The 662 area code belongs to northern Mississippi, covering a wide stretch of the state from the Memphis metro border down through the Delta and into the northeast corner. It was put into service on April 19, 1999, after northern Mississippi was split off from the original 601 area code.​
What Does the 662 Area Code Cover?
The 662 area code covers the northern half of Mississippi, including 151 cities across 43 counties. The most populated cities under this code are Southaven, Olive Branch, and Tupelo, followed by Greenville, Clarksdale, and Columbus. Six counties that form part of the greater Memphis metro area, including DeSoto, Tunica, and Marshall, also fall under 662, which is why people in the Memphis area regularly receive calls from this code.
Universities are a notable part of the 662 footprint. Oxford, home to the University of Mississippi (Ole Miss), and Starkville, home to Mississippi State University, both sit inside the 662 service area. That puts a large student and faculty population under this area code, which matters when someone is trying to verify whether an unfamiliar number is legitimate.​
Why 662 Area Code Was Created?
Before 1999, the entire state of Mississippi operated under a single area code: 601. Population growth and a sharp increase in phone line demand, especially around the Memphis metro side of the state, pushed the North American Numbering Plan Administrator (NANPA) to split the state. The northern half got 662, and the southern half kept 601.
This was not just a bureaucratic shuffle. The telecom infrastructure serving the Memphis corridor was running out of available number combinations under 601. Splitting the state gave northern Mississippi its own numbering pool, which bought several more decades of capacity.​
The New 471 Overlay
By 2023, NANPA projected that 662 would approach prefix exhaustion by early 2026. An overlay area code, 471, was approved to cover the same geographic region. Network preparation started April 30, 2025, with a target in-service date of January 30, 2026. This does not mean the existing 662 numbers change. Customers keep their current numbers, and new lines in northern Mississippi may be assigned 471 going forward. Ten-digit dialing is already required across the region.​
Time Zone
The entire 662 area code sits in the Central Time Zone, running at GMT -6:00. Anyone calling from the East Coast should keep in mind they are two hours ahead. That detail matters for businesses trying to reach clients in northern Mississippi during standard working hours.​
Spam and Scam Calls
Getting a call from a 662 number does not automatically mean it is local or legitimate. Reported spam from 662 numbers includes auto warranty calls at 15% of complaints, Medicare and Medicaid calls at 10%, and health insurance calls at 8.33%. Political calls and credit card debt pitches round out the top categories.​
Scammers regularly use area codes like 662 to appear local to Mississippi residents, making the call seem more trustworthy. If you receive a call from a 662 number you do not recognize, running a reverse phone lookup before calling back is a reasonable step. Services like CallerSmart compile user-reported data on numbers flagged for spam from this area code.​
Cultural Significance
The 662 area code carries some real cultural weight in Mississippi. Blues guitarist Christone “Kingfish” Ingram, who is from Clarksdale, named his second album 662 after his home area code. Clarksdale sits in the Mississippi Delta and has a long history as a center of American blues music, so the choice was deliberate. The album put the area code on a wider map for people outside the region.​
Should You Answer a 662 Call?
If you are in or near northern Mississippi and you receive a call from a 662 number, it is likely a local call. If you are outside of Mississippi entirely and have no connection to the region, it is worth being cautious. The pattern of spam calls reported from this code, especially health insurance and warranty robocalls, suggests scammers do use it to reach people nationwide.
The safest approach is to let unknown 662 calls go to voicemail if you are not expecting contact from anyone in northern Mississippi. A real caller will leave a message. A robocall usually will not.
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