Area codes 213 and 323 are telephone
area codes in the
North American Numbering Plan
The North American Numbering Plan (NANP) is a telephone numbering plan for twenty-five regions in twenty countries, primarily in North America and the Caribbean. This group is historically known as World Zone 1 and has the international calling ...
(NANP) for the U.S. state of
California
California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...
. They are assigned to a numbering plan area (NPA) that comprises, roughly, the area of central
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...
, and includes several Southeast LA communities, such as
Bell
A bell is a directly struck idiophone percussion instrument. Most bells have the shape of a hollow cup that when struck vibrates in a single strong strike tone, with its sides forming an efficient resonator. The strike may be made by an inte ...
and
Huntington Park
Huntington Park is a city in the Gateway Cities district of southeastern Los Angeles County, California.
As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 58,114, of whom 97% are Hispanic/Latino and about half were born outside th ...
. The area codes designated separate NPAs starting in 1998, when 323 was added, but were combined in an
overlay plan
Overlay may refer to:
Computers
* Overlay network, a computer network which is built on top of another network
* Hardware overlay, one type of video overlay that uses memory dedicated to the application
*Another term for exec, replacing one proce ...
into a single NPA in 2017. Previously, just downtown Los Angeles and immediately adjoining neighborhoods were served by area code 213, and the rest of central Los Angeles used area 323. Area code 213 is one of the original area codes created with the NANP in 1947, and was split five times over the decades.
History
In 1947, when the
American Telephone and Telegraph Company
AT&T Inc. is an American multinational telecommunications holding company headquartered at Whitacre Tower in Downtown Dallas, Texas. It is the world's largest telecommunications company by revenue and the third largest provider of mobile te ...
(AT&T) devised the
initial form of the North American Numbering Plan, the state of California was divided into three numbering plan areas: 213,
415
__NOTOC__
Year 415 ( CDXV) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Honorius and Theodosius (or, less frequently, year 1168 ' ...
, and
916
__NOTOC__
Year 916 ( CMXVI) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.
Events
By place
Europe
* Sicilian Berbers in Agrigento revolt and depose the independent Emir Ahmed ibn Kh ...
, for the southern, central, and northern parts of the state, respectively.
The area served by 213 extended from
Mexican border
Mexico shares international borders with three nations:
*To the north the United States–Mexico border, which extends for a length of through the states of Baja California, Sonora, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo León and Tamaulipas.
*To the southe ...
to the
Central Coast. In 1950, the boundary between 213 and 415 was realigned toward the north, requiring the southern portion of the
Central Valley, including
Bakersfield, to change from area code 415 to 213.
As a result of southern California's rapid expansion of telephone service during the second half of the 20th century, area code 213 was split five times in the period from 1951 to 1998. In the 21st century
area code overlays have become more practical.
1951–1998: Area code splits
The first split became necessary in 1951, when most of the southern and eastern portion, including
San Diego
San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United State ...
and most of
Orange County
Orange County most commonly refers to:
*Orange County, California, part of the Los Angeles metropolitan area
Orange County may also refer to:
U.S. counties
*Orange County, Florida, containing Orlando
*Orange County, Indiana
*Orange County, New ...
, was assigned
area code 714
Area codes 714 and 657 are telephone area codes covering northern Orange County, a portion of Los Angeles County, and the Sleepy Hollow and Carbon Canyon areas of Chino Hills in San Bernardino County in the U.S. state of California.
Cities in th ...
. In 1957, 213 was restricted to
Los Angeles County, with most of the northern and western portions receiving
area code 805
Area codes 805 and 820 are telephone area codes in the U.S. state of California. 805 was split from area code 213 in 1957. They include most or all of the California counties of San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Ventura, plus the southernmost por ...
. This configuration was stable for almost three decades, until 1984, when the
San Fernando Valley and the
San Gabriel Valley received
area code 818, thus making Los Angeles one of the first major cities in the US to be split into two numbering plan areas—New York City experienced this later in the same year. In 1991,
West Los Angeles
West Los Angeles is an area within the city of Los Angeles, California. The residential and commercial neighborhood is divided by the Interstate 405 freeway, and each side is sometimes treated as a distinct neighborhood, mapped differently by di ...
and the
South Bay were assigned
area code 310
Area codes 310 and 424 are telephone area codes in the North American Numbering Plan (NANP) for the U.S. state of California. The numbering plan area includes the West Los Angeles and South Bay areas of Los Angeles County, a small portion of V ...
