North State residents in 530 region will get new area code in 2025

North State residents will soon have to remember a second area code to call their neighbors.

The California Public Utilities Commission announced it will assign an 837 area code to some new phone numbers, starting Jan. 31, 2025. That means from that date on, anyone getting a new phone number may find themselves with a new area code, too.

By the second half of 2025, counties covered by the 530 area code will likely run out of prefixes — the first three numbers of a seven-digit phone number. That means the North State will need a second area code to supply enough phone numbers to everyone, according to the commission.

"Customers receiving an 837 area code will be required to dial 1 plus the area code and phone number for all local calls, just as customers with telephone numbers from the 530 area code do today," the commission announced on May 16.

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Unlike the 1997 area code split, when the North State went from a 916 area code ― now exclusively the Sacramento region's area code ― to its current 530 area code, no one will lose their current number because of the addition of the 837 area code, according to the state.

Instead the 837 area code will "overlay" the same region as the 530 area code. They'll coexist, the state reported, and no one with a current 530 telephone number will have to change their area code.

Counties covered by the 837 overlay stretch from counties bordering Sacramento to the Oregon border, including Shasta, Siskiyou, Trinity, Tehama, Lassen and Modoc. The commission reported the overlay will also cover Alpine, Butte, Colusa, El Dorado, Glenn, Humboldt, Mono, Nevada, Placer, Plumas, Sierra, Solano, Sutter, Yolo and Yuba counties.

Jessica Skropanic is a features reporter for the Record Searchlight/USA Today Network. She covers science, arts, social issues and news stories. Follow her on Twitter @RS_JSkropanic and on Facebook. Join Jessica in the Get Out! Nor Cal recreation Facebook group. To support and sustain this work, please subscribe today. Thank you.

This article originally appeared on Redding Record Searchlight: Shasta, Tehama, Siskiyou counties get new 837 area code in 2025