Area code 978

Area code 978 at a glance

Area code 978 is a geographic area code in Massachusetts, in service since September 1, 1997, according to the North American Numbering Plan Administrator (NANPA). It is an overlay: 978 and 351 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 Lowell, Lawrence, Billerica, Concord, and Peabody. By population, its largest named places are Lowell, Lawrence, Haverhill, Peabody, and Salem.

Where 978 numbers are local

978 holds 16% of the 4,743 central office codes assigned in Massachusetts, the most of any code in the state. 57 Census places could be matched to rate centers with 978 exchanges; the most populous are Lowell (120,000), Lawrence (89,332), Haverhill (68,291), and Peabody (55,418). For a storefront or service area inside 978, the place pages show which prefixes are rated local there.

How calls are dialed in 978

According to NANPA's dialing-plan data, local calls within 978 are dialed as ten digits (area code plus number) and toll calls as 1 plus ten digits. Ten-digit local dialing means the area code is part of how customers save and recognize your number, so print it in full everywhere. NANPA's dialing-plan note for this code reads: "1+10 digit permissible at service provider discretion"

Phone companies in area code 978

30 carriers hold the 773 central office codes assigned in 978. Verizon New England INC. has the most, with 214 (28%). 616 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. Numbers can move between carriers through porting, so a code's holder tells you where the block started, not where every number lives now.

Where 978 numbers are rated

NANPA assigns each central office code to a rate center, the local calling area that decides whether a call is local or toll. 978 has codes in 58 rate centers. The table lists the rate centers with the most codes, with the matching Census place where the abbreviation could be matched.

978 code assignments over time

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). 773 are assigned in 978, 97% of 800. 4 were assigned in 2020 or later.

Using area code 978 for business calls

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.

If you already have a number in area code 978, porting it to Callata is free. Texting from a local number requires a one-time carrier registration (10DLC, $49), and the numbers available in any area code depend on carrier inventory when you choose them.

Optional AI agents (receptionist, sales, support or scheduler) can answer calls after hours or when nobody picks up, take messages, text, email and transfer to your team. They are billed from prepaid AI minutes at $0.25 per minute, identify themselves as AI, and may only place outbound calls to people who consented, between 8am and 9pm.