Area code 252: where it is and who calls from it
Area code 252 is in North Carolina.
North Carolina (Greenville, New Bern, Elizabeth City, Kinston, Outer Banks, Rocky Mount)
| Where | North Carolina |
|---|---|
| Time zone | Eastern Time ยท local time |
| In service since | 1998 |
| Overlay | No |
| Prefixes assigned | 695 of 792 possible (88%) |
Where 252 numbers started
Every prefix is assigned to a rate center, the local calling area it was set up in. These are the biggest in 252, with how many prefixes each has.
Plus 32 smaller rate centers.
Who holds 252 numbers
- Mobile carrier 26%
- Local phone company 32%
- Internet / business phone carrier 39%
- Paging service 1%
- Phone company 2%
| Carrier | Type | Prefixes | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brightspeed Of Eastern North Carolina | Local phone company | 207 | 30% |
| Verizon Wireless | Mobile carrier | 76 | 11% |
| Onvoy | Internet / business phone carrier | 52 | 7% |
| Windstream (PAETEC) | Internet / business phone carrier | 48 | 7% |
| Level 3 (Lumen) | Internet / business phone carrier | 48 | 7% |
| T-Mobile (including Sprint) | Mobile carrier | 37 | 5% |
| UScellular | Mobile carrier | 32 | 5% |
| Bandwidth | Internet / business phone carrier | 26 | 4% |
| Charter / Spectrum | Internet / business phone carrier | 23 | 3% |
| AT&T Mobility | Mobile carrier | 22 | 3% |
Most prefixes are pooled: the 10,000 numbers in each are handed out in blocks of 1,000 to different carriers, and people can also take their numbers to another carrier. So the carrier shown is where the prefix started, not a guarantee about any one number.
States served: North Carolina.
Other area codes in North Carolina
336 472 704 743 828 910 919 980 984
Got a call from 252?
An area code tells you where a number was first assigned, not where the caller is. People keep their numbers when they move, and scammers can fake any number. If you weren't expecting the call, let it go to voicemail.
If the call shows a 252 number that matches the first six digits of your own, that's often neighbor spoofing. Use the box above to check the full number.
Area code facts from the NANPA area code database (updated 10/06/2026); prefixes and carriers from NANPA's central office code records (updated 2026-10-10). Place description adapted from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.