582 Area Code: Erie & State College — Cities & Numbers

Quick answer: The 582 area code is an overlay for the 814 area code in northwestern and north-central Pennsylvania, serving Erie, State College, Altoona, Johnstown, and a vast stretch of the state from Lake Erie to the Allegheny Mountains. Because 582 overlays 814, ten-digit dialing is mandatory for all local calls in the region. You can get a 582 number through a virtual provider without relocating to Pennsylvania.

Introduction

Northwestern and north-central Pennsylvania is one of the most geographically varied regions in the American Northeast — and one of the least appreciated. Most outsiders know Erie as the state's only Great Lakes port, but the 814 and 582 region extends hundreds of miles south from Erie's waterfront across the Allegheny Plateau, through Appalachian ridge-and-valley country, past former steel and coal towns, and eventually into the limestone valleys that bracket State College at the geographic heart of Pennsylvania.

Erie carries a history disproportionate to its current size. The city was the site of Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry's decisive victory on Lake Erie during the War of 1812, and the reconstructed brig Niagara remains docked at its waterfront as one of the region's most recognisable landmarks. Today Erie's economy is anchored by healthcare, manufacturing, and a growing tourism economy built on Presque Isle State Park — a sandy peninsula jutting into Lake Erie that draws millions of visitors each year for beaches, birding, and kayaking.

State College sits roughly in the centre of Pennsylvania and derives its entire identity from Pennsylvania State University, one of the largest universities in the United States by enrolment. Penn State's presence shapes everything: the local housing market, the restaurant economy, the research infrastructure, and the calendar of the region.

The Nittany Valley that surrounds State College — long nicknamed Happy Valley — is insulated from Pennsylvania's deindustrialisation story by the stability of a major research university and the spending of 100,000-plus students, faculty, and staff. This guide explains how 582 and 814 share this territory, the communities they serve, and everything you need to know about dialing correctly into this region.

Where the 582 area code reaches

The 582 and 814 area codes share the same geographic footprint, covering the northwestern and north-central portions of Pennsylvania. The territory stretches from Erie County on Lake Erie in the northwest, south through Crawford, Mercer, and Venango counties, east across the Allegheny National Forest plateau through Clarion, Clearfield, and Centre counties to the Susquehanna watershed, and south through Blair, Huntingdon, and Cambria counties toward the West Virginia state line.

Major counties in the 582/814 footprint include Erie County (Erie), Centre County (State College, Bellefonte), Blair County (Altoona), Cambria County (Johnstown), Crawford County (Meadville), Venango County (Oil City, Franklin), Clearfield County (DuBois), McKean County (Bradford), Forest County, Potter County, and Elk County. The region touches the Ohio and New York state borders to the west and north respectively and reaches within forty miles of the Maryland border in the south.

582 and 814 are overlay codes — both serve the identical geographic territory, meaning every exchange in the region may carry either prefix. For a look at how standalone dedicated codes differ from overlay arrangements, the 574 area covers northern Indiana including South Bend — a comparable standalone code in the neighboring Midwest manufacturing belt.

A short history of Pennsylvania's 582 code

Pennsylvania entered the North American Numbering Plan in 1947 with three original area codes: 215 for southeastern Pennsylvania, 412 for the Pittsburgh southwest, and 814 for the north and central regions of the state. The 814 code was assigned to one of the largest geographic footprints of any original NANP code east of the Mississippi, covering roughly the top two-thirds of Pennsylvania by land area.

For more than seven decades, 814 served this enormous territory through the growth of the postwar economy, the telecommunications boom of the 1980s, and the mobile phone explosion of the 1990s and 2000s. By the late 2010s the 814 number pool was approaching exhaustion. Pennsylvania's Public Utility Commission and the North American Numbering Plan Administrator determined that a geographic split — which would divide communities that shared a single code for 70-plus years — would be more disruptive than an overlay.

In 2021 the 582 area code was introduced as an overlay for 814, assigning new numbers from the 582 pool while existing 814 numbers continued in service. Mandatory ten-digit dialing went into effect throughout the region at the time of the overlay launch, eliminating seven-digit local calling across the entire 814/582 footprint.

Major cities in the 582 area code

The 814/582 footprint encompasses one of the widest economic ranges of any area-code region in the Northeast — from a Great Lakes port city to a Big Ten university town, from Drake Oil Country to Allegheny Mountain ski resorts:

Erie is the largest city in the 814/582 region with a metro population of approximately 270,000. It is the fourth-largest city in Pennsylvania and the state's only port on the Great Lakes, giving it a commercial and logistical character distinct from the interior communities.

