An apartment near campus in Albany or Troy draws calls from many strangers.
List it with a 518 number, take the calls on your own phone and burn the number once the lease is signed.
Local 518 numbers
Get a 518 phone number for Albany and the Capital Region.
Ask for 518 when you create a number on ExpressNumber, and the number you hand out reads as Albany and eastern upstate New York, from Troy to Plattsburgh. 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 518 number.
- Start your 7 days free and open Create a number.
- Type 518 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
(518) 555-0132
Forwarding
Used snowmobile
(518) 555-0167
Texts only
Moving quote
(518) 555-0105
Blocked
People ask for 518 when the search is in Albany or the Capital Region.
A used car or a snowmobile for sale near Saratoga Springs brings texts all week.
Post a 518 number with the photos, set it to Texts only and keep your own number off the ad.
A lake house booking in Lake Placid or a moving job in Schenectady ends in follow-up calls.
Give each company its own 518 number. Block the ones you did not choose.
This is where a 518 number is from.
Area code 518 sits in all or part of 17 counties in eastern upstate New York. The New York Public Service Commission says much of the population lives in the Capital Region of Albany, Schenectady and Troy and the suburbs around them.
The Commission also names Glens Falls, Plattsburgh, Colonie, Gloversville and Lake Placid in its orders, and its staff names Saratoga Springs, Hudson and Catskill. 838 is laid over the same area.
Albany and eastern upstate New York, NY
Area code 518 and the codes around it, oldest first.
1947
518
This code
2017
838
Shares the area
- Albany
- Schenectady
- Troy
- Saratoga Springs
- Colonie
- Glens Falls
- Plattsburgh
- Amsterdam
- Gloversville
- Hudson
- Catskill
- Lake Placid
These are the facts about area code 518.
From the public records of the body that runs US phone numbering, read October 21, 2026.
- Place
- Albany and eastern upstate New York, New York
- In service since
- 1947
- Local calls are dialed with
- Ten digits
- Shares its area with
- 838 (2017)
518 is one of the original area codes of 1947, and the Public Service Commission calls it the only original New York code that still has its original boundaries.
The Commission ordered an overlay on September 15, 2016. Ten-digit dialing became mandatory on August 19, 2017, and 838 was laid over 518, entering service on September 19, 2017.
Try it free for 7 days.
Then pick the plan that fits how many numbers you hand out.
Basic
7 days free$9.99/mo
- 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
Pro
7 days free$29.99/mo
- 100 numbers
- 1,000 forwarded minutes a month
- A number per vendor, client or listing
- Extra numbers 50¢ a month each
$0 today. Monthly plans, cancel any time.
People ask these questions about getting a 518 number.
More in the full FAQ.
Create a number in your dashboard, type 518 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 New York: calls ring the phone you already carry.
Yes, for taking calls and texts. A mover, a tutor or a baker in Saratoga Springs can put a 518 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 518 area takes in Albany, Schenectady, Troy, Saratoga Springs, Glens Falls and Plattsburgh. 838 numbers cover the same area.
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-497, October 15, 2016
- New York State Public Service Commission, order directing an overlay of the 518 area code region, September 15, 2016
- New York State Public Service Commission, new area code in eastern upstate New York announced, September 20, 2016
- New York State Department of Public Service staff, white paper on area code relief for eastern upstate New York, July 8, 2016
Put 518 on a number you can burn.
Hand out a number you can burn. Keep the one your family calls.
Try it free for 7 days