What Is the U.S. Country Code? +1, and How to Dial It From Abroad

The US country code is +1, and it’s the same for every state and city, so California, Florida and New York are all +1. What changes from place to place is the area code: a full U.S. number is +1, a 3-digit area code and a 7-digit number, like +1 212 555 0123.

If you searched for something like “310 country code” or “917 country code,” you were looking at a U.S. area code. Below is how the pieces fit together, how to dial a U.S. number from another country, and how to write one so WhatsApp and online forms accept it.

Who Uses the US Country Code +1?

+1 isn’t only for the United States. The International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the UN agency that hands out country codes, assigned code 1 to the whole North American Numbering Plan. According to the North American Numbering Plan Administrator (NANPA), the plan serves 20 countries that share one numbering system:

• The United States and its territories: Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands and American Samoa
• Canada
• Bermuda
• 17 countries and territories in the Caribbean: Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, the Bahamas, Barbados, the British Virgin Islands, the Cayman Islands, Dominica, the Dominican Republic, Grenada, Jamaica, Montserrat, Sint Maarten, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago, and Turks and Caicos

All of them use the same 10-digit format, so a number in Canada, Jamaica or New York starts with +1 when dialed from abroad. The area code is what tells you where the number actually is.

States and Cities Have Area Codes, Not Country Codes

A country code identifies a country (or, in the case of +1, a group of countries). Inside the U.S., places are identified by area codes instead. So:

• California’s country code is +1. Its area codes include 213, 323, 310 and 424 in the Los Angeles area, plus dozens more around the state.
• Florida’s country code is +1. Miami, for example, uses 305, 786 and 645.
• New York’s country code is +1. Manhattan’s area codes include 212, 646 and 332.

That’s why “310 country code” and “917 country code” have the same answer: +1. 310 is a Southern California area code that covers places like Santa Monica, Beverly Hills and West Los Angeles, and 917 is a New York City area code. Neither one is a country code. For the full picture, see how many area codes are in the US.

How a U.S. Phone Number Is Built

Every U.S. number has the same three parts. Take +1 212 555 0123:

• +1 is the country code.
• 212 is the area code (Manhattan, New York).
• 555 0123 is the 7-digit local number.

Leave off the +1 and you have the familiar 10-digit U.S. format, usually written (212) 555-0123 or 212-555-0123. NANPA describes the pattern as NXX-NXX-XXXX, where N is any digit from 2 to 9 and X is any digit. In plain terms, a U.S. area code never starts with 0 or 1, which is handy to know when an app rejects a number.

The example uses 555-0123 on purpose. NANPA keeps 555-0100 through 555-0199 as fictional, non-working numbers for entertainment and advertising, so nobody gets a wrong-number call from this article. As for 212, it’s one of the original area codes from 1947. Here’s a brief history of area code 212.

How to Call a U.S. Number From Another Country

From outside the +1 area, you dial the same four pieces every time:

1. Your country’s exit code (also called the international prefix), or + on a mobile phone.
2. 1, the U.S. country code.
3. The 3-digit area code.
4. The 7-digit local number.

From a mobile phone: use “+”

The simplest option works from almost anywhere. On most smartphones, touch and hold the 0 key until + appears, then dial 1 and the 10 digits: +1 212 555 0123. The plus sign is the international symbol for “your exit code goes here,” so you don’t need to know the local one. If a call with + won’t go through, use the exit code for the country you’re in instead.

From a landline (or if + doesn’t work)

• From the UK: 00 1 212 555 0123
• From any EU country (France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Ireland and the rest): 00 1 212 555 0123
• From Mexico: 00 1 212 555 0123
• From Australia: 0011 1 212 555 0123
• From Canada and most of the Caribbean: 1 212 555 0123, with no exit code, because you’re already inside the +1 plan

Those exit codes come from each country’s own rules. The UK’s numbering plan sets aside 00 for international calls, EU law makes 00 the standard international access code in every member state, Mexico’s current numbering plan (in force since August 2019) uses 00, and Australia’s international direct-dial code is 0011.

Don’t add a 0 anywhere in the U.S. part. Unlike many UK or Australian numbers, a U.S. number has no leading 0 to drop.

How to Write a U.S. Number for WhatsApp and Online Forms

WhatsApp asks for every number in full international format: a plus sign, the country code, then the rest of the number, with any leading 0s or special calling codes removed. Its help page on international phone number format even uses a U.S. example, +1 408 followed by the 7-digit number.

