973 Area Code

Area Code Overview

Area code 973 is a geographic telephone area code in New Jersey that went into service on June 1, 1997. The geographic regions covered by this area code overlay has a population of approximately 1,823,631.

Overlay and Dialing Rules

  • Area Code: 973
  • State: New Jersey
  • Type: General Purpose Code
  • In Service Date: June 1, 1997
  • Overlay Complex: 862/973
  • 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 973

This area code is tied for 84th out of 363 nationwide in estimated assigned phone numbers. Within the state territory it serves, it is ranked 3rd out of 10.

6,251,000

Estimated Service-Type Mix of Assigned Phone Numbers in Area Code 973

Total assigned 6,251,000
Wireless
1,933,000 assigned
30.92%
Wireline and VoIP
3,659,000 assigned
58.53%
Other / Unclassified
659,000 assigned
10.54%

Estimated Share of Wireless Numbers Originally Assigned to Each Carrier in Area Code 973

Estimated assigned wireless phone numbers: 1,933,000

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

T-Mobile 824,000 (42.63%)
Verizon Wireless 676,000 (34.97%)
AT&T Wireless 429,000 (22.19%)
Optimum Mobile 4,000 (0.21%)

Estimated Share of Wireline and VoIP Numbers Originally Assigned to Each Carrier in Area Code 973

Estimated assigned wireline and VoIP phone numbers: 3,659,000

VERIZON NEW JERSEY, INC. 2,279,000 (62.28%)
Onvoy 251,000 (6.86%)
Bandwidth 216,000 (5.90%)
Lumen 198,000 (5.41%)
PAETEC ITEL, LLC 172,000 (4.70%)
MCIMETRO ACCESS TRANSMISSION SERVICES LLC 135,000 (3.69%)
Peerless Network 104,000 (2.84%)
TERRA NOVA TELECOM INC. 48,000 (1.31%)
CABLEVISION LIGHTPATH, INC. - NJ 47,000 (1.28%)
Spectrum 42,000 (1.15%)
Comcast Business 41,000 (1.12%)
YMAX COMMUNICATIONS CORP. - NJ 41,000 (1.12%)

Other / Unclassified Assigned Numbering in Area Code 973

Estimated assigned other or unclassified phone numbers: 659,000

CSC VOICE, LLC 187,000 (28.38%)
BRIGHTSPEED OF NEW JERSEY, INC. 120,000 (18.21%)
SPOK, INC. 70,000 (10.62%)
TELEPORT COMMUNICATIONS AMERICA, LLC - NJ 49,000 (7.44%)
AQUIS COMMUNICATIONS, INC. 40,000 (6.07%)
COOPERATIVE COMMUNICATIONS, INC. 37,000 (5.61%)
CORETEL NEW JERSEY, INC. - NJ 27,000 (4.10%)
IP HORIZON LLC 27,000 (4.10%)
FUSION, LLC 25,000 (3.79%)
BLUEBIRD COMMUNICATIONS, LLC - NJ 15,000 (2.28%)
HD CARRIER LLC 13,000 (1.97%)
ADVANTAGE COMMUNICATIONS, INC. 10,000 (1.52%)

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 973, 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