Area code 516


Area code 516 is a telephone area code of the North American Numbering Plan in the U.S. state of New York. The numbering plan area comprises the Nassau County portion of Long Island.

History

When the North American Numbering Plan was established by AT&T in October 1947, Nassau and Suffolk counties, the lower Hudson Valley, and some areas adjacent were assigned area code 914. In 1951, Nassau and Suffolk were designated as a separate numbering plan area with area code 516.
Despite Long Island's growth in both population and telephone service during the second half of the 20th century, this configuration remained for five decades. By the late 1990s, the proliferation of pagers and cellphones required further division to provide more telephone numbers for Long Island. On November 1, 1999, Suffolk was separated as a new numbering plan area with area code 631, while Nassau retained 516. Permissive dialing of 516 across Long Island continued until spring 2000.

Exhaust projection

A 2018 NANP analysis of numbering resources projects exhaustion of NPA 516 during the fourth quarter of 2023, but the results have since varied between 2024 and 2025.