Area codes 617 and 857 are the North American area codes serving

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

and several surrounding communities in

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...

—such as Brookline,

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a College town, university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cam ...

, Newton and Quincy ( LATA code 128). The main area code, 617, was one of the

original area codes The original North American area codes were established by the American Telephone & Telegraph Company (AT&T) in 1947, following the demonstration of regional Operator Toll Dialing during the World War II period. The program had the goal of speedin ...

from October 1947, and originally covered the eastern two-thirds of Massachusetts, from roughly the western end of Worcester County to

Cape Cod Cape Cod is a peninsula extending into the Atlantic Ocean from the southeastern corner of mainland Massachusetts, in the northeastern United States. Its historic, maritime character and ample beaches attract heavy tourism during the summer mont ...

and the South Coast. The rest of the state was served by

area code 413 Area code 413 ( LATA code 126) is a telephone area code in the North American Numbering Plan (NANP) for the western third of Massachusetts. It is the largest numbering plan area in the Commonwealth, and extends from the New York state line eastw ...

; Massachusetts was the only New England state split between multiple area codes at the outset. In July 1988, most of the western, northern and southern portions of the old 617 territory, including Worcester County, the

Merrimack Valley The Merrimack Valley is a bi-state region along the Merrimack River in the U.S. states of New Hampshire and Massachusetts. The Merrimack is one of the larger waterways in New England and has helped to define the livelihood and culture of those ...

, the South Coast, and the Cape and Islands, were split off as

area code 508 Area codes 508 and 774 are telephone area codes in the North American Numbering Plan (NANP) for the U.S. state of Massachusetts. The numbering plan area comprises south-central and most of southeastern Massachusetts ( LATA code 128). It inclu ...

. Permissive dialing of 617 continued across eastern Massachusetts until January 1, 1989. In 1997, the northern, western and southern portions of the new 617 split off as

781 __NOTOC__ Year 781 ( DCCLXXXI) was a common year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 781 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Euro ...

, which almost completely surrounds 617. This reduced 617 to Boston itself and its closest neighboring communities. This was intended as a long-term solution, but within three years 617 was close to exhaustion once again due to the demand for more phone lines for auxiliary devices (mobile phones, fax machines, pagers and BBS lines). On May 2, 2001, 857 was overlaid onto 617. Since then, 10-digit local dialing has been mandatory. Some mobile phone numbers from the 1990s assigned to communities in the area surrounding 617 (which is now the 781 area code) kept the 617 area code after the split.

Splits from area code 617

508 __NOTOC__ Year 508 ( DVIII) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. In the Roman Empire, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Venantius and Celer (or, less frequently, yea ...

: Split on July 16, 1988, and completed on January 1, 1989;

978 Year 978 ( CMLXXVIII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * Battle of Pankaleia: Rebel forces under General Bardas Skleros are defeated ...

subsequently split from 508 on September 1, 1997 *

: Split on September 1, 1997, and completed on February 1, 1998

Future

As of 2018, the 617/857 NPA is projected to be exhausted by 2041.

Communities

* Belmont *

* Brookline *

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

* Everett * Milton * Newton * Quincy * Somerville *

Watertown Watertown may refer to: Places in China In China, a water town is a type of ancient scenic town known for its waterways. Places in the United States *Watertown, Connecticut, a New England town **Watertown (CDP), Connecticut, the central village ...

* Winthrop

Counties

Portions of the following counties are covered: *

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and Grea ...

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a historic county in southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the ceremonial county of Greater London, with small sections in neighbour ...

Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...

