New Area Code Coming to Jeff City and Columbia

Missouri is getting a new area code, and if you need a new phone number in the Jefferson City and Columbia area you could get a number with the new area code.

The new area code is 235 and it will be joining the current 573 area code which serves much of central and western Missouri including Jefferson City and Columbia. The new area code, according to the Missouri Public Service Commission is an overlay of the current 573 area code.

What this means is, that no one who currently has a phone number in the 573 area code will lose their current number or need to change their area code. It just means that those people establishing new phone service in the 573 area code, may receive a number with the 235 area code instead.

Why the additional area code? the 573 area code is running out of numbers and will be exhausted by the first quarter of 2025. So the Missouri Public Service Commission told The North American Numbering Plan Administrator to proceed with overlaying a new area code serving the same geography as the 573 area code.

Regardless of the area code, the price of phone calls, coverage area, and rates will not change due to the overlay. And a local call is still a local call. What will change is customers in the overlay region will need to dial 10 numbers for local calls.

Specific timing on when the new 235 area code will be introduced is still to be determined but the Missouri Public Service Commission says customers in the 573 area code should start identifying their phone numbers by their 10-digit number (573+7-digit number) when giving their phone numbers to others.

In addition to people in Jefferson City and Columbia cities that will be impacted by the 235 area code overlay include Rolla, Cape Girardeau, Poplar Bluff, Sikeston, Mexico, Hannibal, Camdenton, Waynesville, Farmington, and Caruthersville.