A Brief History Of Area Codes In Illinois Since 1947

When I was growing up, there were only a handful of area codes for phones in Illinois, but now there are so many that I can't even count them.

The History Of Area Codes In Illinois

It's crazy how far phones have come since I was a kid. Back in the day, most families had one phone line, and it was usually in the kitchen. Nowadays, the majority of homes don't even have a landline anymore. Many people have gone strictly to cellphones.

When I was young, there were only a handful of area codes in the whole state. If you were calling to the same general area of Illinois, you didn't even have to dial the area code first. Now, there are so many area codes that I don't even know all of them anymore.

Jummie

According to All Area Codes...

Illinois currently utilizes 17 area codes.

When first established by AT&T and the Bell System in 1947, 217 covered central Illinois, 312 covered the Chicago metropolitan area, 618 covered southern Illinois including East St. Louis and Carbondale, and 815 covered northern Illinois except Chicago and Quad Cities.

The most recently added was 730 in 2023 as an overlay to 618. Today, 815 is the most populated with an estimated 1.8 million of the state's 12.8 million residents.