* Suffolk

Central office codes by location

''(617)-NXX'' * Belmont: 209, 404, 484, 486, 489, 672, 826, 855, 883, 932, 977, 993 * Boston Central: 204, 205, 210, 212, 217, 222, 223, 224, 226, 227, 228, 235, 236, 239, 246, 247, 248, 255, 259, 261, 262, 263, 266, 267, 275, 279, 283, 289, 292, 293, 295, 303, 304, 305, 306, 309, 310, 312, 314, 316, 320, 330, 331, 338, 341, 342, 343, 345, 346, 348, 350, 351, 352, 353, 356, 357, 358, 366, 367, 368, 369, 371, 372, 373, 375, 377, 378, 385, 391, 392, 399, 406, 407, 412, 413, 414, 416, 421, 422, 423, 424, 425, 426, 428, 429, 434, 437, 438, 439, 443, 447, 448, 449, 450, 451, 456, 457, 459, 470, 476, 478, 480, 482, 488, 490, 502, 504, 507, 510, 512, 513, 515, 517, 519, 521, 523, 526, 530, 531, 532, 534, 535, 536, 542, 543, 549, 556, 557, 563, 565, 570, 571, 572, 573, 574, 578, 579, 585, 587, 589, 590, 592, 593, 594, 595, 598, 603, 619, 620, 624, 626, 635, 636, 637, 638, 643, 645, 646, 648, 650, 654, 662, 664, 670, 671, 672, 680, 683, 686, 692, 694, 695, 697, 699, 717, 719, 720, 721, 722, 723, 724, 725, 726, 727, 728, 733, 737, 742, 743, 747, 748, 753, 755, 756, 757, 760, 763, 772, 777, 778, 780, 784, 785, 788, 790, 794, 799, 816, 818, 820, 823, 824, 828, 830, 832, 834, 835, 838, 839, 840, 848, 849, 850, 851, 854, 856, 859, 861, 865, 867, 869, 872, 875, 877, 878, 880, 888, 892, 894, 896, 897, 901, 904, 908, 912, 918, 919, 921, 927, 931, 933, 936, 937, 938, 939, 943, 946, 947, 948, 951, 954, 956, 959, 960, 961, 963, 973, 986, 988, 989, 994 * Brighton: 202, 206, 208, 254, 300, 319, 403, 415, 560, 562, 586, 746, 779, 782, 783, 787, 789, 817, 870, 891, 903, 925, 987 * Brookline: 232, 264, 274, 277, 278, 355, 383, 396, 432, 487, 505, 525, 566, 582, 608, 632, 651, 667, 677, 713, 730, 731, 732, 734, 735, 738, 739, 751, 754, 860, 879, 906, 935, 953, 975, 991, 992 * Cambridge: 201, 216, 218, 225, 229, 230, 233, 234, 245, 250, 251, 252, 253, 256, 258, 280, 290, 299, 301, 308, 324, 335, 339, 349, 354, 359, 374, 384, 386, 388, 395, 397, 401, 417, 430, 441, 444, 452, 453, 460, 465, 468, 475, 491, 492, 493, 494, 495, 496, 497, 498, 499, 500, 503, 520, 528, 540, 547, 550, 551, 575, 576, 577, 583, 588, 599, 613, 621, 642, 647, 649, 661, 665, 674, 679, 682, 685, 693, 703, 710, 714, 715, 758, 761, 768, 798, 800, 802, 803, 806, 812, 821, 836, 844, 852, 858, 864, 866, 868, 871, 873, 876, 899, 902, 909, 914, 940, 945, 949, 955, 976, 995, 998, 999 * Charlestown: 241, 242, 286, 337, 380, 398, 580, 669, 681, 712, 886, 952, 982 * Chelsea: 270, 336, 370, 409, 461, 466, 660, 819, 884, 887, 889, 958 * Dorchester: 265, 282, 287, 288, 297, 326, 379, 436, 446, 474, 506, 514, 533, 704, 707, 740, 822, 825, 905, 929, 979 * East Boston: 271, 418, 455, 561, 567, 568, 569, 634, 716, 874, 895, 913, 970, 981, 997 * Everett: 203, 294, 381, 382, 387, 389, 394, 410, 420, 544, 545, 601, 843, 917, 944 * Hyde Park (includes Readville and parts of Milton): 214, 272, 276, 333, 360, 361, 362, 364, 408, 604, 675, 705, 833, 910, 990 * Jamaica Plain (includes Roslindale and West Roxbury): 323, 325, 327, 344, 363, 390, 435, 469, 477, 522, 524, 553, 676, 942, 971, 983 * Melrose: 957 * Milton (includes Mattapan; see also Hyde Park): 273, 291, 296, 298, 313, 322, 433, 615, 690, 696, 698, 898, 907, 915, 922, 980 * Newton: 213, 215, 219, 243, 244, 332, 340, 431, 454, 467, 473, 485, 527, 546, 552, 558, 559, 564, 581, 584, 597, 609, 610, 614, 618, 630, 631, 641, 644, 655, 656, 658, 659, 663, 678, 762, 775, 795, 796, 831, 853, 862, 881, 882, 885, 893, 916, 928, 964, 965, 969 * Quincy: 221, 237, 249, 302, 317, 328, 347, 376, 405, 471, 472, 479, 481, 483, 509, 537, 639, 653, 657, 687, 689, 691, 706, 729, 745, 750, 769, 770, 773, 774, 786, 793, 801, 804, 829, 837, 842, 845, 847, 890, 934, 984, 985 * Roxbury: 238, 318, 400, 427, 442, 445, 516, 541, 602, 606, 652, 708, 749, 792, 989 * Saugus: 285 * Somerville: 284, 440, 501, 591, 616, 623, 625, 627, 628, 629, 666, 684, 702, 718, 741, 764, 767, 776, 863, 941, 996 * South Boston: 268, 269, 307, 315, 334, 463, 464, 596, 622, 701, 752, 765, 766 * Watertown: 231, 321, 393, 402, 458, 600, 607, 612, 668, 673, 744, 923, 924, 926, 972 * Winthrop: 207, 329, 539, 841, 846 ---- ''(857)-NXX'' * Belmont: 373, 626 * Boston Central: 201, 204, 205, 207, 221, 222, 238, 241, 254, 257, 272, 277, 284, 288, 294, 319, 334, 350, 355, 362, 366, 383, 413, 445, 449, 453, 472, 488, 654, 753, 869, 891, 931, 991, 996 * Brighton: 498, 540, 559, 919 * Brookline: 218, 225, 234, 245, 307, 364, 576 * Cambridge: 209, 253, 550, 600, 756, 829, 928, 940, 976, 998 * Charlestown: 389, 452, 588 * Chelsea: 776 * Dorchester: 212, 217, 220 * East Boston: 574 * Everett: 363, 888 * Hyde Park: 342, 345 * Jamaica Plain: 203, 547, 719, 728 * Milton: 598 * Newton: 226, 229, 231, 232, 255, 404, 636 * Quincy: 252, 403, 499, 526, 939 * Roxbury: 399, 492, 544 * Somerville: 227, 523, 995, 997 * South Boston: 401, 496, 524 * Watertown: 228 * Winthrop: 201, 816

