McAllen, TX Area Code

Area code serving McAllen

McAllen sits in Texas, part of the South region and the Central Time zone. Its area code is 956, which covers south Texas border region, including Laredo and the Rio Grande Valley. 956 has no overlay today, so every McAllen landline and mobile number with a local code starts with 956.

956 has served the area since 1997. 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
956	South Texas border region, including Laredo and the Rio Grande Valley	July 7, 1997

Nearby cities sharing this area code

• Laredo
• Brownsville
• Edinburg
• Mission
• Pharr
• Harlingen
• Weslaco
• San Benito
• Rio Grande City
• Port Isabel
• South Padre Island
• Zapata

Getting a McAllen phone number

Any new landline, mobile or VoIP number from a local carrier in McAllen gets the 956 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 McAllen

McAllen is covered by the single area code 956 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 Texas, visit the Texas area codes page.