How to Find Out Where a Telephone Number Is Located

Maybe you want to know which city and state you’re calling or maybe you simply want to know the location of a business to determine its proximity to your home. Either way, you can quickly and easily learn where a telephone number is located using a few basic techniques.

Contact the operator or do an online search of the three-digit area code. Every U.S. cellular, residential and business phone number contains a three-digit area code followed by a seven-digit phone number. For example, "818" is the Burbank, California, area code.

Provide the operator with the number and request the location of that calling area. She will confirm the three-digit area code, verify its location and then provide a city name and calling area.

Enter the three-digit area code in a search engine and press "Enter." The city associated with that three-digit area code will appear within the search results.

Use your telephone directory. Many telephone directories provide a listing of all area codes within that state.

Visit your post office. Provide the three-digit area code to obtain the location of the phone number. The residential address will not be provided, but the post office can confirm the location. For example, if given the fictitious number, “513-555-5555,” the post office could verify that the “513” number is within the Hamilton County, Ohio, calling area.

Use a reverse service such as YellowPages.com (“Yellow Pages”) or Whosthiscaller.com. Enter the 10-digit number and review the search results. Each website provides the calling area (location) where the telephone number is located.