213 Area Code: Los Angeles Location, Cities, 323 & 738 Overlay

Where does the 213 area code cover?

Area code boundaries do not follow city limits, and the CPUC describes this coverage only in general terms, so a listed city may be only partly inside the region. To check a particular neighbourhood, use the CPUC’s official 213/323 area map (PDF).

How do you dial a 213 number?

The 213 region is on Pacific Time: Pacific Standard Time (UTC−8) in winter and Pacific Daylight Time (UTC−7) while daylight saving time is in effect.

A 213 phone number has ten digits — the area code plus a seven-digit number. Dialing it takes one more. The CPUC’s 738 notice tells customers in the region to dial 1 + the ten digits for local calls, including calls between 213, 323 and 738 numbers, and to do the same for long-distance calls.

The area code is always needed because the same seven digits can exist under 213, 323 and 738 at once, belonging to three different customers. Three-digit codes still work as before: 911 and 988, and 211, 311, 411, 511, 611, 711 or 811 where they are available locally.

For businesses, the CPUC advises storing numbers in ten-digit form and checking that auto-diallers, PBXs, alarm and security systems, fax machines and call-forwarding settings accept 738 as a valid area code. How area codes affect call handling more broadly is covered in our guide to area codes and call routing.

Los Angeles is not the only California region where a 1990s boundary was later erased. San Diego's 619 and 858 were split in 1999 and recombined into one overlay area in 2018; the 619 area code guide covers that decision.

Can you still get a 213 number?

Yes, but you cannot choose it. A new line anywhere in the region may be issued as 213, 323 or 738, and which one arrives depends on the prefixes a carrier still holds rather than on the address. The 2017 decision that removed the 213/323 boundary is what makes that possible: before it, 213 was confined to central Los Angeles.

The region is not close to running out. NANPA's April 2026 exhaust analysis projects the combined 213/323/738 area to run out of prefixes in 2042 — far enough away that a fourth code is not being planned, close enough that 738 will keep taking a growing share of new numbers.

That share is the part worth knowing if a 213 number matters to you commercially. Every year, more of the region's new lines come from 738, and no amount of asking changes which prefix block a carrier draws from.

Does a 213 number show where a caller is?

Not on its own. If a displayed 213 number is genuine, it tells you the number was assigned from this Los Angeles region. It does not tell you where the caller is, and it does not prove the number is theirs.

• Numbers move with people. A mobile number keeps its area code when its owner travels or relocates, and some internet-based phone services let businesses outside Los Angeles use a 213 number.
• Caller ID can be faked. The FCC calls this spoofing. In “neighbor spoofing”, the FTC notes, scammers often match the first six digits of your own phone number so the call looks local.
• Intent is what the law targets. Under the Truth in Caller ID Act, FCC rules prohibit transmitting misleading or inaccurate caller ID information “with the intent to defraud, cause harm or wrongly obtain anything of value”. Displaying a number you are legitimately assigned is not the same as spoofing.

What to do with an unexpected call, based on FCC and FTC advice:

• Treat the area code as a label, not proof of who is calling or where they are.
• Hang up if the caller asks for money, personal details or payment by gift card.
• Don’t press a number to “opt out” of a robocall — the FTC says it can lead to more calls.

If you place business calls, our guide to CLI vs NCLI routes explains how caller ID is carried — or withheld — across carrier networks.

Why 213 numbers get spam labels

Spoofing is one half of the problem. The other is scoring: terminating networks and handset features rate inbound calls and attach warning labels, and the inputs are behavioural rather than geographic — call duration, how many calls come from one number, how few are answered.

A Los Angeles number is an attractive one to dial from, which is exactly why 213, 323 and 738 numbers accumulate that profile quickly. Two things follow for a business calling out from one. A label attached to a number does not clear when you change supplier, and rotating to a fresh number restarts the same process rather than solving it.

The mechanics sit on the route rather than in the dial plan: whether the calling number survives the carriers between you and the handset, and how the call is scored when it arrives. Our guide to buying USA CC routes covers both for outbound campaigns into US numbers.

A short history of 213

1. 1947

   One of California's original area codes

   213 was one of the three original area codes created in California in 1947 and, according to the CPUC, first covered the entire southern portion of the state.

2. 1998

   323 created from 213

   323 was created from 213 in 1998. A 2001 CPUC report describes 213 as covering only three rate centres in central Los Angeles by then.

3. 2017

   Boundary with 323 removed

   The CPUC approved eliminating the boundary between 213 and 323, so both codes serve one combined region.

4. 2024

   738 added

   Approved on 16 March 2023 and in service from 1 November 2024, covering the same region as 213 and 323.

213 area code FAQ

Sources

• CPUC — 213/323/738 area codes
• CPUC — 213/323 area map (PDF)
• CPUC — New 738 area code coming to the 213/323 region (1 March 2024)
• CPUC — CPUC provides more numbers for 213/323 area code (16 March 2023)
• CPUC — Report on the 213 area code (10 October 2001)
• FCC — Caller ID spoofing
• FTC — How to block unwanted calls