Area code 502

About area code 502

NANPA lists 502 as an in-service geographic area code for Kentucky, first put into service on January 1, 1947. It is an overlay: 502 and 761 cover the same territory, so neighbors on the same street can have different area codes. It is in the Eastern time zone. The places with the most assigned exchanges include Louisville/Jefferson County, Frankfort, Bardstown, La Grange, and Shelbyville. By population, its largest named places are Louisville/Jefferson County, Georgetown, Frankfort, Mount Washington, and Shelbyville.

Places served by 502

502 holds 26% of the 2,778 central office codes assigned in Kentucky, the 2nd most of the state's 5 codes. 24 Census places could be matched to rate centers with 502 exchanges; the most populous are Louisville/Jefferson County (641,000), Georgetown (40,518), Frankfort (28,610), and Mount Washington (18,863). Each place page lists the exact prefixes and carriers for that town.

Ten-digit and seven-digit dialing in 502

According to NANPA's dialing-plan data, local calls within 502 are dialed as seven digits and toll calls as 1 plus ten digits. Seven-digit local dialing is still permitted here, but customers calling from other area codes, and every mobile contact list, use all ten digits.

Who holds 502 exchanges

52 carriers hold the 735 central office codes assigned in 502. Bellsouth Telecomm INC d/b/a South Central Bell Tel has the most, with 191 (26%). 508 of the codes (69%) are pooled, meaning the code holder shares blocks of 1,000 numbers with other carriers instead of using all 10,000 itself. The code holder is not necessarily the carrier serving a given number today, since numbers can be ported between providers.

Local calling areas in 502

NANPA assigns each central office code to a rate center, the local calling area that decides whether a call is local or toll. 502 has codes in 36 rate centers. Rate center names in the file are abbreviations; where one matches a Census place, the table links to that city's local-number page.

Number supply in 502

An area code has 800 possible central office codes that start with 2 through 9, a few of which are reserved (such as N11 service codes and 555). 735 are assigned in 502, 92% of 800. 123 were assigned in 2020 or later. NANPA reports relief planning in progress for 502, the process used to add a new area code when one is projected to run out of codes.

A local 502 number on Callata

For $99 a month, Callata puts a team of up to 5 on one plan ($20 for each person after that): up to 3 local numbers, unlimited inbound calls, a pooled allowance of 1,500 outbound US and Canada minutes per user, browser and cell calling, voicemail transcription with urgency triage, recorded calls with AI summaries and business-hours routing, with E911 on every number.

Porting a number you already use in area code 502 is free, and business texting is available once the carrier registration (10DLC) is approved; the registration carries a one-time $49 fee. Which specific numbers are open in a given area code depends on carrier inventory at the time you sign up.

AI agents are optional: an AI receptionist or scheduler can pick up when the team is busy or closed, take a message, send a text or email, or transfer the call. They draw on prepaid AI minutes ($0.25/minute), disclose that they are AI, and outbound AI calls require prior consent and are limited to 8am–9pm.