213 Area Code – Time Zone, Location, History & Counties

Area code 213 is located in the Pacific time zone and serves downtown Los Angeles and surrounding areas in California. Established in 1947 as one of the original 86 area codes, it has since been supplemented by overlay codes 323 and 738.

Where is area code 213?

Area code 213 serves part of Los Angeles, CA and the surrounding areas. It has a single overlay (323) that serves the same area.

What time zone is area code 213?

The 213 area code is located in the Pacific timezone (America/Los_Angeles).

History

Creation: Area code 213 was put into service in 1947 and was one of the original 86 area codes, and it originally served southern California including Los Angeles. 213 was split in 1998 creating the need to update some of the phone numbers to area code 323. It was the 1st area code in the state of California. California currently has 41 area codes.

New/recent overlays: Area code 738 was recently added as on overaly to the 213 area code on November 1, 2024.

Middle digit: Until 1953, the middle digit was restricted to either a 0 or a 1 where a zero indicated that the area code covered the entire state while a 1 indicated that the area code served only a portion of a state. Because the middle digit of the 213 area code is 1 and it was created prior to 1953, we can tell area code 213 never served the entire state of California.

Pulses: Because area code 213 was created before the 1960s when touch tone dialing became more common, the number of pulses required on a rotary phone was still important. Area codes that required fewer pulses were faster to dial and were commonly prioritized for more populated areas. The 213 area code requires 2 + 1 + 3 = 6 pulses to dial. The 90 area codes created in the 5 years prior or the 5 years after area code 213 averaged 14.1 pulses indicating 213 was prioritized more than other area codes created about the same time. The 480 currently active area codes require pulses that range from 5 to 29 and average 16.3. Only 1 area code requires fewer pulses (212) than area code 213.