813 Area Code: Tampa FL Location, Time Zone & Scam Check (2026)
The 813 area code covers Tampa, Florida and Hillsborough County. Learn its history as Florida's second area code, Eastern time zone, Ybor City cigar heritage, Gasparilla festival, and how to call Tampa internationally.
Quick Answer
The 813 area code covers Tampa, Florida and most of Hillsborough County, plus parts of eastern Pasco County. It's in the Eastern time zone (UTC-5 / UTC-4 during DST). Created in 1953 as Florida's second-ever area code, 813 now serves approximately 1.6 million people in the Tampa Bay metro.
Where Is the 813 Area Code?
The 813 area code covers Tampa and the surrounding communities across Hillsborough County — from the bustling downtown waterfront and historic Ybor City east to Plant City (the Winter Strawberry Capital), south to Sun City Center and Ruskin, and north into the fast-growing Wesley Chapel and Land O' Lakes communities of Pasco County.
The original 813 territory was massive — from 1953 to 1995, it covered Florida's entire Gulf Coast from Tampa all the way down to Naples, spanning roughly 15 counties. Two successive splits (941 in 1995, 727 in 1998) shrank it to essentially Hillsborough County and parts of eastern Pasco. A 656 overlay was added in 2022.
Neighboring Area Codes
St. Petersburg
Clearwater (west)
Sarasota
Bradenton (south)
Tampa overlay
(same area, 2022)
History of the 813 Area Code
Area code 813 has an unusual origin: it was Florida's second area code, created in 1953 when the state's only code (305) couldn't keep up with Gulf Coast growth. But unlike most metro areas served by AT&T/Bell, the 813 territory was primarily served by General Telephone (GTE) — making Tampa Bay one of the largest US metros operated by a non-Bell phone company.
This GTE heritage mattered when splits came — the 1998 split that created 727 was drawn largely along GTE vs. Bell territory lines. The result left 813 concentrated on Hillsborough County, while the Pinellas beaches went to 727. Only Oldsmar — a Pinellas city on the Hillsborough County border — stayed in 813.
| Code | Year | Type | What Happened |
|---|---|---|---|
| 305 | 1947 | Original | AT&T assigns 305 as the sole area code for all of Florida — one of the 86 original NANP codes. |
| 813 | 1953 | Split | January 1 — Florida's second area code is created, covering the entire Gulf Coast from Pasco County to Naples. Served primarily by General Telephone (GTE), not AT&T/Bell. |
| 941 | 1995 | Split | May 28 — Southern portion (Sarasota, Fort Myers, Naples) splits into 941, removing 6 counties from 813. |
| 727 | 1998 | Split | Mid-1998 — Most of Pinellas County (St. Pete, Clearwater) and western Pasco split into 727. Only Oldsmar stays in 813. |
| 656 | 2022 | Overlay | February 22 — New overlay activated for the same 813 territory after all 813 prefixes are exhausted. 10-digit dialing now required. |
Cultural note: The 813 area code has become a genuine identity marker for Tampa residents. August 13 (8/13) is celebrated as "813 Day" with $8.13 food and drink specials across the city. You'll see 813 on T-shirts, murals, tattoos, and local business branding throughout Tampa.
813 Area Code Time Zone & Best Time to Call
The entire 813 coverage area is in the Eastern Time Zone (ET) — UTC-5 during standard time and UTC-4 during daylight saving time.
Best Time to Call Tampa
- Business calls: 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM ET
- Personal calls: 10:00 AM – 8:00 PM ET
- Avoid: Before 8:00 AM and after 9:00 PM
- From West Coast (PT): Add 3 hours (9 AM PT = 12 PM ET)
- From Central (CT): Add 1 hour (11 AM CT = 12 PM ET)
International Time Differences
- London (GMT/BST): Tampa is 5 hours behind
- Mumbai (IST): Tampa is 10.5 hours behind
- Tokyo (JST): Tampa is 14 hours behind
- Sydney (AEST): Tampa is 15 hours behind
- Mexico City (CST): Tampa is 1 hour ahead
Use our Best Time to Call tool to convert between Tampa and any time zone instantly.