State College, though a relatively small city in population terms, commands outsized economic influence through Penn State — which is consistently among the top research universities in the country and generates billions in regional economic output each year. Altoona and Johnstown carry the weight of Pennsylvania's industrial past, while the Oil City and Bradford corridor preserves the memory of the world's first commercial oil boom.

How to dial a 582 number

Because 582 is an overlay code sharing territory with 814, ten-digit dialing is mandatory for every local call in the region — there is no seven-digit option:

Ten-digit dialing is required even for calls between neighbours sharing the same exchange. Dialling only seven digits will result in a recorded announcement that your call cannot be completed. This applies to landlines, mobile phones, and VoIP systems alike throughout the 814/582 footprint.

The 582 area code sits in Eastern Time — Eastern Standard Time (UTC−5) in winter and Eastern Daylight Time (UTC−4) in summer. Pennsylvania observes daylight saving time statewide. At noon in Erie or State College it is noon in New York and Philadelphia, 11 AM in Chicago, 9 AM in Los Angeles, and 5 PM in London.

Eastern Time puts the 582 region on the same clock as the major East Coast business centres and within one or two time zones of every other major US market. Across the New York state line, the 585 area covers Rochester and the Finger Lakes region as a standalone geographic code on the same Eastern Time clock.

Why choose a 582 number

A 582 number signals to Erie and State College callers that your business operates in their market and knows their community. In a region where local vendor relationships are the norm — whether in the healthcare supply chain around Erie's hospital cluster, the research procurement networks around Penn State, or the manufacturing supplier networks in Altoona and Johnstown — a local-looking prefix opens calls that out-of-state numbers simply do not.

The 814/582 region also represents a substantial market that is often overlooked by national businesses focused on Pittsburgh or Philadelphia. Penn State alone brings more than 40,000 undergraduates plus graduate students, faculty, and staff to Centre County, creating year-round demand across every consumer and business category.

Erie's position as the only Great Lakes port in Pennsylvania gives it strategic logistics advantages and a distinct commercial identity. Virtual providers issue 582 numbers and forward calls to any device — no Pennsylvania address needed. My Country Mobile can provision a 582 number the same day and route it through your existing system, letting your team project a genuine north-central Pennsylvania presence from anywhere in the country.

Staying safe from 582 scam calls

A 582 or 814 number on your caller ID does not confirm the call is originating from Erie, State College, or anywhere in Pennsylvania. Spoofed calls are particularly effective in overlay regions because residents already expect calls from two different prefixes — 814 and 582 — making any local-looking number seem plausible.

Common scams in the region include fake Penn State financial aid or tuition payment calls targeting students and families, utility disconnection threats impersonating Penelec or National Fuel Gas, IRS and Social Security fraud, and neighbour-spoofing robocalls that cycle through sequences close to well-known local institutions.

The FCC's call verification requires carriers to verify call origin and flag likely spoofed calls as "Spam Risk" or "Scam Likely" on compatible handsets. If an unexpected 582 or 814 caller creates urgency, claims your account is at risk, demands immediate payment by gift card or wire transfer, or refuses to provide a verifiable callback number, hang up and contact the organisation directly through a number from its official website.

Conclusion

The 582 area code is the overlay partner of one of Pennsylvania's original area codes — a region that spans from the Great Lakes waterfront of Erie to the university highlands of Happy Valley, from the oil-boom corridors of Venango County to the Horseshoe Curve of Altoona, all under a shared dialing footprint that stretches across the north-central third of the state.

Introduced in 2021 to relieve a number pool that had served its territory for more than seven decades, 582 brings new capacity to a region with as much economic and cultural variety as any in the Northeast.

For businesses building a presence in northwestern or north-central Pennsylvania, a 582 number delivers local credibility across a market where Erie's port economy, Penn State's research culture, and the industrial heritage of Altoona and Johnstown all sit within the same dialing region. My Country Mobile can activate a 582 line the same day, with no hardware and no Pennsylvania address required.

Key takeaways

• The 582 area code overlays 814 across northwestern and north-central Pennsylvania, introduced in 2021.
• Because 582 is an overlay code, ten-digit dialing is mandatory — seven-digit local calls will not connect.
• The 582/814 region covers Erie, State College, Altoona, Johnstown, Oil City, Meadville, DuBois, and Bradford.
• 582 operates on Eastern Time (UTC−5 winter / UTC−4 summer) — Pennsylvania observes daylight saving time.
• A virtual 582 number delivers local credibility across Erie's Great Lakes market and Penn State's university economy with no Pennsylvania address required.
• Scammers spoof 582 and 814 numbers — verify unexpected callers before sharing money or personal information.

Frequently asked questions