Area code 662

Area code 662 is a telephone area code in the North American Numbering Plan (NANP) for the northern half of the U.S. state of Mississippi, including the six counties (Benton, Coahoma, Desoto, Marshall, Tate and Tunica) that are part of the Memphis metro area. It also includes the cities that are home to the state's two largest universities, Oxford (University of Mississippi or "Ole Miss") and Starkville (Mississippi State University).

Area code 662 was created in 1999 in a split of area code 601, Mississippi's original area code created in 1947 as one of the original North American area codes. It was created in large part due to explosive growth on the Mississippi side of the Memphis area.

Prior to October 2021, area code 662 had telephone numbers assigned for the central office code 988. In 2020, 988 was designated nationwide as a dialing code for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, which created a conflict for exchanges that permit seven-digit dialing. This area code was therefore scheduled to transition to ten-digit dialing by October 24, 2021.^[1]

In 2023, the NANP Administrator projected that northern Mississippi will approach exhaustion of central office prefixes in 662 and require relief action by early 2026.^[2] An overlay complex with area code 471 was approved, although the implementation has yet to be determined.^[3] Blues guitarist Christone "Kingfish" Ingram, who is from Clarksdale, named his second album and its title track "662" after his home area code.^[4]