Area code directory

An area code is the first three digits of a North American number. It points to where the line was first set up, not where the caller is today.

The directory below groups every code we track by state, with the main cities for each one. Each entry has its own anchor, so a link such as 212 or 415 jumps straight to that code on this page. There are no separate pages for each code, because a few facts repeated a hundred times would not help anyone. What follows is how to make use of the list.

How area codes are organized

Area codes are assigned by the North American Numbering Plan, which covers the United States, Canada and a number of Caribbean countries and territories. A code was originally tied to a region, and busy regions have been split or given overlay codes as numbers ran short. In an overlay, two or more codes serve the same geography, so a neighbor's number may carry a different code from yours. Some codes are not geographic at all: 800, 888, 877, 866, 855, 844 and 833 are toll-free, and 900 numbers are premium-rate.

How to use the directory

Find the state, scan for the three digits on your screen, and read the cities beside it. If the code is missing, it may be a toll-free code, a Canadian or Caribbean code, or a pattern that is not assigned, and our number reader will say which. Remember that mobile numbers move. A call from a Texas code can come from someone who now lives in Oregon, and spoofing lets a caller display a code that matches yours on purpose.

What a code cannot tell you

It cannot say who is calling, which carrier serves the line or whether the number is a mobile or a landline. It cannot tell you whether a call is a scam either. For help with what to do about an unfamiliar call, see how to identify a caller with free tools, and to understand why lookup sites cannot fill that gap, read how the data behind them is built.