253 Area Code: 10 Things You Must Know Today Guide

The 253 area code is a telephone area code serving Tacoma, Washington, and the surrounding communities of Pierce County, including Lakewood, Puyallup, Federal Way, and Auburn.

It was created in 1997 when the original 206 area code split into three separate regions to handle growing demand for phone numbers around Seattle and the South Puget Sound.

Today, 253 is one of the busiest area codes in Washington State, and if you’ve gotten a call from this number or you’re thinking about getting one for your business, you’re in the right place.

I’ve spent a fair bit of time digging into area code history for clients in the Pacific Northwest, and 253 keeps coming up because Tacoma’s economy has been growing fast. So I wanted to put together something more complete than the usual recycled list of cities you find everywhere else.

Where Exactly Is the 253 Area Code Located?

The 253 area code covers the western half of Pierce County and a small slice of southern King County in Washington State.

At the center of it all is Tacoma, the third-largest city in Washington and the county seat of Pierce County. From there, the coverage area stretches out to include several smaller cities and unincorporated communities.

Here’s a quick rundown of the main places you’ll find inside the 253 footprint:

• Tacoma
• Lakewood
• Puyallup
• Federal Way
• Auburn
• University Place
• Sumner
• Parkland
• Spanaway
• Fircrest
• Steilacoom
• South Hill
• Gig Harbor (partial coverage)

A small portion of Lacey, which sits in Thurston County, also falls under 253, which surprises a lot of people who assume area codes always follow county lines cleanly. They don’t, and 253 is a good example of why.

Why Tacoma Got Its Own Area Code

Before 1997, the entire Seattle metro area, Tacoma included, shared one area code: 206.

As cell phones became more common in the mid-90s and businesses needed more phone lines, the Seattle region started running out of available numbers. The North American Numbering Plan Administrator, the organization that manages this stuff nationally, decided to split 206 into three pieces.

Seattle kept 206. The Eastside, places like Bellevue and Redmond, got 425. And the South Sound region, anchored by Tacoma, became 253.

I think this history matters more than people give it credit for. When I’m explaining area codes to clients setting up a local business presence, I always point out that a 253 number isn’t some random assignment. It’s tied to a specific, real regional identity that locals recognize instantly.

What Time Zone Is the 253 Area Code In?

The 253 area code operates in the Pacific Time Zone and observes Daylight Saving Time, same as the rest of Washington State.

So if you’re calling a 253 number from the East Coast, you’re typically three hours ahead. From Central time, it’s two hours, and from Mountain time, it’s one hour.

How Big Is the Population Covered by 253?

This is where a lot of articles online get sloppy, because the numbers floating around vary wildly depending on whether someone is counting the whole Pierce County region, the ZIP codes technically assigned to 253, or just the cities people associate with it.

Based on combined population estimates across the cities and unincorporated areas served, the 253 area code covers somewhere between 900,000 and just over 1 million people, depending on how the overlay boundaries are drawn.

Tacoma alone has a population north of 215,000, making it the anchor city by a wide margin. Federal Way, Lakewood, and Auburn each add well over 60,000 residents on top of that.

Does 253 Have an Overlay Code?

Yes, and this is something most other articles either skip entirely or bury so deep you’d miss it.

Area code 564 is an overlay for 253, meaning it shares the exact same geographic territory rather than covering new ground. The overlay was first introduced back in 2017 to stretch out the supply of available phone numbers as 253 started running low.

In 2025, the 564 overlay expanded further, extending into the 206, 360, and 425 numbering plan areas as well. That expansion is recent enough that a lot of the content already published about area codes in Washington simply doesn’t mention it.

Here’s what that actually means for you if you live or do business in the 253 region:

10-Digit Dialing Is Mandatory

Because of the overlay, every single call within the 253 region now requires 10-digit dialing. That means you dial the area code plus the phone number, even for a call across the street.

This caught a lot of long-time Tacoma residents off guard when it first rolled out, since people were used to dialing just seven digits for local calls. If you forget and only dial seven digits now, the call simply won’t connect.

