Area code 216

Area code 216 is the telephone area code in the North American Numbering Plan (NANP) for the city of Cleveland and most of its inner-ring suburbs in Cuyahoga County of the U.S. state of Ohio. The area code is one of the original North American area codes established in 1947.

The first nationwide telephone numbering plan of 1947 divided telecommunications services in Ohio into four numbering plan areas (NPAs), one for each quadrant of the state. Area code 216 was assigned to the northeastern part, comprising the area from Lorain to Youngstown.

In 1996, the southern portion, including Akron, Canton, and Youngstown, received area code 330, while the eastern and western portions were assigned area code 440 in 1997. The boundary between 216 and 440 was drawn in such a way that 440 is barely contiguous; the two portions of 440 are only joined by a small section in the south.

Despite comprising a major urban area, 216 has not been overlaid with a second area code (the only area in Ohio where such is the case). Based on projections of 2022, such will not be needed until around 2038.^[1]