Area codes 213, 323, and 738 are telephone

area code 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, rea ...

s in the

North American Numbering Plan The North American Numbering Plan (NANP) is an integrated 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, World Numbering Zone ...

(NANP) for the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. They are assigned in an

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

to a numbering plan area (NPA) that comprises, roughly, the area of downtown Los Angeles City, as well as several southeast

Los Angeles County Los Angeles County, officially the County of Los Angeles and sometimes abbreviated as LA County, is the most populous county in the United States, with 9,663,345 residents estimated in 2023. Its population is greater than that of 40 individua ...

cities, such as

Bell A bell /ˈbɛl/ () 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 m ...

and Huntington Park. Area code 213 was one of the

original North American area codes The original North American area codes were established by the American Telephone and Telegraph Company (AT&T) in 1947. The assignment was in accord with the design of a uniform nationwide telephone numbering plan that supported the goal of dialin ...

of 1947 and 323 was created in an

area code split In telecommunications, an area code split is the practice of introducing a new telephone area code by geographically dividing an existing numbering plan area (NPA), and assigning area codes to the resulting divisions, but retaining the existing a ...

of 213 in 1998. This was the fifth split of 213 and left it serving only downtown Los Angeles and immediately adjoining neighborhoods. In 2017, the two NPAs were recombined in the overlay. Area code 738 was selected as an additional overlay area code, activated in November 2024.

History

In 1947, when the

American Telephone and Telegraph Company AT&T Corporation, an abbreviation for its former name, the American Telephone and Telegraph Company, was an American telecommunications company that provided voice, video, data, and Internet telecommunications and professional services to busi ...

(AT&T) devised the first nationwide

telephone numbering plan 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, reach ...

and assigned the

, the state of California was divided into three numbering plan areas: 213, 415, and 916, for the southern, central, and northern parts of the state, respectively. The area served by 213 extended from the Mexican border 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 Bakersfield is a city in and the county seat of Kern County, California, United States. The city covers about near the southern end of the San Joaquin Valley, which is located in the Central Valley region. Bakersfield's population as of the ...

, 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 coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

and most of Orange County, were assigned area code 714. In 1957, 213 was restricted to

, with most of the northern and western portions receiving

area code 805 Area codes 805 and 820 are telephone area codes in the North American Numbering Plan (NANP) for the U.S. state of California. The numbering plan area (NPA) includes most or all of the counties of San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Ventura, and the ...

. This configuration was stable for almost three decades, until 1984, when the

San Fernando Valley The San Fernando Valley, known locally as the Valley, is an urbanized valley in Los Angeles County, Los Angeles County, California. Situated to the north of the Los Angeles Basin, it comprises a large portion of Los Angeles, the Municipal corpo ...

and the

San Gabriel Valley The San Gabriel Valley (), sometimes referred to by its initials as SGV, is one of the principal valleys of Southern California, with the city of Los Angeles directly bordering it to the west and occupying the vast majority of the southeastern ...

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, United States. The residential and commercial neighborhood is divided by the Interstate 405 freeway, and each side is sometimes treated as a distinct neighborhood, mapped ...

and the South Bay were assigned area code 310. On June 13, 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'' (Bell/Vernon/South Gate), ''8'' (South Central/South LA), ''9'' (South LA/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 Downtown Los Angeles (DTLA) is the central business district of the city of Los Angeles. It is part of the Central Los Angeles region and covers a area. As of 2020, it contains over 500,000 jobs and has a population of roughly 85,000 residents ...

and its immediately adjoining neighborhoods, such as

Chinatown Chinatown ( zh, t=唐人街) is the catch-all name for an ethnic enclave of Chinese people located outside Greater China, most often in an urban setting. Areas known as "Chinatown" exist throughout the world, including Europe, Asia, Africa, O ...

. Completely surrounding 213, 323 included most of the remainder of central Los Angeles, including Hollywood, as well as several neighboring cities, including

, Huntington Park and Montebello.

Since 2017: Overlays

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 approved a plan that erased the boundaries between both area codes, converting the area to an

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 have been required to dial the area code for all calls. This change returned 213 to some areas that had used it for more than half a century prior to 1998. Even so, within five years of the boundary elimination, it was determined that further relief would be required for 213/323. Based on exhaustion studies of the numbering plan area, the California Public Utilities Commission approved an additional all-services overlay code on March 16, 2023, by selecting area code 738 with an in-service date of November 1, 2024.

Service area

Cities and communities in the overlay complex include: *

Alhambra The Alhambra (, ; ) is a palace and fortress complex located in Granada, Spain. It is one of the most famous monuments of Islamic architecture and one of the best-preserved palaces of the historic Muslim world, Islamic world. Additionally, the ...

(mostly served by

area code 626 Area code 626 is a telephone area code in the North American Numbering Plan (NANP) for most of the San Gabriel Valley in the U.S. state of California. The numbering plan area (NPA) also comprises nearby areas in the northeastern portion of Los A ...

) *

* Bell Gardens (also served by area code 562) *

Beverly Hills Beverly Hills is a city located in Los Angeles County, California, United States. A notable and historic suburb of Los Angeles, it is located just southwest of the Hollywood Hills, approximately northwest of downtown Los Angeles. Beverly Hil ...

(mostly served by area code 310) * City Terrace *

Commerce Commerce is the organized Complex system, system of activities, functions, procedures and institutions that directly or indirectly contribute to the smooth, unhindered large-scale exchange (distribution through Financial transaction, transactiona ...

(small portion in area code 562) * Cudahy *

East Los Angeles East Los Angeles (), or East L.A., is an unincorporated community and census designated place (CDP) situated within Los Angeles County, California, United States. According to the United States Census Bureau, East Los Angeles is designated as ...

Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...

* Florence-Graham * Hawthorne (mostly served by area code 310) * Huntington Park * Inglewood (mostly served by area code 310) * Ladera Heights (also served by area code 310) *

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, including the downtown area. * Lynwood (mostly served by area code 310) * Maywood * Montebello * Monterey Park (also served by area code 626) * Pasadena (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) * West Hollywood (also served by area code 310) * Westmont

References

External links