Area code 562 is a

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 ...

telephone A telephone, colloquially referred to as a phone, is a telecommunications device that enables two or more users to conduct a conversation when they are too far apart to be easily heard directly. A telephone converts sound, typically and most ...

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 ...

that was split from area code 310 on January 25, 1997. It is the area code for much of southeastern

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 ...

, including

Long Beach Long Beach is a coastal city in southeastern Los Angeles County, California, United States. It is the list of United States cities by population, 44th-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 451,307 as of 2022. A charter ci ...

, and parts of northern Orange County.

History

Prior to November 2, 1991, this region had been part of area code 213. On that date, most of the western and southern portions of the old 213 region became area code 310. On January 25, 1997, the southern portion of the old 310 territory split again to become the 562 area code. 562 was originally meant to be an overlay code exclusively for cellular telephones and pagers for existing 310 area code customers in late 1995. However, the overlay (and all others in CA since 2008) was cancelled after cellular companies sued the California Public Utilities Commission to prevent a repeat of a similar split in New York City, where all 212 & 718 mobile customers were changed over to a new 917 NPA. Cellular technology was relatively new, and the industry argued that separate area codes for cellular customers created a stigma and would hurt sales as people wanted their home and cell phone numbers to be in the same area code. After years in court, the CPUC sided with the cellular industry, and so plans were made to split 310 instead. Prior to October 2021, area code 562 had telephone numbers assigned for the central office code 988. In 2020, ''988'' was designated nationwide as a dialing code for the

National Suicide Prevention Lifeline The Suicide and Crisis Lifeline in the United States, or Suicide Crisis Helpline in Canada, and formerly known as the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, is a suicide prevention and crisis help line to a network of a large number of crisis ce ...

, which created a conflict for exchanges that permit seven-digit dialing. This area code was therefore scheduled to transition to

ten-digit dialing Ten-digit dialing is a telephone dialing procedure in the countries and territories of the North American Numbering Plan (NANP). It is the practice of including the area code of a telephone number when Dialling (telephony), dialing to initiate a t ...

by October 24, 2021.

County anomaly

All of this area code is in

except for the cities of Seal Beach and Los Alamitos, which are in the very northwest corner of the Orange County coastline, portions of the city of La Habra, and the very small and northwest part of the city of Brea in the very northwest corner of inland Orange County. These exceptions exist because, at the time of 310's creation,

Pacific Bell The Pacific Bell Telephone Company (Pac Bell) is a telephone company that provides telephone service in California. The company is owned by AT&T through AT&T Teleholdings, and, though separate, is now marketed as “AT&T”. The company has ...

(now part of AT&T Inc.) was the primary telephone company for most of Southern California, whereas this region's primary telephone company was

GTE GTE Corporation, formerly General Telephone & Electronics Corporation (1955–1982), was the largest independent telephone company in the United States during the days of the Bell System. The company operated from 1926, with roots tracing furth ...

(later

Verizon Verizon Communications Inc. ( ), is an American telecommunications company headquartered in New York City. It is the world's second-largest telecommunications company by revenue and its mobile network is the largest wireless carrier in the ...

and now part of

Frontier A frontier is a political and geographical term referring to areas near or beyond a boundary. Australia The term "frontier" was frequently used in colonial Australia in the meaning of country that borders the unknown or uncivilised, th ...

). In fact, when 310 was carved out of the southern portion of the old 213 territory, Pacific Bell chose to move all of GTE's area code 213 exchanges into the 310 area code. As the primary telephone provider in Southern California, Pac Bell had the right to decide what exchanges stayed in 213.

Service area

Los Angeles County

* Artesia * Bell Gardens (also in the 213/323 area code) * Bellflower * Cerritos (small portion in the 657/714 area code) *

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 ...

(mostly in the 213/323 area code) * Downey * East Whittier * Hacienda Heights (mostly in the 626 area code) * Hawaiian Gardens *

Industry Industry may refer to: Economics * Industry (economics), a generally categorized branch of economic activity * Industry (manufacturing), a specific branch of economic activity, typically in factories with machinery * The wider industrial sector ...

(mostly in the 626 area code and small portion in the 840/909 area code) * La Habra Heights * La Mirada (small portion in the 657/714 area code) * Lakewood *

* Norwalk *

Paramount Paramount (from the word ''paramount'' meaning "above all others") may refer to: Entertainment and music companies * Paramount Global, also known simply as Paramount, an American mass media company formerly known as ViacomCBS. **Paramount Picture ...

* Pico Rivera * Rowland Heights (mostly in the 626 and 840/909 area codes) *

Santa Fe Springs Santa Fe Springs (''Santa Fe'', Spanish for "Holy Faith") is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. It is one of the Gateway Cities of southeast Los Angeles County. The population was 19,219 at the 2020 census, up from 16,22 ...

* Signal Hill * South Gate (mostly in the 213/323 area code and small portion in the 310/424 area code) * South Whittier * West Whittier-Los Nietos * Whittier

Orange County

* Brea (mostly in the 657/714 area code) * Buena Park (mostly in the 657/714 area code) *

Cypress Cypress is a common name for various coniferous trees or shrubs from the ''Cupressus'' genus of the '' Cupressaceae'' family, typically found in temperate climates and subtropical regions of Asia, Europe, and North America. The word ''cypress'' ...

(mostly in the 657/714 area code) * Fullerton (mostly in the 657/714 area code) * Huntington Beach (mostly in the 657/714 area code; only the Sunset Beach neighborhood is in the 562 area code) * La Habra (small portion in the 657/714 area code) *

La Palma La Palma (, ), also known as ''La isla bonita'' () and historically San Miguel de La Palma, is the most northwesterly island of the Canary Islands, a Spanish autonomous community and archipelago in Macaronesia in the North Atlantic Ocean. La Pa ...

(mostly in the 657/714 area code) * Los Alamitos (small portion in the 657/714 area code) * Rossmoor * Seal Beach

References

External links

North American Numbering Plan AdministrationSouthern California area code map

Area 562 Directory
{{coord, 33.9, -118.1, region:US-CA, display=title 562 Los Angeles County, California Orange County, California Cerritos, California Lakewood, California Long Beach, California Norwalk, California Pico Rivera, California Telecommunications-related introductions in 1997 1997 in California 562