For a Manhattan number, that looks like this:

• Right: +1 212 555 0123. You may also see it written with no spaces, +12125550123. It’s the same number.
• Wrong: 212 555 0123, because the country code is missing.
• Wrong: 00 1 212 555 0123 or 011 1 212 555 0123, because an exit code is in place of the +.
• Wrong: +1 1 212 555 0123, because it has an extra 1.
• Avoid: +1 (212) 555-0123. The ITU’s standard for writing international numbers says parentheses shouldn’t be used in them.

You may also see this called E.164 format, after the ITU standard behind international phone numbers. An E.164 number is the country code plus the national number, never more than 15 digits in total. A U.S. number is 11 digits: the 1 plus the 10-digit number.

Online forms work the same way. If the form has a separate country box, choose United States (+1) and type only the 10 digits, with no extra 1 in front. If there’s a single box, type +1 and then the 10 digits.

If WhatsApp still refuses a U.S. number, here’s how to fix the “not a valid number in the United States” error.

Common Mix-Ups

+212 is Morocco, not New York

This one catches a lot of people. 212 is Manhattan’s area code, but +212 is Morocco’s country code. A Manhattan number written internationally is +1 212, with the 1. If a call or message shows +212 followed by a long string of digits, it’s a Moroccan number, not a New York one.

“1” vs. “+1”

The 1 does double duty. Inside the U.S., dialing 1 before the area code marks a long-distance call. For the rest of the world, 1 is the country code, and it only works after your exit code or the +. Dialing 1 212 555 0123 from London won’t connect to New York. Dialing +1 212 555 0123 or 00 1 212 555 0123 will.

Not every +1 number is in the U.S.

Because 20 countries share +1, a number can look domestic and still be international. NANPA lists 876 for Jamaica, 809 for the Dominican Republic and 242 for the Bahamas, for example. The FCC warns that 809 numbers look like U.S. area codes but are international, so calling one back can mean international rates. Our list of area codes to avoid covers more of them.

Need a U.S. Number of Your Own?

212areacode.com has sold real U.S. phone numbers since 2009, including Manhattan 212 numbers and numbers in many other area codes. You pick a number, then transfer it to your phone carrier so it rings on your own phone. You can browse available numbers or read how it works.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the country code for California?
+1, the same as the rest of the U.S. California doesn’t have its own country code. It has dozens of area codes, such as 213 and 310 in the Los Angeles area, so a California number dialed from abroad looks like +1 310 555 0123.

What is the country code for Florida?
Also +1. Florida’s area codes include 305, 786 and 645 in the Miami area, so a Miami number dialed from abroad starts with +1 305.

Is +1 the same for Canada?
Yes. Canada shares +1 with the U.S. and much of the Caribbean. Calls between the U.S. and Canada are dialed like long-distance calls, 1 plus the 10 digits, with no exit code.

Is 917 (or 310) a country code?
No. 917 is a New York City area code and 310 is a Southern California area code. Both are in the U.S., so from abroad they’re dialed as +1 917 or +1 310, followed by the 7-digit number.

Is +212 New York?
No. +212 is the country code for Morocco. New York’s 212 area code, written for use from outside the U.S., is +1 212.

Does Puerto Rico have its own country code?
No. Puerto Rico is a U.S. territory and uses +1, with area codes 787 and 939. The same goes for the U.S. Virgin Islands (340), Guam (671), the Northern Mariana Islands (670) and American Samoa (684).

How do I write a U.S. number for WhatsApp?
Type a plus sign, then 1, then the 10-digit number, like +1 212 555 0123. Leave out any 0, 00 or 011 at the front, and don’t add a second 1.

What is the exit code for calling out of the U.S.?
011. To call another country from the U.S., the FCC says to dial 011, then the country code, the city or area code and the number. Calls to Canada and most Caribbean countries are dialed like a U.S. long-distance call instead: 1 plus the 10 digits.

Sources: ITU List of E.164 Assigned Country Codes; ITU-T Recommendations E.164 and E.123; NANPA; WhatsApp Help Center; FCC; Ofcom’s National Telephone Numbering Plan; Directive (EU) 2018/1972; Mexico’s and Australia’s national numbering plans as filed with the ITU.