.
In 1998, the Los Angeles NPA was divided once more, to create area code 323.
Area code 213 was kept by Los Angeles exchanges ''1'' (Downtown/Echo Park), ''7'' (South Park/Exposition Park) and ''10'' (Westlake/Koreatown), while exchanges ''2'' (Silverlake/Los Feliz), ''3'' (Eagle Rock/Highland Park), ''4'' (El Sereno/Lincoln Heights), ''5'' (Boyle Heights/East Los Angeles), ''6'' (Watts/Vernon/South Gate), ''8'' (South Los Angeles), ''9'' (Hyde Park/Athens), ''11'' (West Adams/Jefferson Park), ''12'' (Leimert Park/Baldwin Hills), ''13'' (Hancock Park/Fairfax District) and ''14'' (Hollywood/Hollywood Hills) switched to area code 323. This split made 213 one of the geographically smallest numbering plan areas in the nation, covering only
Downtown Los Angeles and its immediately adjoining neighborhoods, such as
Chinatown. Completely surrounding 213, 323 included most of the remainder of central Los Angeles, including Hollywood, as well as several neighboring cities, including
Bell
A bell is a directly struck idiophone percussion instrument. Most bells have the shape of a hollow cup that when struck vibrates in a single strong strike tone, with its sides forming an efficient resonator. The strike may be made by an inte ...
,
Huntington Park
Huntington Park is a city in the Gateway Cities district of southeastern Los Angeles County, California.
As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 58,114, of whom 97% are Hispanic/Latino and about half were born outside th ...
and
Montebello.
Since 2017: Overlay codes
Despite Southern California's continued growth and the proliferation of cell phones and pagers, 213 was not projected to exhaust until 2050. In contrast, 323 was projected to exhaust in 2017.
Since 213 still had an abundance of numbers available, the
California Public Utilities Commission
The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC or PUC) is a regulatory agency that regulates privately owned public utilities in the state of California, including electric power, telecommunications, natural gas and water companies. In addition ...
approved a plan that erased the boundaries between both area codes, converting the area to an
overlay plan
Overlay may refer to:
Computers
* Overlay network, a computer network which is built on top of another network
* Hardware overlay, one type of video overlay that uses memory dedicated to the application
*Another term for exec, replacing one proce ...
for all of central Los Angeles. Since this change went into full effect on July 8, 2017, telephone companies have been able to assign any available 213 numbers in the former 323 area and vice versa, and customers with 213 or 323 phone numbers have been required to dial the area code for all calls within the area. This change returned 213 to some areas that had used it for more than half a century prior to 1998.
Service area
Cities and communities in the overlay complex include:
*
Alhambra (mostly served by
area code 626)
*
Bell
A bell is a directly struck idiophone percussion instrument. Most bells have the shape of a hollow cup that when struck vibrates in a single strong strike tone, with its sides forming an efficient resonator. The strike may be made by an inte ...
*
Bell Gardens
Bell Gardens is a city in the U.S. state of California in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. Located in Los Angeles County, the city's population was 42,072 at the 2010 census, down from 44,054 at the 2000 census. Bell Gardens is part of the ...
(also served by
area code 562
Area code 562 is a California telephone area code that was split from area code 310 on January 25, 1997. It is the area code for much of southeastern Los Angeles County, including Long Beach, and parts of northern Orange County.
History
Prior to ...
)
*
Beverly Hills
Beverly Hills is a city located in Los Angeles County, California. A notable and historic suburb of Greater Los Angeles, it is in a wealthy area immediately southwest of the Hollywood Hills, approximately northwest of downtown Los Angeles. ...
(mostly served by area code 310)
*
City Terrace
City Terrace is an unincorporated area of East LA, in Los Angeles County, California, east of Downtown Los Angeles. It contains City Terrace Elementary School, Robert F. Kennedy Elementary School, Esteban Torres High School, Harrison Elementar ...
*
Commerce
Commerce is the large-scale organized system of activities, functions, procedures and institutions directly and indirectly related to the exchange (buying and selling) of goods and services among two or more parties within local, regional, nation ...
(small portion in area code 562)
*
Cudahy
*
East Los Angeles
East Los Angeles ( es, Este de Los Ángeles), or East L.A., is an unincorporated area in Los Angeles County, California. As of the 2020 census it had a population of 118,786, a drop of 6.1% from 2010, when it was 126,496. For statistical purpo ...
