Palmdale Area Gets a New Area Code--661
A new area code--California’s 24th--began serving the northern part of Los Angeles County and other regions on Saturday, an area that includes Lancaster, Newhall and Palmdale.
The 661 area code is needed to meet the surging demand for additional telephone numbers in the 805 area code. The California Public Utilities Commission approved the change in November 1997.
“Basically, more people are carrying wireless phones and pagers and having second lines put in at homes for modems,” said Alison Costa, a spokeswoman for the California-Nevada Code Administration, a telecommunications industry group.
The 805 area code serves Kern County and parts of Los Angeles, Ventura, Kings, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara and Tulare counties. The new 661 will serve most of Kern County, the northern part of Los Angeles County, and small portions of the other counties.
More to Read
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
