New area code coming to Lehigh Valley, suburban Philadelphia

Make room 610 and 484. A new area code is in the works for the Lehigh Valley and suburban Philadelphia counties.

Area code 835 is expected to make its debut in 2023, according to the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission.

The impacted areas include Lehigh, Northampton, Berks, Delaware and Chester counties, along with a portion of Montgomery County.

The PUC voted 3-0 on Dec. 2 in favor of the new area code, approving a petition filed by the North American Numbering Plan Administrator, a neutral third-party group that plans and allocates telephone numbers. 

The move comes 27 years after the sprawling region was split from area code 215.

The 484 area code was added as an overlay in 1999, according to the website AllAreas.com. 

The allotment for telephone numbers with 610 and 484 are expected to be depleted in early 2023, the PUC said.

835 will cover the same territory as 610 and 484, the PUC said.

The exact date is unknown and no 835 numbers will be assigned until the remaining 610/484 numbers are exhausted. 

Because the region already has two overlay codes, callers already must dial 10 digits – the area code plus the phone number — to make a call. Outside calls may require a 1.

That will continue with the 835, the PUC said.

At this point, telephone callers don’t have to make any changes.