Area code 540

Where area code 540 is

540 is one of 10 geographic area codes serving Virginia; NANPA records its in-service date as July 15, 1995. It is an overlay: 540 and 826 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 Roanoke, Fredericksburg, Harrisonburg, Winchester, and Culpeper. By population, its largest named places are Roanoke, Harrisonburg, Blacksburg, Fredericksburg, and Winchester.

Where 540 numbers are local

540 holds 16% of the 4,898 central office codes assigned in Virginia, the most of any code in the state. 59 Census places could be matched to rate centers with 540 exchanges; the most populous are Roanoke (97,912), Harrisonburg (51,164), Blacksburg (45,452), and Fredericksburg (29,992). Each place page lists the exact prefixes and carriers for that town.

Ten-digit and seven-digit dialing in 540

According to NANPA's dialing-plan data, local calls within 540 are dialed as ten digits (area code plus number) and toll calls as 1 plus ten digits. Because local calls need the area code, business cards, signage and website copy should always show the full ten-digit number. NANPA's dialing-plan note for this code reads: "1+10 digit permissible at each service provider discretion"

Who holds 540 exchanges

54 carriers hold the 786 central office codes assigned in 540. Verizon Virginia, INC. has the most, with 155 (20%). 628 of the codes (80%) 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 540

NANPA assigns each central office code to a rate center, the local calling area that decides whether a call is local or toll. 540 has codes in 117 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 540

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). 786 are assigned in 540, 98% of 800. 64 were assigned in 2020 or later.

Getting a 540 number for your business

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 540 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.

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