US and Canadian area codes

How to use this reference

NANPA's 14 October 2026 NPA Database supplies in-service geographic codes for the 50 US states and DC. For Canada, the Canadian Numbering Administrator's code directory supplies the code list and coverage wording, cross-checked against NANPA's in-service field.12 A code can cover more than one Canadian province or territory, so the regional counts are not additive.

Open a region for its code table, history, overlay relationships, dialing plan and a practical number-request checklist. The separate overlay guide explains ten-digit dialling, and the toll-free reference covers non-geographic codes.

What an area code is

North American numbers are ten digits in the form NXX-NXX-XXXX, where N is any digit from 2 to 9 and X is any digit from 0 to 9. The first three digits are the Numbering Plan Area code, the area code; the next three are the central office code, also called the prefix or exchange; the last four identify the line.34 The plan serves 20 countries and territories, was developed by AT&T in 1947 and began to be implemented in 1951, and conforms to the international E.164 numbering standard under country code 1.3

An area code holds 792 usable prefixes, each covering 10,000 numbers, which is 7,920,000 numbers before any other reservation. The count is smaller than the arithmetic maximum because prefixes beginning with 0 or 1 and the N11 service codes are not assignable.5 When providers have drawn down most of the prefixes, the area needs relief: a new code. That mechanism is why the same region can hold several codes, and why the list below keeps growing.

The reference in numbers

The 14 October 2026 file lists 372 distinct in-service geographic codes across the 50 states and DC, and 55 across Canada's provinces and territories (a shared code counts once). The regions with the most codes are California (41), Texas (29), Florida (23), New York (23) and Ontario (19). 14 regions still have just one code: Alaska, Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, Montana, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Vermont, Wyoming, Northwest Territories, Nunavut and Yukon.12

The newest in-service codes in the file, by NPA date, are 465 (18 Jun 2026, New York), 483 (23 Feb 2026, Alabama), 471 (30 Jan 2026, Mississippi), 679 (7 Nov 2025, Michigan), 457 (25 Sep 2025, Louisiana), 729 (5 Sep 2025, Tennessee), 748 (7 Jul 2025, Colorado) and 257 (24 May 2025, British Columbia). NANPA's file also lists 6 assigned codes that are not yet in service: 273 (expected 27 Feb 2027), 451, 565 (expected 6 Dec 2027), 568 (expected 10 Jun 2028), 761 and 851 (expected 27 May 2028). The region pages say which complex each will join.1

Dialing, relief, keeping a number and choosing one

Overlays and ten-digit dialing. An overlay adds a new code to the same area: existing customers keep their numbers, new numbers can come from the new code, and every call in the area is dialled with the area code. Calls that were local stay local, and three-digit numbers such as 911 and 988 still work.5 How overlays work goes through the mechanism. The practical risk is old seven-digit entries: reprogram call-forwarding, automatic-dial and speed-dial entries and print ten-digit numbers.5 For a menu that routes callers to your team's mobiles, store every destination as a full ten-digit number.

Relief planning. NANPA warns the state commission and industry within 36 months of a forecast exhaust and publishes exhaust projections each April and October; the state commission decides the plan. In Canada relief follows regulatory decisions published by the administrator.56 A pending code is not a number you can request today.

The 1947 dates. The original North American Numbering Plan was developed by AT&T in 1947 and implementation began in 1951, so a 1947 date in NANPA's database marks membership of the original plan, not a first call.3

Keeping or moving a number. Number portability lets you keep an existing number when you change carrier, within the limits your provider and the regulator set, so a number you already publish can often follow you without being reprinted. Read how to keep your number before cancelling anything.

Choosing a local number. An area code alone does not establish that a number is local to every exchange in a region, so name the town or district your customers search for and accept any code in the same overlay group as equally local. Print the complete number with its area code, set business-hours schedules by a named time zone, and call the new number from another carrier before you publish it. The area-code guide and the local versus toll-free page help when callers are spread across several areas. The app shows which numbers are in stock when you search by area code; this reference is not an inventory, and big-city codes are often out of stock.

United States and District of Columbia

These are the 50 states and DC. US territories are outside this table. Each linked page lists the codes NANPA marks geographic and in service for that location.1

Canada

Each province and territory has a page. Code 867 appears in the Northwest Territories, Nunavut and Yukon; 782 and 902 appear in both Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island.2 The administrator's news list also records approved new codes for Alberta and for Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island.6

Overlays and toll-free codes

For the vocabulary, see the glossary entries for NPA, NXX and local number portability. To choose a number, start with the request form or read how a recorded menu uses the number once you have it.