New Numbers May Come With a 564 Prefix

If you sign up for a brand new phone line in the Tacoma area today, there’s a real chance you’ll be assigned a 564 number instead of 253, purely because 253 numbers are running thin.

Functionally, there’s no difference between the two. A 564 number works exactly like a 253 number for calling, texting, and receiving calls. The only real difference is the area code itself, which some businesses care about for branding reasons since 253 still feels more “local” to people who’ve lived in the area a while.

Is a Call From 253 Safe, or Could It Be a Scam?

I get asked this a lot, so let me be straightforward about it.

A 253 number on its own tells you nothing about whether a call is legitimate. Scammers routinely spoof area codes to make calls look local, which is a tactic specifically designed to get you to pick up.

That said, getting a call from 253 doesn’t mean anything is wrong either. Plenty of legitimate businesses, doctors’ offices, schools, and local government agencies in the Tacoma area use 253 numbers every day.

A few practical signs that a 253 call might not be legitimate:

• The caller asks for personal information like your Social Security number or bank details right away
• There’s pressure to act immediately or threats about legal action
• The number calls repeatedly within a short window, sometimes called robocall patterns
• You don’t recognize the business name when you search the number online

If something feels off, hang up and call the business back directly using a number from their official website rather than the one that called you.

253 Area Code vs. Neighboring Area Codes

People often confuse 253 with the area codes right next door, so I put together a quick comparison to make the differences clearer.

If you’re trying to figure out whether a number is local to Tacoma specifically, 253 is your best indicator, though keep in mind that a 564 number could be just as local now thanks to the overlay.

What Tacoma and the 253 Region Are Known For

Beyond the technical side, I think it’s worth talking about what actually makes this area code’s territory distinct, because the people searching “253 area code” are often curious about more than just phone logistics.

Tacoma sits right on Commencement Bay, and the Port of Tacoma is one of the busiest container ports on the West Coast. That port, combined with Joint Base Lewis-McChord just south of the city, drives a huge chunk of the local economy through logistics, manufacturing, and military-related jobs.

The region is also home to some genuinely underrated attractions. The Museum of Glass downtown is one of the best glass-art museums in the country, largely because Tacoma is the hometown of glass artist Dale Chihuly. Point Defiance Park, one of the largest urban parks in the country, has a zoo, an aquarium, and miles of waterfront trails that I’d put up against most city parks anywhere in the Pacific Northwest.

If you’ve ever driven across the Tacoma Narrows Bridge, you’ve technically crossed into 253 territory, since the bridge connects Tacoma to the Kitsap Peninsula side.

Setting Up a Business Phone Number With a 253 Area Code

If you’re a business owner trying to establish a local presence in Tacoma or the South Sound, getting a 253 number is generally straightforward through most VoIP providers and major carriers, though availability has tightened given the number shortage I mentioned earlier.

A few things worth knowing before you commit:

Local numbers with a 253 area code tend to get answered more often than out-of-area numbers, since people are naturally more comfortable picking up calls that look local. I’ve seen this play out directly with small service businesses, contractors especially, where switching to a local-looking number measurably improved their answer rates.

If 253 numbers aren’t available when you sign up, ask specifically whether you can request one or whether you’ll automatically be assigned a 564 number. Some providers let you choose; others don’t.

Either way, having any local-feeling number tends to outperform a toll-free or random out-of-state number for businesses that depend on local trust, which is most service-based businesses in this region.

---

Final Thoughts

The 253 area code is more than just a string of digits in front of a phone number. It represents a specific, growing region of Washington with its own economy, its own landmarks, and its own quirks, like the overlay system that a surprising number of online resources still haven’t caught up with.

Whether you picked up a call from this area code and wanted to know where it’s from, or you’re setting up a business line and want it to feel genuinely local to Tacoma, hopefully this gave you a clearer picture than the generic rundowns floating around out there.

If you’re looking into getting a 253 or 564 number for your own business, check with a few providers directly, since availability shifts often enough that what’s true this month might not be true next month.