Area codes 916 and 279 are telephonearea codes in theNorth American Numbering Plan forSacramento, the state capital of theU.S. state ofCalifornia, and parts of five surrounding counties.
Area code 916 was one of the first three area codes established in California in October 1947, originally assigned to the most northern part, but remapped in 1950 to the northeast. Area code splits have reduced the numbering plan area to the greater Sacramento area.
Area code 279 began service in March 2018 in anoverlay to relieve an exhausting supply ofcentral office codes in 916.
Originally, in 1947, the numbering plan area comprised the far northern portion of the state. In 1950, as part of a realignment of California's area codes, 916 was redrawn to cover the northeastern corner of California, from theSierra Nevada to theCentral Valley. This involved changing Sacramento fromarea code 415 to 916.[citation needed]
In 1958, 916 was reduced in geographic extent with the creation of the newarea code 209 for the southern part includingFresno,Stockton andModesto.
On November 1, 1997, the numbering plan area was reduced to Sacramento and its immediate area in a split in which the northeastern portion, includingRedding,Yreka,Davis, andMount Shasta, receivedarea code 530. Simultaneously,Dixon was reassigned from 916 to 707. This split left 916 as the only one of the original 86 area codes that no longer contains any part of its original area.[1]
In 2017, the CPUC approved anoverlay area code to take effect in 2018, as all available prefixes were expected to be allocated by December 2018.[2] On February 9, 2017, the CPUC announced that the new overlay area code would be area code 279.[3] The new area code began service on March 10, 2018.[4]
The numbering plan area encompasses Sacramento and its surrounding suburbs:
| North:530 | ||
| West:530,707/369 | 279/916 | East:530 |
| South:209/350,925 |
