570 Area Code – Scranton, Pennsylvania: Location, Time Zone & History

Long before it had its own area code, Northeastern Pennsylvania shared a single dialing plan, 717, with the rest of the state. As the region around Scranton, Wilkes-Barre, and Williamsport grew, that supply of numbers ran short, and on December 5, 1998 the area split off to form 570, following approval by the Pennsylvania PUC and NANPA earlier that year. Ten-digit dialing became mandatory the following April, and by October 2013 a second code, 272, was overlaid across the same territory to keep pace with continued demand.

What makes the 570 region distinctive is less the numbering history than the identity behind it. Scranton and Wilkes-Barre together form the Wyoming Valley, a community that has long seen itself as separate from Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, with roots tracing back to the anthracite coal mining that once defined the local economy. That regional character persists today across smaller cities like Hazleton, Pottsville, Stroudsburg, and Lock Haven. Scranton later gained an unusual kind of fame as the setting of the American version of The Office, and locals frequently invoke "570" itself as shorthand for belonging to Northeastern Pennsylvania rather than to either of the state's larger metro identities.

Modern industry in the area reflects a mix of healthcare networks, warehousing and logistics tied to the I-81 corridor, higher education, manufacturing, and tourism centered on the Pocono Mountains.