State California | ||
 | ||
Cities Sacramento, Roseville, Elk Grove, Folsom, Rancho Cordova | ||
Area code 916 is a California telephone area code that was one of the first three original area codes established in California in October 1947. The state capital, Sacramento, is included in this numbering plan area.
Contents
Originally, the plan area covered the far northern portion of the state. Its boundaries were realigned in 1950, to include the northeastern corner of California, from the Sierra Nevada to the Central Valley. This involved changing Sacramento from area code 415 to 916.
The numbering plan area was split in a flash-cut on October 26, 1957, when area code 209 was created out of the southern portion, including the Central Valley.
On November 1, 1997, it was split again. The northeastern portion, including Redding, Yreka and Mount Shasta, became area code 530. On the same day, Dixon was reassigned from 916 to 707.
Numbering plan area 916 covers only Sacramento and its immediate area. 916 is the only one of the original 86 area codes of 1947 that does not cover any part of its original area; the far northeastern portion of the original 916 area was transferred to 530 in the 1997 split.
The California Public Utilities Commission has begun the process to introduce a new overlay area code in 2018, as all available central office prefixes are expected to be allocated by December 2018. On Thursday, February 9, 2017, the CPUC announced that the new overlay area code will be area code 279.
Towns and cities
Generally, 916 encompasses Sacramento and its surrounding suburbs.