Area code 253 is a telephone area code in the North American Numbering Plan (NANP) for a part of the U.S. state of Washington. The numbering plan area (NPA) includes cities in King County that are situated south of Seattle and the southern Puget Sound area, centered at Tacoma and extending to include the areas around Gig Harbor, Auburn, and Roy. It also serves the western half of Pierce County, as well as southern King County.
The area code commenced service on April 27, 1997, as part of a three-way split of area code 206. The other of the three is area code 425.[1] In the lead-up to the switchover, John Keister, on his television comedy show Almost Live!, lampooned the fact that Renton wanted to join the 425 area code to be associated with the relatively wealthy Eastside, which includes Bellevue.[citation needed]
Area code 253 is slated to participate in the complex overlay plan of area code 564, which has been active only in numbering plan area 360 since 2017,[2][3] when central office code exhaustion demands relief.
- ^ Flash, Cynthia (April 27, 1997). "Welcome, 253 and 425". The News Tribune. p. A1. Retrieved February 3, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ NANPA Planning Letter 492 (June 28, 2016)
- ^ Brown, Andrea (March 23, 2021). "Meet area code 564: The new kid in town is gaining ground". The Everett Herald. Retrieved April 1, 2021.