One of the original 1947 North American area codes, 205 originally covered the entire state of Alabama and now serves the Birmingham-Tuscaloosa region of central and west-central Alabama. It is overlaid by 659.
The essentialsNumbering data · NumberResearch · as of 2026-09-18
Place
Birmingham
Type
geographic
Status
in service
In service since
1947
Projected exhaust
2066 Q1
Status, dates and counts are read from NumberResearch (NANPA / CNAC / FCC records). Assignment records show initial assignees, not the carrier serving a number today.
A · Where it is
Where 205 is
Central and west-central Alabama; roughly 20 counties..
Communities served wholly or partly by 205:
BirminghamTuscaloosaHooverNorthportJasperBessemerClantonPell City
B · Relationships
How it relates to other codes
The codes 205 was split from, spawned, or shares its area with. A split divides the map and changes some numbers; an overlay shares the same ground and changes none — what's the difference?
Spawned · 1995334Montgomery334 split off from 205 to serve south-central/southeastern Alabama.
Spawned · 1998256Huntsville256 split off from 205 to serve northern and east-central Alabama.
Overlay · 2019659Birmingham (overlay)659 added as an all-services overlay of the entire 205 area.
What's changing. Overlaid by 659 since October 2019; ten-digit dialing required.
C · History
How 205 got here
1947
Established as one of the original NANP area codes, covering the whole state of Alabama.
Source: Wikipedia
1995
Area code 334 split off, removing south-central/southeastern Alabama.
Source: Wikipedia
1998
Area code 256 split off, removing northern and east-central Alabama.
Source: Wikipedia
2019-10
Overlay code 659 introduced; ten-digit dialing became mandatory.
Source: Wikipedia
D · Capacity
How full it is
Prefixes assigned
800
Prefixes available
0
Thousands-blocks assigned
3,656
Prefix-assignment counts describe allocation to carriers, not how many individual numbers are in use. Full technical records: NumberResearch ↗.
Live status, dates, assignment counts and exhaust forecast — data as of 2026-09-18 (CC BY 4.0).
Place, relationships and history above are compiled by North American Numbers from the sources listed and last checked 2026-09-18. A check date is not an expert review — see how this is made. Flag an error.
North American Numbers