Area code 520

Map of Arizona area codes in blue (and border states) with 520 in red

North American area code 520 is a state of Arizona telephone area code serving Tucson and most of the southeastern part of the state.

It was created in a split from area code 602 on March 19, 1995. Previously, 602 had been the sole area code for the state of Arizona since the introduction of area codes in 1947. With Arizona's rapid growth during the second half of the 20th century, it was taken for granted that the state would need another area code. However, the split was hastened by the proliferation of cell phones and pagers.

With the split, 602 was restricted to the Phoenix metropolitan area (except for a few areas in western and southern Maricopa County), while 520 was used for the rest of the state, completely surrounding 602.

Within two years of its creation, however, 520 was already close to exhaustion due to the rapid growth of the Tucson area (and to a lesser extent Yuma and Flagstaff) as well as the proliferation of cell phones and pagers. In 2001, area code 928 was created as a split from 520. (928 was only the third North American area code not using 0 or 1 as its middle digit.) All of Pima, Santa Cruz and Cochise, most of Pinal County and part of southern Maricopa County kept 520, while Yuma and La Paz counties, western Maricopa County and all of northern Arizona were switched to 928.

Counties served by this area code:

Communities served by this area code:

External links

"Area Code Maps". NANPA.

List of exchanges from AreaCodeDownload.com, 520 Area Code

Arizona area codes: 520, 602/480/623, 928
	North: 480, 602, 928
West: 623, 928	area code 520	East: 575
	South: Country code +52 in Mexico
New Mexico area codes: 505, 575