Area codes 540 and 826 are telephonearea codes in theNorth American Numbering Plan (NANP) for theU.S. State ofVirginia. Areas included are the outer portions ofNorthern Virginia/D.C Area along with areas in or around theShenandoah Valley,Blue Ridge Mountains,New River Valley, and theRoanoke metropolitan area. The Virginia State Corporation Commission authorized the addition of 826 to the numbering plan area for implementation in May 2022.
Area code 540 was established on July 15, 1995, whennumbering plan area 703 was divided. The independent cities ofAlexandria,Fairfax,Falls Church,Manassas, andManassas Park and the counties ofArlington,Fairfax,Loudoun,Prince William along with very small portions ofFauquier andStafford remained in the area code 703, while the rest of the area was reassigned to the area code 540.[1]
Due to the continued growth of telecommunication services in the area, it was necessary to split 540 as well. On September 1, 2001, the farthest western region of Virginia was established as a separate numbering plan area witharea code 276.
The pool of central office codes for the area code was projected to exhaust in 2022. For relief, theVirginia State Corporation Commission approved a plan in June 2020 to add area code 826 to form an all-services overlay, with an in-service date of May 14, 2022. This madeten-digit dialing mandatory in the overlay area.[2]
The numbering plan area includes the communities ofBedford,Berryville,Blacksburg,Buchanan,Buena Vista,Cave Spring,Clifton Forge,Covington,Fincastle,Floyd,Fredericksburg,Front Royal,Greenville,Harrisonburg,Hot Springs,Lexington,Louisa,Luray,Madison,Mineral,Orange,Pulaski,Radford,Roanoke,Rocky Mount,Salem,Staunton,Warrenton,Little Washington,Waynesboro, andWinchester.
It serves the counties ofAlleghany,Augusta,Bath,Botetourt,Clarke,Craig,Culpeper,Fauquier,Floyd,Franklin,Frederick,Giles,Highland,King George,Louisa,Madison,Montgomery,Orange,Page,Pulaski,Rappahannock,Roanoke,Rockingham,Rockbridge,Shenandoah,Spotsylvania,Stafford, andWarren, as well as portions ofBedford County, and a small portion ofAlbemarle County consisting ofAfton andGreenwood that is in aLATA served byVerizon landline service rather thanCenturyLink.It also partially serves westernLoudoun County, whereas most of the county is in the numbering plan area703/571.
| North:304/681 | ||
| West:276,304/681 | 540/826 | East:571/703,240/301,434 |
| South:434,804/686 | ||
| Maryland area codes:301/240/227,410/443/667 | ||
| West Virginia area codes:304/681 | ||