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Washington · District of Columbia

202 Area Code: Washington, D.C., Its 771 Overlay and Dialing Rules

202 is the area code for Washington, D.C., in the United States, on Eastern Time. It covers the District of Columbia and nothing else — the Maryland and Virginia suburbs use different codes. Since November 2021, D.C. has had a second code, 771, for the same area.

By Vedant Vhanyalkar 6 min read

771 2021 202 1947
Jurisdiction
District of Columbia
Time zone
Eastern
Shares area with
771 (since 2021)
Local calls
10 digits
In use since
1947

202 is D.C. — and only D.C.

202 was one of the original area codes of 1947, assigned to the District of Columbia. Its footprint is unusually simple. NANPA's planning letter for the 771 overlay shows the whole District as a single rate center, "Washington Zone 1", with no Maryland or Virginia territory in it. The code ends where the District ends.

That clarity is often lost in the wider Washington area, where local calls have crossed three jurisdictions for decades. In May 1990 The Washington Post reported that from 1 October that year, local calls between the District, Maryland and Virginia would need the area code — calls that had until then been dialed without it — while staying local for billing. D.C. residents kept seven-digit dialing for calls within the District until 2021.

Time zone Eastern Time — EST (UTC−5) in winter, EDT (UTC−4) during daylight saving time

D.C. changes its clocks like the states around it: the Uniform Time Act treats the District as a State for time purposes, and it hasn't opted out of daylight saving time.

"Telephone prefix 202" is not a country code

Searches for 202 often use words like "telephone prefix" or "country code", which suggests many people aren't sure where the code sits in a full international number. The US is in country code 1; 202 comes after it. Egypt's country code, according to the ITU's list of country codes, is 20 — so a number written +20 2… belongs to Egypt, while a Washington number is written +1 202….

Your exit code depends on the country you're calling from; on a mobile phone the + sign works everywhere. Within the US and Canada, drop the exit code and dial 1 + 202 + the number.

How D.C. ran short and got 771

When 202 ran low on prefixes, D.C. chose an overlay rather than a split, and the timetable is well documented:

  1. Aug 2020

    202 in jeopardy

    NANPA began rationing new 202 prefixes to three a month from 3 August 2020, with final jeopardy procedures from 1 September.

  2. Sep 2020

    Overlay ordered, 771 assigned

    The Public Service Commission of the District of Columbia (PSC) approved an all-services overlay in Order No. 20627, Formal Case No. 1165, on 16 September. NANPA assigned 771 and the PSC announced it on 22 September 2020.

  3. Apr 2021

    Ten digits allowed

    From 10 April 2021, D.C. callers could dial local calls with seven or ten digits.

  4. Oct 2021

    Ten digits required

    From 9 October 2021, seven-digit local calls stopped completing.

  5. Nov 2021

    771 in service

    771 prefixes could be activated from 9 November 2021 — but only once 202 prefixes are used up.

That last condition, set out in NANPA's planning letter, means a new D.C. line is still normally issued with 202 while 202 prefixes remain; 771 is the reserve behind it.

The overlay bought a lot of time. NANPA's October 2024 analysis projected the 202/771 area to run out in the second quarter of 2058; its April 2026 analysis pushed that to the third quarter of 2088. Long-range numbering forecasts swing this much, so the useful conclusion is simply that D.C. isn't expected to need a third code soon.

Dialing a D.C. number today

  • Local calls, including 202 to 771: ten digits. Some carriers also accept 1 + ten digits.
  • Long distance: 1 + ten digits. Operator-assisted: 0 + ten digits.
  • Three-digit services: 911, 211, 311, 511 and 811 are unchanged.
  • Nothing got more expensive. The PSC said the overlay changed neither what counts as a local call nor its price.

For organisations with desk phones, the 2021 switch meant seven-digit speed dials, alarm diallers and PBX routing rules had to be updated. Our guide to how area codes affect call routing and dial plans covers what to check. A D.C. number on your screen also isn't proof of a D.C. caller: caller ID can be falsified, which the FCC calls spoofing.

The Maryland and Virginia codes next door

301

Maryland suburbs to the north and east, with overlays 240 and 227. Maryland's PSC made 227 numbers available from 14 June 2023.

703

Northern Virginia across the Potomac, with the 571 overlay.

410

The Baltimore side of Maryland, with overlays 443 and 667.

NANPA's 2020 overlay map labels 301, 410 and 703 around the District; it predates 227 and doesn't show 667. For Dallas, Denver, Phoenix and the East Bay, see the other US area code guides.

Questions

What state is area code 202?

None — 202 belongs to Washington, D.C., which is a federal district rather than a state. It doesn't extend into Maryland or Virginia.

What is area code 771?

A second area code for Washington, D.C., covering exactly the same area as 202. It went into service on 9 November 2021.

Is +202 the code for Egypt?

No. Egypt's country code is +20. A US number in Washington, D.C. is written +1 202 followed by seven digits.

Do I need to dial 202 for a local call inside D.C.?

Yes. Since 9 October 2021 every local call in the District needs all ten digits.

Sources

  1. NANPA — Planning Letter 547: 202/771 all-services overlay, with rate center map (22 October 2020; archived copy)
  2. D.C. PSC — New 771 area code announced (22 September 2020)
  3. D.C. PSC — New dialing procedure for customers with the 202 area code (April 2021)
  4. NANPA — 202 interim jeopardy procedures (3 August 2020; archived copy)
  5. NANPA — 202 final jeopardy procedures (20 August 2020; archived copy)
  6. NANPA — Area code (NPA) database, file dated 16 September 2026
  7. NANPA — 2024-2 NPA exhaust analysis (October 2024; archived copy)
  8. NANPA — 2026-1 NPA exhaust analysis (April 2026)
  9. ITU — List of ITU-T E.164 assigned country codes
  10. Maryland PSC — The new 227 area code arrives 14 June 2023
  11. The Washington Post — More dialing in store for local callers (4 May 1990; archived copy)
  12. 15 U.S.C. 267 — Definition of State for the Uniform Time Act
  13. FCC — Caller ID spoofing

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