Area code 218

A map of Minnesota area codes.

Area code 218 is part of the North American Numbering Plan (NANP) of the public switched telephone network for the northern part of the US state of Minnesota. It is one of Minnesota's original two codes, although its geographical area has been modified since inception. By area, the region is the largest area code in Minnesota, covering roughly the northern half of the state. It includes the cities of Duluth, Hibbing, Brainerd, Bemidji, Fergus Falls, and Moorhead.

According to a 1947 map of the NANP, the 218 region was originally r-shaped and covered about two-thirds of Minnesota. Area code 612 covered the remaining southeastern portion. In 1954, the shape of 218 was modified to coincide approximately with its current shape when the original southwestern portion of 218 was combined with the southern portion of 612 to form area code 507, which stretched across the southern fifth of Minnesota. A small change in the 1990s brought the Northwest Angle into the 218 area after being part of Bell Canada's Clearwater Bay exchange in Area code 807.

Because of the low population density in northern Minnesota, the region was unaffected when the 612 area was subdivided in 1996. The resulting area code 320, the former western portion of 612, runs the length of the southern border with 218, and the 612 area code has been reduced in size so much that it now just covers the city of Minneapolis and a few nearby suburbs.

The western portion of 218—generally everything from Brainerd westward—shares a LATA with the eastern half of North Dakota, including Fargo, North Dakota. This means that several numbers in North Dakota's 701 aren't available for use.

Under present projections, 218 will remain in its current configuration until late 2027 at the earliest.^[1] Despite the proliferation of cell phones and pagers, particularly in Duluth and Fargo-Moorhead, it is nowhere near exhausting.

Cities and communities within area code 218

Ada Aitkin Akeley Ashby Aurora Babbitt Backus Bagley Barnesville Barnum Battle Lake Baudette Baxter Bemidji Bena Big Falls Bigfork Biwabik Bovey Boy River Brainerd Breckenridge Brookston Carlton

Cass Lake Chisholm Clearbrook Cloquet Cohasset Coleraine Cook Cromwell Crookston Crosby Dalton Deer River Deerwood Detroit Lakes Dilworth Duluth East Grand Forks Elbow Lake Ely Emily Erhard Erskine Eveleth

Federal Dam Fergus Falls Fertile Floodwood Fosston Frazee Gilbert Glyndon Grand Marais Grand Portage Grand Rapids Greenbush Hackensack Hallock Hawley Hermantown Hibbing Hill City Hoyt Lakes Humboldt International Falls Karlstad Keewatin

Littlefork Longville Lutsen Mahnomen McGregor Menahga Mizpah Moorhead Moose Lake Motley Mountain Iron Nashwauk Newfolden New York Mills Northome Nisswa Outing Orr Park Rapids Parkers Prairie Pelican Rapids Pequot Lakes Perham Pine River

Proctor Red Lake Falls Remer Roseau Rothsay St. Hilaire St. Vincent Sebeka Silver Bay Staples Sturgeon Lake Thief River Falls Thomson Tower Twin Valley Two Harbors Vergas Virginia Wadena Walker Warren Warroad Willow River Wrenshall

See also

• List of NANP area codes

External links

• NANPA Area Code Map of Minnesota
• List of exchanges from AreaCodeDownload.com, 218 Area Code

References

1. April 2015 NANPA exhaust projections

• Area code history. AreaCode-Info.com.
• (2001). 1947 Area Code Assignment Map. GIF image at AreaCode-Info.com.

Minnesota area codes: 218, 320, 507, 612, 651, 763, 952
	North: 204, 807
West: 701	218	East: 534, 715, Lake Superior
	South: 320
Manitoba area codes: 204, 431
Ontario area codes: 226, 249, 289, 343, 365, 416, 519, 613, 647, 705, 807, 905
Wisconsin area codes: 262, 414, 608, 715, 920
North Dakota area codes: 701

Coordinates: 47°18′N 93°56′W / 47.300°N 93.933°W