Is 813 a Spam Area Code?
The 813 area code is completely legitimate — it serves 1.6 million people in the Tampa area. But Florida has one of the worst robocall problems in the nation: the state received 363.2 million robocalls in August 2024 alone, averaging 19 spam calls per person per month.
Neighboring St. Petersburg (area code 727, which was split from 813 in 1998) logged 6,708 robocall complaints in 2024 — the second-worst rate in the entire nation at 700 complaints per 100,000 residents. Nationally, robocall volumes hit a six-year high in 2025, with 2.56 billion unwanted calls per month.
| Scam Type | Prevalence | How It Works |
|---|---|---|
| IRS impersonation | #1 type | Callers claiming unpaid taxes with threats of arrest — Florida receives 19+ spam calls per person per month |
| Tech support fraud | ~12% | Callers posing as Microsoft or Apple, requesting remote access to your computer or payment via gift cards |
| Auto warranty scams | ~10% | Persistent robocalls about vehicle warranty expiration — one of the most common robocall types in Florida |
| Medicare/insurance fraud | ~8% | Targeting Florida's large retiree population with fake Medicare benefit calls, especially in Sun City Center area |
| Neighbor spoofing | Rising | Scammers spoof local 813 numbers so calls appear to come from your own area code, increasing answer rates |
Got a suspicious call from an 813 number? Use our Spam Number Checker to look up the number. You can also use the Area Code Lookup tool to verify where any US number originates.
How to Call an 813 Number from Outside the US
Dialing Format by Country
+1 813 XXX XXXX00 1 813 XXX XXXX00 1 813 XXX XXXX00 1 813 XXX XXXX0011 1 813 XXX XXXXCall Tampa Numbers with BubblyPhone
Need to call someone in the 813 area code? BubblyPhone offers crystal-clear international calls to Tampa at rates starting from $0.01/min. No app download needed — call directly from your browser.
View RatesMajor Cities & Communities in the 813 Area Code
| City / Community | Population (2025 est.) | County |
|---|---|---|
| Tampa | 385,000 | Hillsborough |
| Town 'n' Country | 87,000 | Hillsborough |
| Wesley Chapel | 75,000 | Pasco |
| Riverview | 71,000 | Hillsborough |
| Brandon | 49,000 | Hillsborough |
| Valrico | 40,000 | Hillsborough |
| Plant City | 40,000 | Hillsborough |
| Land O' Lakes | 38,000 | Pasco |
| Carrollwood | 34,000 | Hillsborough |
| Lake Magdalene | 32,000 | Hillsborough |
| Citrus Park | 27,000 | Hillsborough |
| Temple Terrace | 27,000 | Hillsborough |
| Ruskin | 26,000 | Hillsborough |
| Bloomingdale | 25,000 | Hillsborough |
| Fish Hawk | 24,000 | Hillsborough |
| Lutz | 23,000 | Hillsborough / Pasco |
| Zephyrhills | 22,000 | Pasco |
| Sun City Center | 20,000 | Hillsborough |
What Makes the 813 Area Code Region Unique
Ybor City: Cigar Capital of the World
Founded in 1886 by Cuban cigar manufacturer Vicente Martinez Ybor. By 1910, over 200 factories produced one million cigars per day. At peak production in the 1920s: 400 million hand-rolled cigars per year. The unique "lector" tradition — readers hired to read newspapers and novels aloud to cigar rollers — made these workers among the most politically informed laborers in the country.
Gasparilla: The Pirate Festival
First held May 4, 1904 — over 120 years old. Named after the fictional pirate Jose Gaspar, whose legend was entirely fabricated as a marketing gimmick. The first 40-member krewe rented costumes from New Orleans. Now draws 300,000+ attendees, making it the 3rd-largest parade in the US with 50+ krewes and $40 million+ annual economic impact.
