Area code 310

Area code 310 is a telephone area code in the North American Numbering Plan (NANP) for the southwestern portion of the U.S. state of California. It was created in 1991 as a split from the overburdened area code 213, which had previously served the entire Los Angeles basin. The 310 region encompasses a significant portion of Los Angeles County, including its affluent coastal communities and the Los Angeles International Airport. It is one of the most recognizable and culturally significant area codes in the nation, often associated with the entertainment industry and Southern California's coastal lifestyle.

History and implementation

The implementation of area code 310 was a direct result of the rapid population growth and increased demand for telephone lines in the Los Angeles metropolitan area during the late 20th century. It was established by the California Public Utilities Commission and AT&T Corporation as a geographic split, officially activated on November 2, 1991. This split relieved congestion in the historic area code 213, which was reduced to covering only downtown Los Angeles and its immediate environs. The creation of 310 was part of a broader series of area code splits and overlays across California, including the later introduction of area code 323 and area code 562.

Service area and communities

Area code 310 serves a large and economically diverse section of southwestern Los Angeles County. Its jurisdiction includes the entire Santa Monica Bay coastline, covering famous cities like Santa Monica, Venice, Manhattan Beach, and Redondo Beach. Inland, it serves the South Bay region, including Torrance and Gardena, as well as the Westside communities of Beverly Hills, West Hollywood, and Culver City. The area code also covers the Palos Verdes Peninsula, the Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), and the corporate campuses of numerous Fortune 500 companies in El Segundo and Playa Vista.

Overlay plans and area code 424

Due to the exhaustion of available telephone numbers within the original 310 numbering plan area, the North American Numbering Plan Administrator (NANPA) approved the implementation of an all-services overlay. The new area code 424 was added to the same geographic region, effective January 25, 2001. This overlay plan mandated ten-digit dialing (area code + seven-digit number) for all local calls within the region, a practice that became standard. The introduction of 424 followed regulatory decisions by the Federal Communications Commission and the California Public Utilities Commission to adopt overlay solutions as a preferred method for adding numbering capacity.

In popular culture

Area code 310 has been extensively referenced in music, film, and television, often symbolizing affluence, the entertainment business, and the Southern California lifestyle. It is name-checked in numerous hip-hop and pop songs, including tracks by Snoop Dogg, The Game, and Kendrick Lamar. The area code frequently appears in television shows set in Los Angeles, such as *Beverly Hills, 90210* and its spin-off *90210*, which famously used the adjacent ZIP code 90210. Films like *Swingers* and *The Player* also utilize the 310 code as a shorthand for Hollywood's insider culture.

Notable numbers and prefixes

The region served by area code 310 contains many notable telephone exchanges and numbers linked to major institutions. The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and its Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center use prefixes within the 310 area code. Corporate headquarters for global entities like The Walt Disney Company (in Burbank, though historically linked), Sony Pictures Entertainment in Culver City, and YouTube in San Bruno (though now under area code 650) originated with 310 numbers. The famous 310-MUSIC vanity number was long associated with KIIS-FM, a major iHeartMedia radio station in Los Angeles.