The 214 Area Code in Dallas, Texas Metropolitan Locations

What is the 214 area code?

The 214 area code is the original phone area code for Dallas, Texas.

Its establishment dates back to 1947 when the North American Numbering Plan (NANP) was introduced and covered all of North-East Texas at the time.

The growth of the Dallas metropolitan area’s population and the explosion of telecommunication technology (such as fax machines, cell phones, internet dial-up lines, and alarm systems) eventually led to number exhaustion (running out of available phone lines).

The solution to prevent all 214 phone numbers from being assigned was the formation of the 214, 469, 972, and 945 area code overlay system that covers the Dallas area today.

The purpose of this guide is to provide a comprehensive overview of the 214 area code.

In it, we cover the history of the 214 (splits and overlays), the counties and cities it covers, its phone line prefixes, largest carriers, and other area codes that now also serve the Dallas metropolitan area.

So, without further ado, let’s begin by identifying the geographic territory of the 214 area code, which includes several of Texas’ most populated cities.

Where is Area Code 214 Located?

Area code 214 serves Dallas, TX, and its surrounding areas. It has three overlays (469, 945, and 972) that serve phone line customers in the same region.

214 Area Code Map

214 Area Code Time Zone

The local time zone for the Dallas metropolitan area served by the 214 area code is the Central Time Zone (CST/CDT).

History of the 214 Area Code in Dallas

• On January 1, 1947, 214 went into service as one of Texas’ original four area codes (214, 512, 713, 915), initially covering all of North-East Texas, from just west of Dallas and south to Waco, covering all of the area east to the Arkansas and Louisiana state borders.
• On January 1, 1953, the majority of Tarrant County split away from the 214 region and was merged with a significant portion of the eastern part of area code 915 to create area code 817 (Fort Worth’s main area code).
• On November 4, 1990, the entire eastern portion of the 214 area (northeastern portion of Texas) was split off to form area code 903 (covering Texarkana, Tyler, and Sherman).
• On September 14, 1996, the remaining 214 territory outside Dallas and Dallas County proper was split off to form the 972 area code to prevent exhaustion of the 214 phone lines.
• On July 1, 1999, the 469 area code was created to be used as an overlay, and 972 was converted to be an overlay alongside the 214 area code for the Dallas area region (allowed for multiple area codes in the same geographic region).
  The three-area code overlay plan was intended to be a long-term remedy for phone line exhaustion. Ten-digit phone numbers became a requirement at the time.
• On January 15, 2021, the 945 area code became available, acting as the third overlay in the area code 214 region resulting in four area codes serving Dallas.

What are the area codes for Dallas, Texas?

Dallas Area Code List

• 214
• 972
• 469
• 945

Texas Counties Served by the 214 Area Code

• Collin County
• Dallas County
• Denton County
• Ellis County
• Johnson County
• Kaufman County
• Navarro County
• Rockwall County

City and Towns with 214 Phone Line Coverage

• Addison
• Allen
• Anna
• Arlington
• Avalon
• Bardwell
• Bedford
• Blue Ridge
• Carrollton
• Cedar Hill
• Celina
• Cockrell Hill
• Colleyville
• Combine
• Copeville
• Coppell
• Crandall
• Dallas
• DeSoto
• Duncanville
• Elmo
• Ennis
• Euless
• Farmers Branch
• Farmersville
• Fate
• Ferris
• Flower Mound
• Forney
• Forreston
• Frisco
• Garland
• Glenn Heights
• Grand Prairie
• Grapevine
• Highland Park
• Highland Village
• Hurst
• Hutchins
• Irving
• Italy
• Josephine
• Kaufman
• Lancaster
• Lavon
• Lewisville
• Little Elm
• Lucas
• Maypearl
• McKinney
• Melissa
• Mesquite
• Midlothian
• Milford
• Murphy
• Nevada
• Oak Leaf
• Palmer
• Pecan Hill
• Plano
• Princeton
• Prosper
• Red Oak
• Rice
• Richardson
• Rockwall
• Rosser
• Rowlett
• Royse City
• Sachse
• Scurry
• Seagoville
• Sunnyvale
• Talty
• Terrell
• The Colony
• University Park
• Venus
• Waxahachie
• Westminster
• Weston
• Wilmer
• Wylie

214 Area Code Prefix System

The 214 area code is divided into smaller regions through the use of prefixes, also known as exchanges.

These three-digit prefixes are assigned to specific geographic areas or types of services and allow for the 214 area code to have a total capacity of 7,918,900 phone lines.

Generally, one prefix is assigned to a single telephone carrier responsible for managing the prefix (i.e., porting telephone lines for customers).

Largest Phone Carriers in 214 Area Code

This table details the five largest wireless/landline carriers ranked by the percentage of the 214 local exchange list prefixes each telecommunications service provider is responsible for.

The OCN (Operating Company Number) is the unique company code the National Exchange Carrier Association assigns to the carrier.

Largest telecommunications carriers by the percent of assigned NPA-NXX rate centers for area code 214

Percent of Assigned 214 Prefixes	Phone Carrier	OCN	Carrier Description	Logo
35.28%	Southwestern Bell	9533	Southwestern Bell Telephone Company is a wholly-owned subsidiary of AT&T headquartered in Whiteacre Tower in Dallas, TX.
13.83%	New Cingular Wireless PCS (AT&T Mobility)	6534	New Cingular Wireless PCS is now AT&T Mobility, a wholly-owned subsidiary of AT&T based in Brookhaven, GA (suburb northeast of Atlanta). Largest wireless carrier in the United States
8.50%	MetroPCS	5562	MetroPCS (Metro by T-Mobile) is an American prepaid virtual wireless service provider and brand owned by T-Mobile US. Was the fifth-largest mobile telecommunications network in the United States before its merger
6.35%	Cellco Partnership d/b/a Verizon Wireless	6506	Cellco Partnership is the legal business name of Verizon Wireless.
5.58%	T-Mobile	6529	T-Mobile is the brand name used by some of the mobile communications subsidiaries of the German telecommunications company Deutsche Telekom AG and is the third largest wireless carrier in the United States.

For thoroughness, we have included a complete list of (214) NXX prefixes, including rate center location and operating company details.

In Summary: The 214 Area Code

The 214 area code has a rich history in Dallas, Texas going all the way back to 1947. Originally covering a much wider region, the growth of Dallas and the need for more phone lines led to multiple splits and overlays.

Today, 214, 469, 972, and 945 all serve the Dallas metropolitan area.

The editorial team at Express Legal Funding is confident that you found this a helpful resource and guide about the 214 area code in Dallas.

As a pre-settlement funding company based in Plano, Texas, we have a surplus of relevant hands-on dialing experience calling phone numbers with Dallas area codes (as do many of our clients and their lawyers).