*
Florence
Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany Regions of Italy, region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilan ...
*
Florence-Graham
Florence-Graham (locally known as Florence-Firestone) is an unincorporated community in Los Angeles County. The population was 61,983 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, down from 63,387 at the 2010 United States census, 2010 census. The ...
*
Hawthorne (mostly served by area code 310)
*
Huntington Park
Huntington Park is a city in the Gateway Cities district of southeastern Los Angeles County, California.
As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 58,114, of whom 97% are Hispanic/Latino and about half were born outside th ...
*
Inglewood (mostly served by area code 310)
*
Ladera Heights
Ladera Heights is a community and unincorporated area in Los Angeles County, California. The population was 6,634 at the 2020 census. Culver City lies to its west, the Baldwin Hills neighborhood to its north, the View Park-Windsor Hills co ...
(also served by area code 310)
*
West Hollywood
West Hollywood is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Incorporated in 1984, it is home to the Sunset Strip. As of the 2020 U.S. Census, its population was 35,757. It is considered one of the most prominent gay villages ...
(also served by area code 310)
*
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...
**
Boyle Heights
Boyle is an English, Irish and Scottish surname of Gaelic, Anglo-Saxon or Norman origin. In the northwest of Ireland it is one of the most common family names. Notable people with the surname include:
Disambiguation
*Adam Boyle (disambiguation), ...
**
Chinatown
**
Crenshaw
**
Downtown
**
Eagle Rock
**
Echo Park
Echo Park is a neighborhood in the east-central region of Los Angeles, California. Located to the northwest of Downtown, it is bordered by Silver Lake to the west and Chinatown to the east. The culturally diverse neighborhood has become known f ...
**
El Sereno
**
Exposition Park
**
Hermon
Mount Hermon ( ar, جبل الشيخ or جبل حرمون / ALA-LC: ''Jabal al-Shaykh'' ("Mountain of the Sheikh") or ''Jabal Haramun''; he, הַר חֶרְמוֹן, ''Har Hermon'') is a mountain cluster constituting the southern end of th ...
**
Highland Park
**
Hollywood
**
Hyde Park
**
Koreatown
A Koreatown ( Korean: 코리아타운), also known as a Little Korea or Little Seoul, is a Korean-dominated ethnic enclave within a city or metropolitan area outside the Korean Peninsula.
History
Koreatowns as an East Asian ethnic enclave have ...
**
Lincoln Heights
**
Los Feliz
LOS, or Los, or LoS may refer to:
Science and technology
* Length of stay, the duration of a single episode of hospitalisation
* Level of service, a measure used by traffic engineers
* Level of significance, a measure of statistical significanc ...
**
South Central
**
Silver Lake
Silver is a chemical element with the Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag (from the Latin ', derived from the Proto-Indo-European wikt:Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/h₂erǵ-, ''h₂erǵ'': "shiny" or "white") and atomic number 47. A soft, whi ...
**
Watts
Watts is plural for ''watt'', the unit of power.
Watts may also refer to:
People
*Watts (surname), list of people with the surname Watts Fictional characters
*Watts, main character in the film '' Some Kind of Wonderful''
*Watts family, six chara ...
**
Westlake
*
Lynwood (mostly served by area code 310)
*
Maywood
*
Montebello
*
Monterey Park (also served by area code 626)
*
Pasadena
Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commercial district.
...
(mostly served by area code 626)
*
Rosemead (mostly served by area code 626)
*
South Gate (small portions served by area codes 562 and 310)
*
South Pasadena (also served by area code 626)
*
Vernon
*
View Park Windsor Hills
*
Walnut Park
*
West Athens (small portion served by area code 310)
*
Westmont
See also
*
List of California area codes
This is a list of area codes in California with service territory and installation dates.
* 209 – Stockton, Modesto, Merced, Turlock; the northern San Joaquin Valley and the central Sierra Nevada range. (Split from 415 on October 26, 1957; s ...
*
List of NANP area codes
References
External links
California Public Utilities Commission's "Report on the 213 Area Code213 Area Code - Southern California323 Area Code - Southern California
{{coord missing, Los Angeles County, California
213 and 323
213 and 323
Los Angeles County, California
Downtown Los Angeles
Central Los Angeles
Eastside Los Angeles
Northeast Los Angeles
South Los Angeles
Telecommunications-related introductions in 1947
Telecommunications-related introductions in 1998