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Before You Call Back

Area code 503

Area code 503 serves Oregon, including Portland, Beaverton and Salem (Pacific time). It has been in service since January 1, 1947 and shares its area with 971.

Numbers starting with 503 drew 1,105 reports to the FTC from Aug 14, 2026 to Nov 11, 2026 and 616 complaints to the FCC since November 2023. The number on your screen can be faked, so a 503 number proves nothing about where a call came from.

Location
OregonPortland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA Metropolitan Statistical Area
Time zone
Pacific
In service since
January 1, 1947
Overlay
Same area as 971
Local calls
Dial 10 digitsArea code needed, even next door
Exchanges in use
784 of 792held by 41 carriers
Projected to run out
3Q 2041NANPA forecast 2026.2

Complaints about 503 numbers

Reports where the number on the consumer's caller ID (or, for the FCC, the number the caller asked them to call back) starts with 503. These are counts of what people reported; the agencies do not verify them.

FTC reports, Aug 14, 2026 to Nov 11, 2026

1,105

FCC complaints since November 2023

616

Different 503 numbers reported

1,586

FCC complaints naming a 503 number, by month

November 2023 to October 2026. Source: FCC Consumer Complaints Data.

Show as a table
MonthComplaints
November 202320
December 202312
January 202419
February 202420
March 202416
April 202417
May 202419
June 202422
July 202414
August 202412
September 202417
October 202428
November 202419
December 202417
January 202514
February 202528
March 202514
April 202525
May 202526
June 202527
July 202521
August 202514
September 202510
October 20250
November 20256
December 202517
January 202616
February 202619
March 202613
April 202617
May 202614
June 202613
July 20268
August 202613
September 202620
October 202621

What people said 503 calls were about

Subjects picked in FTC reports, August 14, 2026 to November 11, 2026. 593 of 1,105 reports were robocalls.

Show as a table
SubjectReports
Other482
Calls pretending to be government, businesses, or family and friends140
Home improvement and cleaning85
Dropped call or no message79
Reducing your debt (credit cards, mortgage, student loans)55
Medical and prescriptions43

Most reported 503 numbers

Numbers with at least five reports from three or more places in the last twelve months. Many of them are likely spoofed.

Places served by 503

NANPA lists 63 rate centers for 503. A rate center is the town or district a block of numbers is tied to for billing; sorted here by how many exchanges each holds.
  • Portland347
  • Beaverton107
  • Salem73
  • Clackamas49
  • Stafford-Sandy28
  • Gresham22
  • Mcminnville13
  • Dallas8
  • Sherwood8
  • Woodburn8
  • Astoria7
  • Newberg7
  • Tillamook7
  • North Plains6
  • Saint Helens6
  • Seaside5
  • Canby Needy4
  • Estacada4
  • Stayton4
  • Aumsville Turner3
  • Hood Land3
  • Molalla3
  • Pacific City3
  • Aurora2
Show all 63 rate centers

Bay City, Beaver, Beaver Creek, Charbonneau, Clatskanie, Corbett, Dayton, Gervais, Grand Ronde, Knappa, Lyons, Mount Angel, Rainier, Redland, Scappoose, Silverton, Warrenton, Westport, Amity, Cannon Beach, Carlton, Cloverdale, Colton, Detroit, Falls City, Garibaldi, Government Camp, Grand Island, Jewell, Mill City, Monitor, Nehalem, Rockaway, Saint Paul, Scio, Sheridan, Vernonia, Willamina, Yamhill.

Phone companies holding 503 exchanges

Each exchange (the three digits after the area code) is assigned to one carrier. 47% of these exchanges are pooled: their numbers are handed out in blocks of 1,000 to other carriers, so the holder below is not always the company serving a given number.

Exchanges held, top 8 of 41 carriers

NANPA central office code assignments, file of November 11, 2026.

Show as a table
Carrier (legal name)Exchanges
Qwest Corporation222
Ziply Fiber Northwest, LLC dba Ziply Fiber109
New Cingular Wireless PCS, LLC71
T-Mobile USA, Inc.56
Cellco Partnership dba Verizon Wireless - OR54
Electric Lightwave LLC dba Allstream51
Teleport Communications America, LLC - OR34
Level 3 Communications, LLC - OR30

When today's 503 exchanges were assigned

Exchanges still assigned, by year of assignment. Exchanges returned since are not counted.

Show as a table
YearExchanges
20012
20025
20031
20045
200513
200618
20079
200814
200915
20111
20181
20241
20261

Check a 503 number

A check shows the carrier and rate center of the number's exchange and every FTC and FCC report about that exact number. Why the number on screen can be fake.

Other area codes in Oregon

NANPA area code database and central office code file of November 11, 2026; FCC complaints November 1, 2023 to November 11, 2026; FTC reports August 14, 2026 to November 11, 2026. How the data is used.

Official sources (7)Show