A job search around Albany and Colonie leaves your number with many employers and recruiters.
Put an 838 number on your resume, take the calls on your own phone and block it when the search is over.
Local 838 numbers
Get an 838 phone number for Albany and the Capital Region.
Ask for 838 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 an 838 number.
- Start your 7 days free and open Create a number.
- Type 838 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
Job search
(838) 555-0124
Forwarding
Spare tickets
(838) 555-0171
Texts only
Handyman flyer
(838) 555-0103
Forwarding
People ask for 838 when the search is in Albany or the Capital Region.
Spare tickets for a race day or a show in Saratoga Springs bring texts from strangers.
Post an 838 number, set it to Texts only and end the number once the tickets are gone.
A hauling or handyman side job in Glens Falls gets calls from people who found a flyer.
Print an 838 number on the flyer, keep your own number private and burn it when you stop taking work.
This is where an 838 number is from.
Area code 838 is an all-services overlay of 518, so it covers the same area: 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.
Albany and eastern upstate New York, NY
Area code 838 and the codes around it, oldest first.
1947
518
Shares the area
2017
838
This code
- Albany
- Schenectady
- Troy
- Saratoga Springs
- Colonie
- Glens Falls
- Plattsburgh
- Amsterdam
- Gloversville
- Hudson
- Catskill
- Lake Placid
These are the facts about area code 838.
From the public records of the body that runs US phone numbering, read October 22, 2026.
- Place
- Albany and eastern upstate New York, New York
- In service since
- 2017
- Local calls are dialed with
- Ten digits
- Shares its area with
- 518 (1947)
The Public Service Commission ordered the overlay on September 15, 2016, so no one had to change a number.
Permissive ten-digit dialing began on March 18, 2017, ten digits became mandatory on August 19, 2017, and 838 entered 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 an 838 number.
More in the full FAQ.
Create a number in your dashboard, type 838 as the area code and give it a name, such as Job search. 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 photographer, a dog walker or a cleaner in Schenectady can put an 838 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 838 area takes in Albany, Schenectady, Troy, Saratoga Springs, Glens Falls and Plattsburgh, and it shares the area with 518.
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 22, 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
Put 838 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