Area Code Overview

Area code 859 is a geographic telephone area code in Kentucky that went into service on April 1, 2000. The geographic regions covered by this area code overlay has a population of approximately 936,811.

Overlay and Dialing Rules

Area Code: 859
State: Kentucky
Type: General Purpose Code
In Service Date: April 1, 2000
Overlay Complex: 859
Local Dialing Plan: This area does require you to dial the area code when calling locally.

Estimated Number of Assigned Phone Numbers in Area Code 859

This area code is ranked 198th out of 363 nationwide in estimated assigned phone numbers. Within the state territory it serves, it is ranked 4th out of 5.

4,551,000

Estimated Service-Type Mix of Assigned Phone Numbers in Area Code 859

Total assigned 4,551,000

Wireless

1,659,000 assigned

36.45%

Wireline and VoIP

2,748,000 assigned

60.38%

Other / Unclassified

144,000 assigned

3.16%

Estimated Share of Wireless Numbers Originally Assigned to Each Carrier in Area Code 859

Estimated assigned wireless phone numbers: 1,659,000

Numbers may later be ported to another carrier, but this chart reflects original number assignment, not current subscriber share.

AT&T Wireless 683,000 (41.17%)

T-Mobile 526,000 (31.71%)

Verizon Wireless 450,000 (27.12%)

Estimated Share of Wireline and VoIP Numbers Originally Assigned to Each Carrier in Area Code 859

Estimated assigned wireline and VoIP phone numbers: 2,748,000

WINDSTREAM KENTUCKY EAST, INC. - LEXINGTON 715,000 (26.02%)

Onvoy 539,000 (19.61%)

altafiber 344,000 (12.52%)

AT&T 339,000 (12.34%)

Spectrum 226,000 (8.22%)

Bandwidth 193,000 (7.02%)

Lumen 168,000 (6.11%)

PAETEC ITEL, LLC 56,000 (2.04%)

Telnyx 50,000 (1.82%)

Commio 34,000 (1.24%)

MCIMETRO ACCESS TRANSMISSION SERVICES LLC 23,000 (0.84%)

Peerless Network 23,000 (0.84%)

Other / Unclassified Assigned Numbering in Area Code 859

Estimated assigned other or unclassified phone numbers: 144,000

TELEPORT COMMUNICATIONS AMERICA, LLC - KY 41,000 (28.47%)

IP HORIZON LLC 23,000 (15.97%)

SPOK, INC. 20,000 (13.89%)

altafiber 16,000 (11.11%)

INVOXIO INCORPORATED 9,000 (6.25%)

FRACTEL, LLC 8,000 (5.56%)

HD CARRIER LLC 8,000 (5.56%)

TON80 COMMUNICATIONS, LLC 5,000 (3.47%)

WADDELL SOLUTIONS GROUP LLC 5,000 (3.47%)

CITYNET KENTUCKY, LLC - KY 4,000 (2.78%)

AHOI LLC 1,000 (0.69%)

BARR TELL USA, INC. 1,000 (0.69%)

Cities and Towns in Area Code 859

Alexandria, Kentucky Berea, Kentucky Boone County, Kentucky Bryantsville, Kentucky Burgin, Kentucky Butler, Kentucky Carlisle, Kentucky Cornishville, Kentucky Covington, Kentucky Cynthiana, Kentucky Danville, Kentucky Falmouth, Kentucky Ford, Kentucky Glencoe, Kentucky Harrodsburg, Kentucky Independence, Kentucky Junction City, Kentucky Kirksville, Kentucky Lancaster, Kentucky Lexington, Kentucky Little Rock, Kentucky Mackville, Kentucky Midway, Kentucky Millersburg, Kentucky Mooresville, Kentucky Mount Sterling, Kentucky Nicholasville, Kentucky North Middletown, Kentucky Paint Lick, Kentucky Paris, Kentucky Perryville, Kentucky Richmond, Kentucky Salvisa, Kentucky Springfield, Kentucky Versailles, Kentucky Waco, Kentucky Walton, Kentucky Warsaw, Kentucky Williamstown, Kentucky Willisburg, Kentucky Wilmore, Kentucky Winchester, Kentucky

How These Figures Were Built

These figures are estimates based on public phone-number assignment records. They are meant to show the likely mix of assigned phone numbers associated with area code 859, not live customer counts.

Some providers may have assigned phone numbers tied to this area code even if they do not actively market or sell service locally. These figures reflect public number-assignment records, not confirmed local service availability.

They also do not reflect number portability at the individual phone-number level, so some numbers may now be used on a different network or by a different provider than the original assignment records suggest.

Population data and locality matching provided by GeoNames.

Last refreshed: April 15, 2026 6:22 pm