"Champa Bay" Sports Dynasty
Tampa earned the nickname "Champa Bay" after an extraordinary championship run: Lightning won 3 Stanley Cups (2004, 2020, 2021), Buccaneers won 2 Super Bowls (2003, 2021), and the Rays reached 2 World Series. Named best sports city in the country by Sports Business Journal during the 2020-21 season when all 3 teams reached championship rounds simultaneously.
CENTCOM & SOCOM at MacDill AFB
MacDill Air Force Base, just 4 miles south of downtown Tampa, hosts two of the most strategically important military commands in the world: U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) and U.S. Special Operations Command (SOCOM). Combined economic impact: $3.9–5 billion annually. Tampa is sometimes called the "quiet capital of U.S. military power projection."
Tampa by the Numbers
Notable Landmarks in the 813 Area Code
Bayshore Boulevard
At 4.5 miles, this is the longest continuous sidewalk in the world, running along Hillsborough Bay. It's also the route of the Gasparilla parade and one of Tampa's most iconic addresses.
Busch Gardens Tampa Bay
Theme park and zoo with world-class roller coasters (Iron Gwazi, SheiKra, Cheetah Hunt) and over 200 animal species. One of the largest zoological institutions in North America, combined with a major thrill park.
Henry B. Plant Museum
The striking Moorish Revival minarets of the former Tampa Bay Hotel (built 1891), now part of the University of Tampa. Served as the officers' headquarters during the Spanish-American War in 1898, when 30,000 troops (including Teddy Roosevelt's Rough Riders) assembled in Tampa.
Tampa Riverwalk
A 2.6-mile pedestrian path along the Hillsborough River connecting the Florida Aquarium, Tampa Museum of Art, Glazer Children's Museum, Curtis Hixon Waterfront Park, and Armature Works (a renovated 1910 streetcar maintenance building turned food hall).
Cigar City Brewing
Founded in 2007 by Tampa native Joey Redner. Their flagship "Jai Alai" IPA is named after the Basque sport once hugely popular in Tampa. Other beers: "Guayabera" (Cuban shirt), "Invasion" (pirate history), "Maduro" (cigar wrapper). Credited with igniting Florida's entire craft beer movement. Relocating to Ybor City in 2026.
Major Companies in the 813 Area Code
Tampa is sometimes called the "Wall Street of the South" due to its concentration of financial services firms. The financial and professional services sector employs approximately 230,000 workers in the region. MacDill AFB brings an additional $3.9–5 billion in annual defense spending to the Tampa Bay economy.
| Company | Sector | Scale |
|---|---|---|
| Bloomin' Brands | Restaurants (Outback, Carrabba's, Bonefish) | 1,450+ locations |
| The Mosaic Company | Agriculture — world's largest phosphate producer | Fortune 500 |
| WellCare Health Plans | Managed healthcare / insurance | 2.3M+ customers |
| Moffitt Cancer Center | Healthcare — cancer survival rates 4x national avg | ~9,000 |
| BayCare Health System | Healthcare — largest non-govt employer in region | 30,000+ |
| Hillsborough County Schools | Education — 7th largest US school district | 22,680 |
| University of South Florida | Higher education / research university | ~15,837 |
| USAA (Tampa campus) | Financial services for military families | ~3,900 |
| Cigar City Brewing | Craft beer — 170,000 barrels/year, 30+ states | Founded 2007 |
| Syniverse Technologies | Global telecom infrastructure | HQ in Tampa |
Related Area Codes
Tampa Bay Region
- 813 — Tampa / Hillsborough (1953) — this article
- 656 — Tampa overlay (2022)
- 727 — St. Petersburg / Clearwater (split from 813 in 1998)
- 941 — Sarasota / Bradenton (split from 813 in 1995)
Frequently Asked Questions About the 813 Area Code
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