You may have heard that Los Angeles is getting a new area code this year: 738.
It will be an “overlay” around downtown, where 213 and 323 numbers currently get assigned, starting in November, the 12th area code in the region. Expect many to give this new kid on the block a side eye, because, as many Southern Californians know, we rep our area codes hard.
They may just be three numbers, but they're a badge of identity, and say a lot about you.
213? Congrats, you have an OG code and may have lived in L.A. a long time. (Or you just got lucky in the phone store in which case, we salute you). 626? SGV folk, you’re so invested they named a night market after it.
We wanted to know what you thought about your numbers, and you did not disappoint. Here’s what you told us:
The 310
When Alejandra Alarcon was in middle school in L.A. County, she loved to call her friends a lot on the family’s landline. But around that time, she had to make a transition. The 310 region — which mostly covers west L.A. and the South Bay — was overlaid with a 424 area code, so she had to make sure to start dialing her friends with their full numbers. Then it was time to get her first cell phone — and potentially a 424 number — a moment she keenly remembers.
“I was pretty sure that if I were given a 424 number, I would have told the person, ‘please give me 310.’ Thankfully, I didn't have to do that,” she said. “To me, having a 310 phone number is my way of letting people know I don't just live in the South Bay. I am born and raised in the South Bay.”
(The pool of available phone numbers gets added to all the time, so yes, you can ask for a specific area code!)
What’s an overlay?
An overlay is when more than one area code is used for the same geographic region. When an overlay happens, current phone holders still keep their existing area code and phone number, while new phone owners can be assigned the new one.
Alarcon says she doesn’t know why Angelenos are so passionate about their area codes, but it’s akin to feelings about a sports team for her.
When her cousins moved to Mid-City and got a 323 area code, that number change was also symbolic of contrasting experiences.
“There was something about that that signified you live in Los Angeles, but it's a different Los Angeles.”
The string of numbers can represent big things like wealth, environment and culture. It can show an experience that people in other areas might not share, like living in a beach city or up in the desert. But for Alarcon, 310 still shows off her South Bay love better than 424 ever could.
The 818
Danny Duarte proudly has “818 till I die” in his Instagram bio, which is a nod to late comedian Brody Stevens who included the line in his sets.
“I just want people to know where I'm from,” Duarte said. “It’s a way to keep Brody Stevens’ legacy alive because that was his saying and he was from Reseda.”
The 714
Daphne Ruiz, who was born and raised in Anaheim, keenly remembers how it felt to hear Gwen Stefani give a shout-out to Harbor Boulevard in her song “Cool” and it’s part of why Ruiz is so proud of the 714.
“Even though in the media you only see the south side depicted — it means a lot to me that I grew up around Mexican and Vietnamese immigrants. I just feel like there’s so much life in North Orange County, in the 714.”
The 909
Area codes can also indicate where you got your phone. Renée Saldaña, who grew up on the border of the San Gabriel and Pomona valleys, handpicked her code at first because she wanted to fit in.
Saldaña and her sisters got their first cell phones around the time that KROQ’s Kevin and Bean show cracked a lot of jokes about the 909 Inland Empire residents.
“My sisters and I really wanted to disassociate ourselves from being anywhere with the 909, even though our home landline was a 909 number,” Saldaña said. “We wanted people to think that we were from like L.A. or at least like the Pasadena area, which was back then, you know, seemingly a lot cooler than the 909.”
Their solution? Drive far away and get a 626 number. They would only get new phones squarely in places like the San Gabriel Valley, Rowland Heights and the City of Industry. But as she’s gotten older, the drive to look cool has changed.
“I care less about the area codes and what county I'm associated with, ironically,” she said. “I live in Eagle Rock now, but I still have a 626 area code. I do still kind of have a heart for 626. I like keeping that area code.”
The 626
Some codes are far more popular than others. If there were a ranking list of codes, a lot of Southern Californians would go to the mat for 626.
For Brandon Yung, that area code is synonymous with his experience growing up in the San Gabriel Valley.
“It’s something I really identify with,” Yung said. “I had a friend growing up who tattooed 626 on his shoulder and kept it.”
Yung says he’s never changing his phone number, even though he lives in the Bay Area now. “San Gabriel Valley for life. That's what's up.”
The 626 code is an icon in some ways, and Yung says that it’s especially known in Asian communities. It’s slapped on merchandise, there’s the 626 Night Market and a host of other ways those three numbers have been turned into an identity.
But Filbert Aung has a “complicated relationship with claiming 626.” He saw it gain a lot more traction as he got older. When the 626 Night Market first started happening at Santa Anita Park, he remembers feeling good about his home getting representation.
But as it grew in popularity, he began to feel like there was a disconnect between the idea being sold as the 626 and his lived experience.
“Its traction kind of coalesced with this kind of broader online and commercial success, like marketing the 626 as an Asian destination or an Asian mecca,” Aung said.
And marketing isn’t just reaching Angelenos. There’s a 626 Night Market OC now. Aung says it’s like packaging aspects of the 626 — that idea of Asian identity — in the form of a night market and exporting to Orange County.
“I do resonate with it,” Aung says about the area code, “but I think it still prompts the clarification.”
