The Public Utility Commission of Texas on Oct. 25 announced an additional area code for the greater Houston area, which is expected to run out of new phone numbers in 2025.
Current area codes for greater Houston are 281, 713, 346, and 832.
Once telecommunications carriers have exhausted all telephone numbers in these area codes, new numbers will be assigned to the new area code 621. This new code is expected to meet numbering needs for an additional nine years.
The addition of the 621 area code will not affect existing phone numbers since multiple area codes currently serve the area, and residents already must dial ten digits for local calls.
The Houston area’s first area code, 713, was created in 1947 as one of the original four numbering plan areas assigned to Texas. Most suburbs were switched to 281 in 1996.
Rapid growth in the following two years required the utility commission to approve the elimination of the boundary between the 713 and 281 area codes and add the 832 area code, creating a three-area code overlay for the combined Houston area. In 2013, the PUCT approved the addition of the 346 area code.
