716 Area Code – Buffalo, New York: Location, Time Zone & History

716 holds a distinction no other New York area code can claim: it was the very first assigned in the state, arriving in October 1947 as part of the original nationwide numbering plan and originally stretching across all of western New York, Buffalo and Rochester alike. That territory narrowed twice, first in 1954 when its eastern portion joined part of 315's Southern Tier around Binghamton to form 607, and again in 2001 when Rochester split off as 585, leaving 716 focused on the Buffalo-Niagara corner of the state.

Growth eventually caught up: a 2022 relief analysis projected 716 would run out of central office codes by 2024, so NANPA introduced the 624 overlay, which entered service November 16, 2023 as the 461st area code nationwide, preceded by mandatory ten-digit dialing in October 2021. Today the numbering plan area covers Erie, Niagara, Chautauqua, and Cattaraugus counties, home to about 1.37 million people per the 2020 Census.

The region's identity runs through Buffalo, whose NFL Bills command the devoted "Bills Mafia," and Niagara Falls, one of North America's most-visited natural landmarks, sitting just across the border from Ontario's 905/289 complex. Manufacturing, healthcare, cross-border logistics, and food processing round out the local economy.