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Area code directory · US & Canada

Area Code Lookup

Every geographic area code in the United States and Canada, grouped by state and province. Open any code to see the cities it serves, its time zone, the scam calls reported with that prefix, and a reverse phone lookup with the code already filled in.

Browse by stateTrace a full number

How to read a North American number

+13055550142
Area code
Region the number was assigned to. 305 = Miami.
Exchange
Block of 10,000 lines, once tied to a switch.
Line
The individual subscriber. Needs a full lookup.

  • 329

    geographic area codes

  • 51 + 10

    US states & Canadian provinces

  • 8

    time zones, local time on every page

  • 4

    scam patterns explained per code

Most searched area codes

  1. 01212New York, NY
  2. 02213Los Angeles, CA
  3. 03312Downtown Chicago, IL
  4. 04305Miami, FL
  5. 05415San Francisco, CA
  6. 06713Houston, TX
  7. 07214Dallas, TX
  8. 08202Washington, DC
  9. 09404Atlanta, GA
  10. 10617Boston, MA
  11. 11702Las Vegas, NV
  12. 12206Seattle, WA
  13. 13602Phoenix, AZ
  14. 14215Philadelphia, PA
  15. 15303Denver, CO
  16. 16416Toronto, ON

United States

51 states · 290 codes

Canada

10 provinces · 39 codes

How Area Codes Work, and What They Can Tell You About a Caller

Every phone number in the United States and Canada follows the North American Numbering Plan, or NANP. The plan was introduced by AT&T in 1947 to let operators connect long-distance calls without a human in the middle, and it still defines the format you dial today: a three-digit area code, a three-digit exchange and a four-digit line number. Twenty-five countries and territories share the +1 country code, but the 329 geographic codes in this directory cover the US and Canada, which is where nearly all unknown-caller searches come from.

An area code was originally a tight geographic signal. In 1947 New York City was 212, Chicago was 312 and Los Angeles was 213, and a number with that prefix almost always belonged to a landline inside city limits. Three things have loosened that link since: overlays, mobile number portability and caller ID spoofing. Understanding all three is what separates a useful area code lookup from a guess.

Overlays: why one city now has several codes

When a region exhausts its supply of seven-digit numbers, regulators either split it into two territories or lay a new code over the same map. Since the late 1990s the overlay has been the default. Manhattan gained 646 and then 332 on top of 212. Toronto added 647 and 437 to 416. Each area code page here lists the overlay codes that share its territory, so a 646 caller and a 212 caller are understood to be from the same place.

Mobile numbers travel with their owner

Since 2003 US subscribers can keep a number when they switch carriers, and in practice when they move. A person who signed up in Miami in 2008 and now lives in Denver still has a 305 number. So an area code tells you where a mobile number was issued, not where it rings today. The line type returned by a reverse phone lookup is the clue: a landline is almost always still in its home region, a mobile might not be, and a VoIP line can be anywhere in the world.

Neighbor spoofing: the local number that is not local

Robocall operators know that people answer calls from their own area code far more often than calls from an unfamiliar one. Caller ID spoofing lets them display any number they like, so they pick one that matches yours, often the same first six digits. The FCC calls this neighbor spoofing, and it is the single most common pattern behind “why does my own area code keep calling me?”. The tell is a mismatch: the displayed number belongs to a carrier that does not operate in that state, or the line type comes back as VoIP when a real neighbor would be on a mobile or landline. Our Who Called Me page walks through that check in three steps.

What each area code page shows

  • Location: the state or province, the principal city and the other cities and counties the code serves.
  • Time zone and local time: a live clock so you know whether it is a reasonable hour to call back.
  • Overlay and neighboring codes: which other prefixes belong to the same metro or the same state.
  • Scam call patterns: the four impersonation scripts most often reported with that prefix, from fake tax agencies to bank fraud desks.
  • Community reports: the numbers with that area code that other visitors have flagged, with the most reported ones at the top.
  • A reverse phone lookup with the area code pre-filled, returning carrier, line type, caller name and a risk score for the full number.

Toll-free and non-geographic prefixes

Not every three-digit prefix is an area code in the geographic sense. The 800, 888, 877, 866, 855, 844 and 833 prefixes are toll-free and can be assigned to a business in any state, so they are excluded from the directory above. Numbers starting with 900 are premium-rate. And a prefix such as 555 is reserved for fiction and testing, which is why you will never receive a real call from one. If a caller claims to be a local bank or utility but the number is toll-free, that is not proof of fraud, but it is a reason to hang up and call the number printed on your statement.

Reading Canadian area codes

Canada uses the same plan, so a Toronto 416 number and a Buffalo 716 number look identical to a US phone. The directory groups Canadian codes by province, from British Columbia’s 604 and 778 to Newfoundland’s 709. Scam scripts differ slightly north of the border, with the Canada Revenue Agency and Service Canada standing in for the IRS and Social Security, and each Canadian area code page reflects that.

Frequently asked questions

What is an area code?+

An area code is the first three digits of a ten-digit North American phone number. It tells you the geographic region a number was originally assigned to, such as 212 for Manhattan or 416 for Toronto. Every US and Canadian number uses the same format: a three-digit area code, a three-digit exchange and a four-digit line number.

Can I find out who is calling from an area code alone?+

No. An area code only narrows a number to a region that may hold millions of lines. To learn who owns a specific number you need a reverse phone lookup, which checks the carrier, line type, caller name and spam reports for the full ten digits. Every area code page on CallerTracer includes that lookup with the code already filled in.

Why do I get calls from my own area code that turn out to be scams?+

Scammers use caller ID spoofing to display a number with your area code, a trick called neighbor spoofing. People answer local-looking calls more often. If a number with your area code shows a VoIP line type or a carrier that does not serve your state, treat it as suspicious.

What is an overlay area code?+

When a region runs out of numbers, regulators add a second area code covering the same territory instead of splitting it. That new code is an overlay. Los Angeles, for example, is served by 213 and 323, and by 310 and 424. Overlays are why ten-digit dialing is now required in most large cities.

Which area codes are toll-free and not tied to a location?+

The 800, 888, 877, 866, 855, 844 and 833 prefixes are toll-free and can be used by a business anywhere in North America. They are not listed in this directory because they say nothing about where a caller is. Premium-rate 900 numbers are also non-geographic.

Do area codes tell me the time zone of the caller?+

Usually. Each geographic area code sits inside one time zone, and every page here shows the local time for that code. Two caveats: a few codes straddle a zone boundary, and mobile numbers keep their area code when the owner moves, so a 305 number may ring in Seattle.

Area code assignments follow the North American Numbering Plan Administrator (NANPA) and the Canadian Numbering Administrator. City coverage is summarized from public rate-center data and may lag recent overlays by a few months. Locations describe where a number was issued, not where its owner is now.