area code split in the US was in 2007 with 505 splitting off 575. No area code splits are currently proposed and both countries have agreed: without exceptional circumstances, all new area codes will be overlays.

Today, 7-digit dialing is broken in most major cities. The few major cities where 10-digit dialing is not required include Detroit, El Paso, Jacksonville, Louisville, Memphis, Milwaukee and Oklahoma City. Many areas not served by an overlay can still use 7-digit dialing.


The Effect of Number Pooling

Prefixes Introduced by Year in the US
Before Number Pooling  
After Number Pooling

In 1998, the North American Numbering Plan Administration (NANPA) estimated that all area codes for a 10-digit dialing system would run out by 2025. Something besides allocating more area codes needed to be done to improve the system. After a few trials, mandatory number pooling was implemented in 2002 with a national rollout to the 100 largest metropolitan areas. With number pooling, an entire prefix of 10,000 numbers is allocated to a specific area, but phone numbers are only allocated to a specific carrier in 1,000 block increments. Further, in US markets where number pooling is required, service providers are required to return blocks of 1,000 numbers that are more than 90% unutilized.

While several US markets are still not required to implement number pooling and Canada has no number pooling, the effects dramatically slowed the need to allocate new prefixes and new area codes because of increased utilization. The rate of issuing new area codes dropped to nearly half that of the 1990s.


Modern Usage

Primary Prefix Usage

While it may seem that all consumers in the US use a mobile phone, more than two-thirds of prefixes are allocated for landline use. A 2017 study by the National Center for Health Statistics, 43% of US households still use a landline phone. That number has been dropping by about 3.5% per year since 2010 (which would make the 2024 estimate 19%). Many businesses, home internet services, and voice-over-IP (VOIP) phones also account for increased landline usage.


Non-Geographic Area Codes

Not all area codes are assigned to a specific geographic area. One of the most common are toll-free area codes where the caller is not billed for long distance (though wireless customers may have minutes deducted from their plan): 800, 833, 844, 855, 866, 877, and 888.

The 900 area code is also currently used for premium services that are billed to the caller at higher than normal long distance rates. In the 1980s and and early 1990s, 900 numbers were frequently used to target children to run up phone bills, psychic hotlines, adult entertainment, computer help, etc. Legislative protections in the 1990s and the withdrawal of phone companies from passing these fees onto customers has largely killed the 900-number industry.

Other caller-pays area codes include 500, 521, 522, 523, 524, 525, 526, 527, 528, 529, 533, 544, 566, 577, 588, and 622. Though they see much less usage now, some are still used for dial-up modem access or security systems.

Area codes 600 and 700 are reserved for special telecommunications services and receive little usage.


Area Code Tools

For looking up information on a specific phone number, the free reverse phone lookup allows you to see the name and address of phone numbers listed in the white pages of phone books throughout the US. For unlisted or cell phone numbers, we provide a convenient price comparison of popular services that allow you to search deeper for the owner of a phone number.

To find information on a specific area code, use the area code lookup that makes it easy to find an area code by number and gives detailed information including city/state, timezone, and area code maps. If you are looking for the area code for a particular city, you can search area codes by city using our area code finder.

To browse all area codes, we have a list of all United States area codes by state and area codes by number. The area code list includes a printable copy that you can print and use for reference.

For international numbers, we also include Canadian area codes. For dialing internationally, see the list of international dialing codes with instructions on how to dial foreign numbers or dial U.S./Canadian number while traveling internationally.