The 281 area code is a telephone prefix associated with the southeastern portion of Texas, running specifically in the Greater Houston metropolitan area.
Being the second-most populous state of the country, the telephone service of Texas disposes of 27 numbering plan areas for the entire state, distributed into 254 counties and 962 incorporated cities.
The 281 area code serves as an overlay for the codification 713, which also includes other two prefixes surrounding the same region. These four numbers cover Harris County the most populous county of Texas and Houston the largest city of the state.
1. History
The 281 area code started service on November 2, 1996, becoming in the second overlay of the prefix 713 and the third codification added to Houston.
For its part, the 713 area code is one of the four initial dialing codes included in the Texas territory in 1947, belonging to the 86 original codifications of the North American Numbering Plan (NANP), created by the Bell System and AT&T.
With the establishment of these four telephone prefixes, the southeastern portion of the state received codification 713. This code could support its service area by itself until March 19, 1983, when the exhaustion conflict in the network made necessary the implementation of an overlay plan, the 409 area code.
13 years later, the already mentioned 281 code would arrive at the region, taking up the same region of the other two numbers. Soon after, on January 16, 1999, the 832 area code began running, becoming the third overlay of the original prefix.
2. Location
Located in the south-central region of the U.S. Texas is the 28th state added to the union, integrated in 1845. Being the second-largest state in terms of population and total area, Texas encompasses over 29.8 million people that sprawl across around 268,596 square miles.
Texas shares borders to the east with Louisiana, New Mexico to the west, Oklahoma to the north, and Mexican states of Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo León, and Tamaulipas to the south and southwest. Three of the state’s borders are defined by the Rio Grande, the Red River, and the Sabine River.
On the other hand, the southeastern section of the state encompasses the Greater Houston metro area, which is constituted by nine counties along the Gulf Coast in Southern Texas. This urban area is home to over 6.4 million inhabitants, being the second-most populous metro area of Texas and the fifth-most populated of the whole country.
The 281 area code is included in the Central Daylight time zone. This code contains 285 non-unique postal area zip codes and covers 4049.95 square miles.
Adjacent codes
As we mentioned before, the Greater Houston metro area is compounded by four codifications, the 281, 409, 832, and 713 area codes. This last prefix is the most utilized of this urban area and the whole Texas territory, serving nearly 4.7 million users.
The four original area codes added to the system are the codifications 713 included in the southeastern region, the 214 code serving northeastern Texas, the prefix 915 covering the western section, and the 512 area code that surrounds Austin, the city-state capital located in southern Texas.
On the contrary, the youngest codification of the state is the 726 area code, introduced on October 23, 2017, as an overlay for the prefix 210, which surrounds San Antonio and its adjacent regions.
3. Most Important Locations in the 570 Area Code
Houston
Incorporated as a city on June 5, 1837, and named for the important leader of the Texas Revolution Sam Houston, this city is the largest municipality and county seat of Harris County. However, it is also included in Fort Bend and Montgomery counties.
Houston is the most populous municipality of Texas and the fifth-most populous city of the nation with an estimated population of 2,323 million inhabitants. Also, it represents the economic center of the Greater Houston metro area, which possesses an economy bases on energy, manufacturing, aeronautics, and transportation.
Houston expands across 637.4 square miles, being the 8th most extensive state of the U.S. at the moment; it disposes of 178 non-unique ZIP codes.
Pearland
Pearland is a principal city associated whit the Greater Houston metro area. Located in Brazoria County, it also surrounds small portions of Harris and Fort Bend counties. Bordered by Houston, Brookside Village, Friendswood, and Manvel, this city covers a total area of 48.84 square miles.
Currently, Pearland is the 29th most populous city in the state, encompassing around 122k residents. 83% of the city’s territory is a residential area, being home to many master-planned communities, just like Sunrise Lakes, Southern Trails, Southdown, and Lakes of Highland Glen.
Surrounded by the prefix 281, Pearland owns 5 non-unique ZIP codes: 77047, 77089, 77581, 77584, and 77588.
4. Other Important Districts and ZIP Codes of the 281 Area Code
The 281 area code covers 9 of the 254 Texas counties:
- Harris County: located in Southeast Texas next to Galveston Bay, Harris is the most populous county in the state. This county was named for the settler of Mexican Texas John Richardson Harris and disposes of 230 ZIP codes.
- Brazoria County: founded in 1836, Brazoria is the 15th state’s most populous county with a population estimated at 360k Its county seat is Angleton and possesses 21 ZIP codes.
- Galveston County: established along the Gulf Coast adjacent to Galveston Bay, this county covers a total area of 874 square miles. Included in the Greater Houston area, its largest municipality is League City and encloses 23 ZIP codes.
Main Postal and Shipping Services
- USPS Copperfield Annex, Houston, TX, - +1 281-859-9014
- US Post Office in Ace Hardware, Houston, TX, - +1 281-469-8020
- KATY ANNEX, Katy, TX, - +1 281-574-1401
- A & M Postal Center, Houston, TX, - +1 281-894-5996
5. FAQs
How many area codes are there in Texas?
Texas disposes of the 27 area codes, the second biggest quantity of codifications for a single state in the country.
What is the most recent area code added to Texas?
The most recent area code introduced to the state is the 726 area code, added in 2017.