573 Area Code: Location, Time Zone, Cities & Scam Guide
Seeing 573 pop up on your phone? That prefix belongs to one of the largest area code territories in the Midwest — the 573 area code covers most of eastern Missouri outside the immediate St. Louis area, stretching from the state capital of Jefferson City to the Mississippi River towns of the southeast. Whether you got a missed call from an unknown 573 number, you’re relocating to Columbia or Cape Girardeau, or you’re setting up a local business line, this guide has you covered.
Below you’ll find the full picture: the cities and counties in the 573 region, its time zone, the code’s history (including its brand-new 2024 overlay), how to dial it, and how to tell legitimate calls from scams.
573 Area Code at a Glance
| Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Area Code | 573 |
| State | Missouri |
| Region | Eastern Missouri (excluding the St. Louis metro) |
| Largest Cities | Columbia, Jefferson City |
| Time Zone | Central Time (CST/UTC−6 standard, CDT/UTC−5 daylight saving) |
| Type | Geographic code with overlay (235, added 2024) |
| In Service Since | January 7, 1996 |
| Created As | Split of area code 314 |
| Dialing | 10-digit dialing required since February 24, 2024 |
Where Is the 573 Area Code Located?
The 573 area code occupies most of the eastern half of Missouri, with one notable carve-out: the St. Louis metropolitan area, which kept the 314 code. The 573 numbering plan area is enormous — it extends from near the northeastern corner of the state at the Illinois border, westward to the Lake of the Ozarks at its western tip, and down through all of southeastern Missouri, including the Missouri Bootheel, to the Arkansas state line.
This is a region of real geographic and cultural variety: the college town of Columbia in the north-central part of the state, the state capital at Jefferson City, the Mississippi River port cities of the east, and the Ozark foothills and lake country to the west and south. If your 573 call feels like it could be from anywhere in Missouri — that’s because it nearly is.
Cities Covered by the 573 Area Code
The two largest cities in the 573 territory are:
- Columbia — home to the University of Missouri (Mizzou), the largest city in the area code and a hub for education, healthcare, and insurance
- Jefferson City — Missouri’s state capital, anchoring state government offices and agencies
Other major cities and towns in the 573 region include:
- Cape Girardeau — a Mississippi River city in the southeast with a historic downtown riverfront
- Hannibal — Mark Twain’s boyhood hometown on the Mississippi River
- Rolla — home to Missouri University of Science and Technology
- Sikeston, Poplar Bluff, and Caruthersville — southeastern Missouri and Bootheel communities
- Farmington — in the historic Lead Belt mining region
- Mexico, Moberly, Fulton, and Kirksville-area towns — north-central Missouri communities
- Camdenton, Waynesville, Osage Beach, and Lake Ozark — the Lake of the Ozarks resort region
Per the Missouri Public Service Commission, the code serves communities “such as, but not limited to” Jefferson City, Columbia, Rolla, Cape Girardeau, Poplar Bluff, Sikeston, Mexico, Hannibal, Camdenton, Waynesville, Farmington, and Caruthersville.
History of the 573 Area Code
The 573 area code was born on January 7, 1996, in a split of area code 314. The original 314 had served the eastern half of Missouri since 1947, but by the mid-1990s the explosion of cell phones, fax machines, pagers, and computer modems was pushing it toward exhaustion. Regulators divided the numbering plan area in two: the St. Louis metropolitan area kept 314, and everything else — most of eastern Missouri — became 573. A permissive dialing period ran until July 7, 1996, during which both codes worked in the new territory.
The split bought the region nearly three decades, but number demand kept climbing. By 2023, NANPA projected that 573 was running out of assignable numbers, and the Missouri Public Service Commission approved the state’s next relief step: an overlay. Area code 235 was added to the 573 region, with a six-month permissive dialing period beginning August 26, 2023. As of February 24, 2024, ten-digit dialing is mandatory for all local calls in the 573 area, and since March 24, 2024, new phone lines may be assigned 235 numbers instead of 573.
Existing 573 numbers were unaffected — no one had to change their phone number when the overlay arrived.
What Time Zone Is the 573 Area Code?
The entire 573 area code territory is in the Central Time Zone:
- Central Standard Time (CST) — UTC−6, from early November to mid-March
- Central Daylight Time (CDT) — UTC−5, from the second Sunday in March through the first Sunday in November
Calling a 573 number from the coasts? It’s one hour behind Eastern Time and two hours ahead of Pacific Time. For business callers, the sweet spot for reaching someone in Columbia or Jefferson City is mid-morning to mid-afternoon Central.
