Lexington, KY Area Code

Area code serving Lexington

Lexington sits in Kentucky, part of the South region and the Eastern Time zone. Its area code is 859, which covers central Kentucky Bluegrass region and Northern Kentucky near Cincinnati. 859 has no overlay today, so every Lexington landline and mobile number with a local code starts with 859.

859 has served the area since 2000. If the region runs low on numbers, regulators will most likely add an overlay code on top rather than split the area, which would make 10-digit dialing mandatory.

Code	Area served	In service
859	Central Kentucky Bluegrass region and Northern Kentucky near Cincinnati	April 1, 2000

Nearby cities sharing this area code

• Covington
• Richmond
• Florence
• Georgetown
• Nicholasville
• Independence
• Erlanger
• Winchester
• Danville
• Newport
• Fort Thomas
• Berea
• Versailles

Getting a Lexington phone number

Any new landline, mobile or VoIP number from a local carrier in Lexington gets the 859 area code. Numbers come from the blocks each carrier holds in the area; a number ported in from elsewhere keeps its original area code, so you may also see out-of-state codes locally.

Dialing in Lexington

Lexington is covered by the single area code 859 with no overlay, so some local calls may still connect with seven digits. Dialing all 10 digits (area code + seven-digit number) always works and is the safest habit. From outside the US, dial +1, then the area code and number. See 10-digit dialing and overlay area codes for the background. For every code in Kentucky, visit the Kentucky area codes page.