N11 codes

2-1-1 2-1-1 is a special abbreviated telephone number reserved in the North American Numbering Plan (NANP) as an easy-to-remember three-digit code to reach information and referral services to health, human, and social service organizations. Like the ...

United Way Worldwide United Way is an international network of over 1,800 local nonprofit fundraising affiliates. United Way was the largest nonprofit organization in the United States by donations from the public, prior to 2016. United Way organizations raise funds ...

(UWW) and the Alliance for Information and Referral Systems (AIRS) *

3-1-1 3-1-1 is a special telephone number supported in many communities in Canada and the United States. The number provides access to non-emergency municipal services. The number format follows the N11 code for a group of short, special-purpose loca ...

: Used in Newton, Boston, and elsewhere for 3-1-1 services. * 4-1-1:

directory assistance In telecommunications, directory assistance or directory inquiries is a phone service used to find out a specific telephone number and/or address of a residence, business, or government entity. Technology Directory assistance systems incorporate ...

* 5-1-1:

traffic Traffic comprises pedestrians, vehicles, ridden or herded animals, trains, and other conveyances that use public ways (roads) for travel and transportation. Traffic laws govern and regulate traffic, while rules of the road include traffi ...

information Information is an abstract concept that refers to that which has the power to inform. At the most fundamental level information pertains to the interpretation of that which may be sensed. Any natural process that is not completely random ...

or police non-emergency services * 6-1-1: unused (on landlines) * 7-1-1: TDD

relay A relay Electromechanical relay schematic showing a control coil, four pairs of normally open and one pair of normally closed contacts An automotive-style miniature relay with the dust cover taken off A relay is an electrically operated switch ...

(MassRelay) for the

deaf Deafness has varying definitions in cultural and medical contexts. In medical contexts, the meaning of deafness is hearing loss that precludes a person from understanding spoken language, an audiological condition. In this context it is written ...

8-1-1 8-1-1 is an N-1-1 telephone number in Canada and the United States. In Canada, the number is used for non-urgent health services. In the United States, 8-1-1 provides a uniform national phone number to access local utility location services. B ...

: underground public

utility location Utility location is the process of identifying and labeling public utility mains that are underground. These mains may include lines for telecommunication, electricity distribution, natural gas, cable television, fiber optics, traffic lights, str ...

(Dig Safe),FCC Doc. No. 92-105
/ref> * 9-1-1: emergency services

References

External links

Massachusetts Area Code Map
Mass. Department of Telecommunications and Cable {{Area code box, State=MA , This=Area codes 617/857 , N= 339/781 , S= 339/781 , E=

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...

, W= 339/781 1947 establishments in Massachusetts 2001 establishments in Massachusetts

617 __NOTOC__ Year 617 ( DCXVII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. The denomination 617 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar e ...

Telecommunications-related introductions in 1947 Telecommunications-related introductions in 2001