How to Dial a 573 Area Code Number
Since the 235 overlay took effect, ten-digit dialing is mandatory for all local calls in the 573 region — even calls across the street. This changed in February 2024, so longtime Missouri residents who grew up dialing seven digits have had to adjust.
Calling within the United States
- Local call (within the 573/235 region): Dial all 10 digits — 573 + the 7-digit number (e.g., 573-555-0182). Seven-digit dialing no longer works.
- Long-distance call from elsewhere in the US: Dial 1 + 573 + the 7-digit number — e.g., 1-573-555-0182.
Calling a 573 number from outside the United States
Dial your country’s international exit code, then 1 (the US country code), then the 10-digit number: exit code + 1 + 573 + number. From the UK, for example: 00-1-573-555-0182.
Texting a 573 number
Use the full 10-digit number. Newer lines in the same region may carry the 235 overlay code — texts to those numbers work exactly the same way.
Is the 573 Area Code a Scam?
No — the 573 area code is a legitimate, officially assigned area code for eastern Missouri. Millions of genuine calls every day come from 573 numbers: state government offices in Jefferson City, Mizzou students and staff in Columbia, river-town businesses, and Lake of the Ozarks resorts.
That said, scammers routinely spoof local area codes, and 573 is no exception. “Neighbor spoofing” makes a call look like it’s coming from a nearby Missouri number when it’s actually placed from a call center overseas. Common schemes reported in the region include:
- State government impersonation — fake calls claiming to be from the Missouri Department of Revenue or a county sheriff’s office, demanding payment for supposed fines or back taxes.
- Utility shutoff threats — callers posing as Ameren Missouri or a local electric cooperative, pressuring you to pay immediately by gift card.
- Medicare and Social Security fraud — targeting older adults with fake benefit updates or threats of suspended benefits.
- Package delivery and bank phishing — texts and calls claiming a delivery problem or locked account, linking to fake login pages.
- One-ring scams — a single ring from an unknown 573 number, hoping you’ll call back a number that charges premium rates or harvests your information.
How to Protect Yourself
- Let unfamiliar numbers go to voicemail. Real callers — including government offices — leave messages.
- Verify independently. If someone claims to be from the IRS, your utility, or your bank, hang up and call the organization’s published number yourself.
- Never pay by gift card, wire transfer, or cryptocurrency at a caller’s demand. That is always a scam.
- Enable spam filtering on your phone — iPhone’s “Silence Unknown Callers” and Android’s spam protection, plus your carrier’s free call-labeling service.
- Report scams to the FTC at reportfraud.ftc.gov and the Missouri Attorney General’s consumer protection hotline.
Frequently Asked Questions
What cities use the 573 area code?
The largest are Columbia (home of the University of Missouri) and Jefferson City (the state capital). The code also covers Cape Girardeau, Hannibal, Rolla, Sikeston, Farmington, Poplar Bluff, Mexico, the Lake of the Ozarks region, and most of eastern Missouri outside St. Louis.
Is 573 a Missouri area code?
Yes. The 573 area code is entirely within Missouri, covering the eastern half of the state except for the St. Louis metropolitan area (which uses 314, overlaid by 557).
When was the 573 area code created?
Area code 573 was created on January 7, 1996, in a split of area code 314.
Why does 573 require 10-digit dialing now?
Because area code 235 was added as an overlay to the 573 region in 2024. With two codes sharing the same territory, the network needs the full 10 digits to route local calls. Mandatory 10-digit dialing began February 24, 2024.
What time zone is the 573 area code in?
The 573 area code is in the Central Time Zone — UTC−6 standard (CST), UTC−5 during daylight saving time (CDT).
Do I get charged long distance for calling a 573 number?
That depends on your phone plan, not the area code itself. Calls within the 573/235 region are local calls (though you must dial ten digits). With most modern mobile and VoIP plans, US long-distance calling is included anyway — check with your carrier.
Conclusion
The 573 area code is the telephone backbone of eastern Missouri — from the college energy of Columbia to the statehouse in Jefferson City, the riverfront of Cape Girardeau, and the resort towns of the Lake of the Ozarks. Born in a 1996 split from 314 and now sharing its territory with the 235 overlay, it operates on Central Time and requires ten-digit dialing for every local call.
A 573 number on your caller ID is overwhelmingly likely to be a genuine Missouri call. Still, treat any unexpected call the same way you would anywhere else: don’t answer unknown numbers, verify urgent claims through official channels, and never send money to someone who called you out of the blue. Stay alert, and the 573 area code is nothing to fear — it’s just Missouri calling.