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Before You Call Back

Area code 516

Area code 516 serves New York, including Nassau Zone 05, Nassau Zone 02 and Nassau Zone 08 (Eastern time). It has been in service since January 1, 1951 and shares its area with 363.

Numbers starting with 516 drew 1,694 reports to the FTC from Aug 14, 2026 to Nov 11, 2026 and 1,071 complaints to the FCC since November 2023. The number on your screen can be faked, so a 516 number proves nothing about where a call came from.

Location
New YorkNew York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ Metropolitan Statistical Area
Time zone
Eastern
In service since
January 1, 1951Created from 914
Overlay
Same area as 363
Local calls
Dial 10 digitsArea code needed, even next door
Exchanges in use
783 of 792held by 39 carriers
Projected to run out
2Q 2073NANPA forecast 2026.2

Complaints about 516 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 516. These are counts of what people reported; the agencies do not verify them.

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

1,694

FCC complaints since November 2023

1,071

Different 516 numbers reported

2,401

FCC complaints naming a 516 number, by month

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

Show as a table
MonthComplaints
November 202320
December 202325
January 202425
February 202424
March 202429
April 202428
May 202434
June 202425
July 202433
August 202426
September 202426
October 202446
November 202454
December 202429
January 202532
February 202535
March 202560
April 202576
May 202556
June 202531
July 202536
August 202524
September 202532
October 20253
November 20258
December 20259
January 202615
February 202623
March 202621
April 202618
May 20269
June 202623
July 202626
August 202625
September 202624
October 202636

What people said 516 calls were about

Subjects picked in FTC reports, August 14, 2026 to November 11, 2026. 895 of 1,694 reports were robocalls.

Show as a table
SubjectReports
Other690
Lotteries, prizes, and sweepstakes240
Reducing your debt (credit cards, mortgage, student loans)207
Dropped call or no message160
Calls pretending to be government, businesses, or family and friends145
Medical and prescriptions48

Most reported 516 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 516

NANPA lists 15 rate centers for 516. 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.
  • Nassau Zone 05258
  • Nassau Zone 0295
  • Nassau Zone 0874
  • Nassau Zone 0160
  • Nassau Zone 0654
  • Nassau Zone 0344
  • Nassau Zone 0943
  • Nassau Zone 0740
  • Nassau Zone 0433
  • Farmingdale29
  • Selden25
  • Brentwood10
  • Cold Spring Harbor10
  • Central Islip5
  • Amityville3

Phone companies holding 516 exchanges

Each exchange (the three digits after the area code) is assigned to one carrier. 62% 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 39 carriers

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

Show as a table
Carrier (legal name)Exchanges
Verizon New York, Inc.208
Omnipoint Communications, Inc. - NY95
New Cingular Wireless PCS, LLC - DC88
Cellco Partnership dba Verizon Wireless - NY78
Onvoy, LLC- NY42
Cablevision Lightpath, Inc. - NY39
Mcimetro Access Transmission Services LLC - NY39
Bandwidth.com CLEC, LLC - NY28

When today's 516 exchanges were assigned

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

Show as a table
YearExchanges
200123
200212
20032
20046
200516
200614
20073
20086
20092
20108
201114
201210
20136
201416
201512
201610
20179
201810
201914
202018
202119
202216
202322
20241
20252
20262

Check a 516 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 New York

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