Area code 309

Area code 309 is a telephone area code in North American Numbering Plan (NANP) for the west-central part of the U.S. state of Illinois. Cities in the numbering plan area include Bloomington, Canton, East Moline, East Peoria, Galesburg, Kewanee, Macomb, Minonk, Moline, Morton, Normal, Pekin, Peoria, Rock Island, Silvis, and many smaller communities within the western part of central Illinois.

All NPAs within Illinois

The area code was created in 1957 and was one of the first area codes created with 0 as the second digit not serving an entire state. It was the only new area code created in Illinois between the 1947 implementation start of a national numbering plan and the 1989 creation of area code 708.

On October 24, 2021, area code 309 was transitioned to ten-digit dialing, despite not being part of an overlay numbering plan, in which multiple area codes are assigned to a numbering plan area. The area code had telephone numbers assigned for the central office code 988. In 2020, 988 was designated nationwide as a dialing code for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, which created a conflict for exchanges that still permitted seven-digit dialing.[1]

Current projections suggest that 309 will exhaust by late 2023.[2]) As a result, on November 29, 2021, the new overlay code was announced as area code 861, which will take effect sometime in 2023.[3]