Michigan to add 679 area code to metro Detroit, require 10-digit dialing
- Beginning Oct. 7 all local calls in metro Detroit require 10 digits
- Between April 7 and the October deadline calls can be made by dialing with either seven or 10 digits
- A new 679 area code number may be assigned to new customers
If you make a local phone call in Detroit, even if it’s just across the street, starting Oct. 7 you’ll have to dial all 10 digits, including the area code, rather than just seven. The change comes with the addition of another area code, 679, covering the Detroit area as the supply of available 313 numbers runs out.
Phone providers will begin assigning phone numbers with the new 679 area code beginning Nov. 7.
Consumers will have a six-month trial period to get used to dialing 10 digits. Starting April 7, they can dial local numbers using either seven or 10 digits. Starting Oct. 7, however, calls made with only seven digits will not go through, and callers will be required to redial using all 10 digits.
Individuals that already have the 313 area code will not need to change their current phone number and rates will not change due to the new area code, according to the Michigan Public Service Commission.
The 4-1-1 on 313
Southeast Michigan was first assigned the 313 area code in 1947 and the prefix has become so ingrained in Detroit culture that the city celebrates 313 Day every March 13.
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The 313 area code currently covers Detroit, Hamtramck, Highland Park, Allen Park, Dearborn and Dearborn Heights, Ecorse, the Grosse Pointes, Inkster, Lincoln Park, Redford Township, River Rouge and Taylor.
The new 679 area code, called an “overlay” code, marks the third time the 313 area has been split. The first time was in 1993 with the introduction of the 810 area code. The second split came in 1997, with the introduction of the 734 area code.
Good until 2071?
The Michigan Public Service Commission initially approved adding another area code to cover the area in 2001, but the effort was delayed. The MPSC had a hearing in 2023 after it was projected that the 313 area code would run out of assigned phone numbers towards the end of 2025.
The North American Numbering Plan Administrator, which administers the numbering plan for 20 North American countries, now estimates that 313 phone numbers will be exhausted by the fourth quarter of 2027 but it says the date could move again as demand changes. It says the 679 area code should provide relief for about 46 years.
Despite Detroit’s population growing for the first time in 60 years, the need for an additional area code is not necessarily based on population growth.
“You could have a population that stays the same, but if you have tablets, if you have a car, if you have smart watches … and they need a telephone number to work, that's what's really contributing to that drain in the numbers,” said Ryan McAnany, director of the telecommunications division for the MPSC.
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