Area codes 215, 267, and 445 are the

North American North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Ca ...

telephone A telephone is a telecommunications device that permits 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 efficiently the human voice, into e ...

area codes for the City of

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

as well as adjacent portions of Bucks and Montgomery counties in the Commonwealth of

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

. The original area code is 215, which was established in 1947, while 267 and 445 are overlay codes for the same numbering plan area (NPA). In 1947, when AT&T established 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 ...

, 215 included the entire southeastern part of the Commonwealth, from the

Delaware Delaware ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Maryland to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and New Jersey and the Atlantic Ocean to its east. The state takes its name from the adjacent Del ...

border to the

Lehigh Valley The Lehigh Valley (), known colloquially as The Valley, is a geographic region formed by the Lehigh River in Lehigh County and Northampton County in eastern Pennsylvania. It is a component valley of the Great Appalachian Valley bound to the no ...

. Pennsylvania was divided into four numbering plan areas, the second most in the Bell System after New York State, a status shared with Illinois, Ohio, and Texas. On January 8, 1994, the western and northern portions of the original 215 territory, ''i.e.'', Philadelphia's western suburbs, most of

Berks County Berks County (Pennsylvania German: ''Barricks Kaundi'') is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 428,849. The county seat is Reading. The Schuylkill River, a tributary of the Delaware River, ...

, and the Lehigh Valley, changed to

area code 610 __NOTOC__ Year 610 ( DCX) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar, the 610th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 610th year of the 1st millennium, th ...

, while Philadelphia and its northern suburbs retained 215. However, three central office codes were moved from 215 to east-central Pennsylvania's 717, namely 267 in

Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

, 484 in Adamstown and 445 in Terre Hill, with 215-267 becoming 717-336 because 717-267 was already in use. These exchanges were originally slated to move into 610, but were served by non-Bell telephone companies which sought to consolidate their eastern Pennsylvania customers into one area code. This was intended as a long-term solution, but within two years 215 was close to exhaustion due to the rapid growth of the Philadelphia area and the proliferation of cell phones and pagers. For relief, area code 267 was established as an overlay on the 215 numbering plan area on July 1, 1997. Local calls across the Delaware/Pennsylvania border were changed to ten-digit dialing. Area code 445 was first proposed in July 2000 as an overlay code on numbering plan areas 215 and 267. However, these plans were delayed and then rescinded in 2003 by the

Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC) is the public utility commission in Pennsylvania. It is composed of five commissioners, appointed by the Governor with the consent of the state Senate. The PUC oversees public utility and services opera ...

. The need for new phone numbers in area codes 215/267 was delayed until 2018. Area code 445 was activated as an additional overlay code on February 3, 2018. This had the effect of assigning 23 million numbers to a service territory of four million people. However, despite Philadelphia's continued growth, 215/267/445 is nowhere near exhaustion. The most recent NANP exhaust projections do not list an exhaust date for the 215/267/445 territory, meaning that Philadelphia may not need a fourth area code until beyond 2050.April 2020 NANP exhaust analysis
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Counties served

image:Philly skyline.jpg, 300px,

was located in the original numbering plan area 215; 267 was added in 1997 and 445 in 2018. The 215/267/445 area codes serve all or part of five counties in Pennsylvania. *

(extreme eastern portion) *

Bucks County Bucks County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 646,538, making it the fourth-most populous county in Pennsylvania. Its county seat is Doylestown. The county is named after the English ...

(all but northeastern portion, which is served by 610/484) * Lehigh County (extreme southern portion) * Montgomery County (northern and eastern area, rest of county served by 610/484) *

Philadelphia County Philadelphia County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is the most populous county in Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, Philadelphia County had a population of 1,603,797. The county is the second smallest county in Pennsyl ...

(all) Places with over 30,000 inhabitants: * Abington * Bensalem *

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

* Cheltenham * Falls * Lower Makefield * Northampton *

Warminster Warminster () is an ancient market town with a nearby garrison, and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in south west Wiltshire, England, on the western edge of Salisbury Plain. The parish had a population of about 17,000 in 2011. The 11th-c ...

References

External links

* List of Pennsylvania area codes
List of exchanges from AreaCodeDownload.com, 215 Area Code
{{DEFAULTSORT:Area Codes 215, 267, and 445 Telecommunications-related introductions in 1947 Telecommunications-related introductions in 1997 215 215 Philadelphia

Counties served

See also

References

External links