Area codes 916 and 279 are California telephone

area codes A telephone numbering plan is a type of numbering scheme used in telecommunication to assign telephone numbers to subscriber telephones or other telephony endpoints. Telephone numbers are the addresses of participants in a telephone network, r ...

that serve

Sacramento ) , image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg , mapsize = 250x200px , map_caption = Location within Sacramento ...

, the state capital, and most of its suburbs. Area code 916 was one of the first three original area codes established in California in October 1947. It originally covered most of Northern California, but area code splits have reduced its coverage to the greater Sacramento area. Area code 279 began service in March 2018 to relieve an exhausted supply of telephone numbers in the 916 area code.

History

Originally, the plan area covered the far northern portion of the state. In 1950, as part of a realignment of California's area codes, 916 was rotated to cover the northeastern corner of California, from the

Sierra Nevada The Sierra Nevada () is a mountain range in the Western United States, between the Central Valley of California and the Great Basin. The vast majority of the range lies in the state of California, although the Carson Range spur lies primar ...

to the Central Valley. This involved changing Sacramento from

area code 415 Area codes 415 and 628 are telephone area codes in the North American Numbering Plan (NANP) for the city of San Francisco and its northern suburbs in Marin County (across the Golden Gate), and the northeast corner of San Mateo County in the U.S. ...

to 916. The numbering plan area was split in a

flash-cut A flash cut, also called a flash cutover, is an immediate change in a complex system, with no phase-in period. In the United States, some telephone area codes were split or overlaid immediately, rather than being phased in with a permissive d ...

on March 1, 1959, when

area code 707 Area code 707 is a telephone area code in the North American Numbering Plan (NANP) for the northwestern part of the U.S. state of California. It was created by a split of area code 415 on March 1, 1959. It serves part of the northern San Francis ...

was created out of the northwest portion. On November 1, 1997, it was split again. The northeastern portion, including Redding,

Yreka Yreka ( ) is the county seat of Siskiyou County, California, United States, near the Shasta River; the city has an area of about , most of it land. As of the 2020 United States Census, the population was 7,807, reflecting a meager increase f ...

and

Mount Shasta Mount Shasta ( Shasta: ''Waka-nunee-Tuki-wuki''; Karuk: ''Úytaahkoo'') is a potentially active volcano at the southern end of the Cascade Range in Siskiyou County, California. At an elevation of , it is the second-highest peak in the Cascad ...

, became

area code 530 Area code 530 is a California telephone area code in northeastern and Northern California. Regions within it include the Sacramento Valley (including some outer suburbs of Sacramento), Shasta Cascade, and the northern Sierra Nevada. Area code 53 ...

, reducing the 916 numbering plan area to Sacramento and its immediate area. On the same day,

Dixon Dixon may refer to: Places International * Dixon Entrance, part of the Inside Passage between Alaska and British Columbia Canada * Dixon, Ontario United States * Dixon, California * Dixon, Illinois * Dixon, Greene County, Indiana * Dixon, In ...

was reassigned from 916 to 707. This split left 916 as the only one of the original 86 area codes that no longer covers any part of its original area. In 2017, the CPUC approved an

overlay area code In telecommunications, an area code overlay complex is a telephone numbering plan that assigns multiple area codes to a geographic numbering plan area (NPA). Area code overlays are implemented in territories of the North American Numbering Pla ...

to take effect in 2018, as all available prefixes were expected to be allocated by December 2018. On February 9, 2017, the CPUC announced that the new overlay area code would be area code 279. The new area code began service on March 10, 2018.916 Area Code
California Public Utilities Commission. Accessed on 2016-08-12.

Towns and cities

Area codes 916 and 279 encompass Sacramento and its surrounding suburbs:

El Dorado County

El Dorado Hills El Dorado Hills (''El Dorado'', Spanish for "The Golden") is an unincorporated town and census-designated place in El Dorado County, California. Located in the Greater Sacramento region of Northern California, it had a population was 50,547 at ...

Placer County

* Granite Bay *

Lincoln Lincoln most commonly refers to: * Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865), the sixteenth president of the United States * Lincoln, England, cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England * Lincoln, Nebraska, the capital of Nebraska, U.S. * Lincol ...

* Loomis *

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area in Australia, named after Newcastle ...

* Penryn * Rocklin * Roseville

Sacramento County

Antelope The term antelope is used to refer to many species of even-toed ruminant that are indigenous to various regions in Africa and Eurasia. Antelope comprise a wastebasket taxon defined as any of numerous Old World grazing and browsing hoofed mamm ...

* Arden-Arcade * Carmichael *

Citrus Heights Citrus Heights is a city in Sacramento County, California. As of the 2020 U.S. Census, the city had a population of 87,583, up from 83,301 at the 2010 U.S. Census. History Citrus Heights voters approved the measure to incorporate the City on No ...

* Elk Grove * Fair Oaks *

Florin The Florentine florin was a gold coin struck from 1252 to 1533 with no significant change in its design or metal content standard during that time. It had 54 grains (3.499 grams, 0.113 troy ounce) of nominally pure or 'fine' gold with a purc ...

Folsom Folsom may refer to: People * Folsom (surname) Places in the United States * Folsom, Perry County, Alabama * Folsom, Randolph County, Alabama * Folsom, California * Folsom, Georgia * Folsom, Louisiana * Folsom, Missouri * Folsom, New Jerse ...

* Foothill Farms * Gold River * Isleton * La Riviera * Locke * McClellan Park * North Highlands * Orangevale * Parkway-South Sacramento *

Rancho Cordova Rancho Cordova is a city in Sacramento County, California, United States which was incorporated in 2003. It is part of the Sacramento Metropolitan Area. The population was 64,776 at the 2010 census. In 2010 and 2019, Rancho Cordova was named ...

* Rancho Murieta * Rio Linda * Rosemont *

Sacramento ) , image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg , mapsize = 250x200px , map_caption = Location within Sacramento ...

Vineyard A vineyard (; also ) is a plantation of grape-bearing vines, grown mainly for winemaking, but also raisins, table grapes and non-alcoholic grape juice. The science, practice and study of vineyard production is known as viticulture. Vineyard ...

* Walnut Grove * Wilton

Sutter County

* Pleasant Grove

Yolo County

* Clarksburg *

West Sacramento West Sacramento (also known as West Sac) is a city in Yolo County, California, United States. The city is separated from Sacramento by the Sacramento River, which also separates Sacramento and Yolo counties. It is a fast-growing community; the ...

References

External links

List of exchanges from AreaCodeDownload.com, 916 Area Code
{{coord, 38.6, -121.5, region:US-CA, display=title

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 ...

Northern California Telecommunications-related introductions in 1947