813 Area Code – TAMPA, Florida: Location, Time Zone & History

Tampa's area code, 813, dates to 1953, when Florida's original statewide 305 numbering plan was carved up under the new Direct Distance Dialing system -- the 91st area code assigned in North America and only the state's second. What began as coverage of the whole Gulf Coast peninsula south of Tampa Bay has been trimmed twice since: 941 took thirteen southern counties, including Sarasota and Fort Myers, in 1995, and Pinellas County followed in 1999 as area code 727.

Growth pressure returned decades later, and rather than another split, the Florida Public Service Commission approved an all-services overlay, 656, which entered service February 22, 2022 alongside mandatory ten-digit dialing. Today 813 covers Hillsborough County -- Tampa, Brandon, Plant City, Riverview -- home to roughly 1.46 million people per the 2020 Census.

The region's economy runs on the Port of Tampa, Florida's largest deepwater port, and on MacDill Air Force Base, host to U.S. Central Command and Special Operations Command. Culturally, Tampa is defined by Gasparilla, its pirate-themed festival and parade, and by Busch Gardens Tampa Bay.