Area code 212: where it is, and what it costs to call
212 is Manhattan, in New York City, on Eastern time. Calling a 212 number from anywhere in the world costs $0.02 a minute here, the same as any other ordinary US number, published before you dial and with nothing to install at either end.
Per minute in US dollars from a US caller ID. Part of a minute counts as a minute. Read live from the published card, so this figure cannot disagree with what you are charged.
01Where it is
What 212 covers
Manhattan. One of the original codes from the first national assignment, and the most recognisable area code in the United States. New numbers on it are effectively exhausted, which is why 646 and 332 exist on the same island.
02Every exchange
Every exchange in 212 is carried
The United States and Canada are sold at one flat national rate rather than priced region by region, so an area code never changes the price. What it can change is whether a particular exchange, the three digits after the area code, is carried at all. A small number of them cost many times what ordinary US traffic costs, usually rural ranges built to earn money from terminating calls, and a flat published price cannot absorb that.
212 has none of them. Every exchange in it is carried at $0.02 a minute. Of the 24 area codes published here, 6 are clear like this one and the worst carries 17.
You can check any specific number against this in the number checker, which resolves the exact digits rather than the range.
03Line type
Is a 212 number a mobile or a landline?
There is no way to tell, and any tool that claims otherwise is guessing from a database rather than reading the number. North American numbering never separated mobiles from landlines, so 212 carries both, and a number can be ported from one to the other without a digit changing.
Almost everywhere else in the world it is readable, and it decides the price. A landline and a mobile in the same country are frequently priced several times apart, and in a surprising number of countries the landline is the dearer of the two. That is why the keypad here reads the band off the digits instead of asking you to pick one. Check any number and see which it is.
For a 212 number none of this changes the bill. Both cost $0.02 a minute.
04Getting one
Getting a 212 number of your own
US numbers rent for $5.00 a month. You search by area code, and whether 212 has anything available on the day is a question of carrier inventory rather than something we can promise in advance, so the search shows you real numbers before you pay for one. A rented number can be shown as your caller ID on outbound calls, and it receives calls and texts.
One thing it will not do: receive bank verification codes. Most institutions deliberately refuse to send two-factor codes to internet numbers, so if that is the reason you want one, this will not work and we would rather say so now. How renting a number works.
05Call one
Call a 212 number now
Type the whole number and the exact price for it appears before anything dials. Nothing to install, and the first minute is free without a card.
Type a number to see its exact price.
Sign up and call. First minute on us, no card details.
06Questions
Common questions
Where is the 212 area code?
Area code 212 is Manhattan, in New York City, on Eastern time. Manhattan. One of the original codes from the first national assignment, and the most recognisable area code in the United States. New numbers on it are effectively exhausted, which is why 646 and 332 exist on the same island.
How much does it cost to call a 212 number?
On Airlophone a 212 number costs $0.02 a minute from a US caller ID, billed per minute with part of a minute counting as a full one, and the price is published before you dial. It is the same rate as any other ordinary US number: the United States and Canada are sold at one flat national rate rather than priced region by region, so no area code is dearer than another.
Is a 212 number a mobile or a landline?
There is no way to tell from the area code, and no service can tell you reliably. North American numbering never separated mobiles from landlines the way most countries did, so 212 covers both, and a number can be ported between the two without changing a digit. That is the opposite of how numbering works almost everywhere else, where the band is readable from the digits and the price follows it. For a US number it does not matter to the price, because both cost $0.02 a minute.
Can I get a phone number in the 212 area code?
Airlophone rents US numbers at $5.00 a month, and which area codes have inventory changes constantly, so a specific one is never guaranteed. You search by area code, take a real carrier hold on a number that is available, and set where it forwards before it is charged. A rented number can be presented as your caller ID on outbound calls and can receive calls and texts.
Call a 212 number from anywhere
$0.02 a minute, published before you dial, with nothing to install at either end. The first minute is free and needs no card.