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Telephone Area Code History
Los Angeles County

Los Angeles County Area Codes (Overlay Codes are in Green) and years they became effective. Los Angeles Almanac Map.


Year Area Code Serving Area
Oct. 1947 213 All of Los Angeles County (and all of the southern third of California)
1957 805 Ventura, Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, Bakersfield, Northern L.A. County (formerly part of 213)
Jan. 7, 1984 818 San Gabriel Valley, San Fernando Valley (formerly part of 213)
Nov. 2, 1991 310 Western, Eastern, & Southern L.A. County (formerly part of 213)
Nov. 14, 1992 909 Riverside, San Bernardino, Eastern San Gabriel Valley (formerly part of 714)
Jan. 25, 1997 562 Eastern L.A. County and Long Beach (formerly part of 310)
June 14, 1997 626 San Gabriel Valley (former 818)
June 13, 1998 323 Area surrounding Central Los Angeles (formerly part of 213)
Feb. 13, 1999 661 Northern L.A. County, including the Santa Clarita and Antelope Valleys (formerly part of 805)
Aug. 26, 2006 424 Overlay for area code 310
May 18, 2009 747 Overlay for area code 818
Feb. 23, 2021 840 Overlay for area code 909
Nov. 1, 2024 738 Overlay for area codes 213 and 323


The former telephone company GTE (merged into Verizon) once inadvertantly published a telephone directory for Sierra Madre listing no home numbers.


In 1958, due to increased consumer demand for individual telephone numbers, the telephone company began phasing out old exchange names for all numeric telephone numbers or "All Number Calling" (pretty much gone by 1963). These old exchange names are remembered in Glenn Miller’s song PEnnsylvania 6-5000 and Elizabeth Taylor’s movie BUtterfield-8.

See our List of Los Angeles County Exchange Numbers gleaned from exchange names collected by the Telephone EXchange Name Project.