Area code 206 serves Seattle and its innermost suburbs on central Puget Sound. It is Washington's original 1947 area code, now reduced to the Seattle core and overlaid by 564 since 2025.
The essentialsNumbering data · NumberResearch · as of 2026-09-18
Place
Seattle
Type
geographic
Status
in service
In service since
1947
Projected exhaust
2073 Q2
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 206 is
King County — city of Seattle and immediately adjacent communities on central Puget Sound..
Covers Seattle proper plus a narrow band of inner suburbs; most of King County outside this core is 425 or 253.
B · Relationships
How it relates to other codes
The codes 206 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 · 1957509Eastern Washington (Spokane)Eastern Washington split off from the original statewide 206 in 1957.
Spawned · 1995360Western Washington (outside Seattle metro)Most of western Washington outside the Seattle-Tacoma metro split off as 360.
Spawned · 1997253TacomaTacoma / southern Puget Sound split off in the 1997 three-way split of 206.
Spawned · 1997425Bellevue / Everett (Seattle north & east suburbs)North/Eastside suburbs (Everett, Bellevue, Redmond) split off in the 1997 three-way split of 206.
Overlay · 2025564Western Washington (statewide overlay)564 overlay activated for the 206 numbering plan area on June 10, 2025.
What's changing. Overlaid by 564 since June 10, 2025; ten-digit dialing required.
C · History
How 206 got here
1947
Area code 206 established as one of the original NANP codes, serving the entire state of Washington.
Source: Wikipedia
1957
Eastern Washington split off as area code 509, roughly along the Cascade crest.
Source: Wikipedia
1995
Most territory outside the Seattle-Tacoma metro assigned to new area code 360 (1995-01-15 in the 206 article; other WA articles say 1995-01-01) (UNVERIFIED).
Source: Wikipedia
1997
Three-way split of 206 created 253 (south/Tacoma) and 425 (north/Eastside) (206 article says 1997-04-25; the 253/425 articles say 1997-04-27) (UNVERIFIED).
Source: Wikipedia
2025-06-10
564 overlay placed in service for the 206 numbering plan area.
Source: Wikipedia
D · Capacity
How full it is
Prefixes assigned
769
Prefixes available
31
Thousands-blocks assigned
2,950
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