509
Area code

WA

United States geographic area code, in service since 1957-01-01. NANPA has flagged this area code for relief planning.

Statusin service
Introduced1957-01-01
JurisdictionWA, US
Local dialing10D
Time zonePacific
ReliefPlanning
Last verified2026-09-17
Utilization 98.2% of assignable prefixes assigned As of 09/17/2026
0%778 of ~792 assignable NXX values (200–999 excl. N11)100%

Prefix-level assignment does not equal number-level exhaustion; thousands-block pooling extends capacity. First assignment on record 2001-01-26, most recent 2026-08-28.

Relief planning is under way for area code 509. No planning letter has been issued yet for this cycle — this page will be updated the day one is published. Subscribe to the change-event feed to be notified.

Area codes serve rate-center geographies, not municipal boundaries. “WA” identifies the jurisdiction, not an exact city footprint.

Top assignees

Ranked by assigned prefixes · initial assignee ≠ current carrier
Largest initial assignees in area code 509
RankAssigneePrefixesShare
01 QWEST CORPORATION 132 17%
02 NEW CINGULAR WIRELESS PCS, LLC 77 9.9%
03 ZIPLY FIBER NORTHWEST, LLC DBA ZIPLY FIBER 69 8.9%
04 ONVOY, LLC - WA 66 8.5%
05 T-MOBILE USA, INC. 63 8.1%
06 CELLCO PARTNERSHIP DBA VERIZON WIRELESS - WA 59 7.6%
07 CENTURYTEL OF WASHINGTON, INC. DBA CENTURYLINK 37 4.8%
08 LEVEL 3 COMMUNICATIONS, LLC - WA 32 4.1%
09 UNITED TELEPHONE - NORTHWEST DBA CENTURYLINK - WA 29 3.7%
10 MCIMETRO ACCESS TRANSMISSION SERVICES LLC 21 2.7%

Important: these are initial assignees from NANPA CO-code records — the carrier a prefix was originally assigned to. Because of number portability, the current serving carrier of any individual number may differ.

Change history

Recorded events for this NPA
  • 1957-01-01Area code 509 entered service.

Planning letters & orders

Primary documents
NANPA planning letters for area code 509
DateDocumentSubject
2021-01-08 PL-556 ↗ Transition to 10-digit dialing (for 988 as 3-digit access to National Suicide Prevention Lifeline) – supersedes PL-544
2020-08-17 PL-544 ↗ Transition to 10-digit dialing (for 988 as 3-digit access to National Suicide Prevention Hotline

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