609 Area Code – Time Zone, Location, History & Cities

Area code 609 is located in the Eastern time zone and covers New Jersey, including major cities such as Trenton, Atlantic City, and Pleasantville. Established in 1957, it was later split in 1999 to create area code 856 and received the 640 overlay in 2018 to relieve number pressure.

Where is area code 609?

Area code 609 is located in New Jersey and covers Trenton, Atlantic City, and Pleasantville. It has a single overlay (640) that serves the same area.

What time zone is area code 609?

The 609 area code is located in the Eastern timezone (America/New_York).

History

Creation: Area code 609 was put into service in 1957 and was the 104th area code in service. It was one of 10 area codes introduced in 1957. 609 was split in 1999 creating the need to update some of the phone numbers to area code 856. In 2018, area code 640 was created and is currently an overlay to 609. It was the 2nd area code in the state of New Jersey. New Jersey currently has 10 area codes. It was created to relieve the pressure on the 201 area code as the numbers in 201 were being exhausted.

Pulses: Because area code 609 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 609 area code requires 6 + 10 + 9 = 25 pulses to dial. The 28 area codes created in the 5 years prior or the 5 years after area code 609 averaged 20.6 pulses indicating 609 was prioritized less 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 13 area codes require more pulses than area code 609.