516
Area code
NY
United States geographic area code, in service since 1951-01-01. Part of the 363/516 overlay complex — ten-digit dialing required.
Split from 914. Created 631. Created 363. Overlaid with 363 .
Statusin service
Introduced1951-01-01
JurisdictionNY, US
Local dialing10D
Time zoneEastern
Last verified2026-09-17
Utilization 100.9% of assignable prefixes assigned
As of 09/17/2026
0%799 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 2001-01-03, most recent 2026-08-11.
Area codes serve rate-center geographies, not municipal boundaries. “NY” identifies the jurisdiction, not an exact city footprint.
Top assignees
Ranked by assigned prefixes · initial assignee ≠ current carrier| Rank | Assignee | Prefixes | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | VERIZON NEW YORK, INC. | 210 | 26.3% |
| 02 | OMNIPOINT COMMUNICATIONS, INC. - NY | 95 | 11.9% |
| 03 | NEW CINGULAR WIRELESS PCS, LLC - DC | 88 | 11% |
| 04 | CELLCO PARTNERSHIP DBA VERIZON WIRELESS - NY | 78 | 9.8% |
| 05 | ONVOY, LLC- NY | 42 | 5.3% |
| 06 | MCIMETRO ACCESS TRANSMISSION SERVICES LLC - NY | 39 | 4.9% |
| 07 | CABLEVISION LIGHTPATH, INC. - NY | 39 | 4.9% |
| 08 | SPOK, INC. | 28 | 3.5% |
| 09 | BANDWIDTH.COM CLEC, LLC - NY | 28 | 3.5% |
| 10 | METROPCS, INC. | 22 | 2.8% |
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- 2022-02-17 NPA 363 to Overlay NPA 516 (New York)
- 1951-01-01Area code 516 entered service (created from 914).
Planning letters & orders
Primary documents| Date | Document | Subject |
|---|---|---|
| 2022-02-17 | PL-581 ↗ | NPA 363 to Overlay NPA 516 (New York) |
| 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 |
| 2001-09-11 | PL-300 ↗ | Extended Permissive Dialing Ends for 516/631 NPAs (New York) |
| 1999-07-22 | PL-184 ↗ | Geographic Split of 516 (New York) Numbering Plan Area (NPA); addition of 631 NPA |