An apartment for rent in Tacoma or Puyallup draws calls from many strangers.
List it with a 253 number, take the calls on your own phone and burn the number once the lease is signed.
Local 253 numbers
Get a 253 phone number for Tacoma, Kent and Federal Way.
Ask for 253 when you create a number on ExpressNumber, and the number you hand out reads as Tacoma and the towns around it. It rings the phone you already carry, and you burn it in one tap.
$0 todayLive in about a minute
This is how you get a 253 number.
- Start your 7 days free and open Create a number.
- Type 253 as the area code and give the number a name.
- Hand it out. Calls ring the phone you already carry, and texts land in your inbox.
- Burn it in one tap when you are done. Calls and texts to it stop at once.
9:41
Your numbers
Apartment for rent
(253) 555-0140
Forwarding
Used boat
(253) 555-0169
Texts only
Roofing quote
(253) 555-0118
Blocked
People ask for 253 when the search is in Tacoma, Kent or Federal Way.
A used truck or a boat for sale near Gig Harbor brings texts from buyers all week.
Post a 253 number with the photos, set it to Texts only and keep your own number off the ad.
A moving job or a roofing quote in Kent ends in follow-up calls.
Give each company its own 253 number. Block the ones you did not choose.
This is where a 253 number is from.
Area code 253 covers Kent, Federal Way and Tacoma plus Lakebay, Fox Island, Gig Harbor and Burley, as the numbering administrator put it when the code began.
The Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission's dockets also name the Auburn and Puyallup rate centers as part of 253. Seattle stayed on 206, and Everett went to 425.
Tacoma, Kent and Federal Way, WA
Area code 253 and the codes around it, oldest first.
1947
206
Split from
1997
253
This code
- Tacoma
- Kent
- Federal Way
- Auburn
- Puyallup
- Gig Harbor
- Sumner
- Graham
- Fox Island
- Lakebay
- Burley
These are the facts about area code 253.
From the public records of the body that runs US phone numbering, read October 21, 2026.
- Place
- Tacoma, Kent and Federal Way, Washington
- In service since
- 1997
- Local calls are dialed with
- Ten digits
- Shares its area with
- No other code
- Split from
- 206 (1947)
253 was split from 206 and entered service on April 27, 1997, in a three-way split. Seattle kept 206, the area north and east of Lake Washington took 425, and Tacoma, Kent and Federal Way took 253.
Ten-digit dialing for local calls became mandatory on July 29, 2017. No second code has been laid over 253.
Try it free for 7 days.
Then pick the plan that fits how many numbers you hand out.
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- 5 numbers, one for each site, store or dealer
- 100 forwarded minutes a month
- Burn a number in one tap
- Extra numbers $1 a month each
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- 100 numbers
- 1,000 forwarded minutes a month
- A number per vendor, client or listing
- Extra numbers 50¢ a month each
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People ask these questions about getting a 253 number.
More in the full FAQ.
Create a number in your dashboard, type 253 as the area code and give it a name, such as Apartment for rent. It is live in about a minute. You do not need to live in Washington: calls ring the phone you already carry.
Yes, for taking calls and texts. A roofer, a tutor or a mover in Tacoma can put a 253 number on the flyer and the website, take the calls on their own phone and burn the number when the job is done.
Yes. The 253 area takes in Tacoma, Kent, Federal Way, Auburn, Puyallup and Gig Harbor.
No. Your numbers are receive-only: they take calls and texts, and they never make them. You answer calls on your own phone, and you cannot reply to a text from the inbox.
You get 7 days free and pay $0 today. After 7 days your plan starts: $9.99 a month for Basic or $29.99 a month for Pro. Cancel before then and you pay nothing.
More area codes
Every fact on this page comes from public numbering records.
The state, the dates and the related codes are rows of the North American Numbering Plan Administrator's area code database. The places are from its planning letters and the state’s own pages. Read October 21, 2026.
- North American Numbering Plan Administrator, area code database
- NANPA planning letter PL-019, October 31, 1996
- NANPA planning letter PL-492, June 28, 2016
- Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission, Washington state area codes and numbering issues
- Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission, docket UT-082154 naming the Puyallup rate center in 253
- Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission, docket UT-061281 naming the Auburn rate center in 253
Put 253 on a number you can burn.
Hand out a number you can burn. Keep the one your family calls.
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