Area code 323 covers Los Angeles and surrounding communities in California.
Updated 8 October 2026
Area code 323 is in California, shown here with Los Angeles marked.
Now in Los Angeles
Pacific Time · UTC−8, UTC−7 in summer
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Typical business hours, 9 to 5 Monday to Friday.
Typical business hours, 9 to 5 Monday to Friday, shown as the blue arc. A guide to when a real Los Angeles office is likely to answer. It says nothing about who called you.
Source: North American Numbering Plan Administrator, retrieved 8 October 2026.
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Is area code 323 a scam?
No. Area code 323 is a legitimate area code serving Los Angeles since 1998. Scammers spoof caller ID to display 323 numbers, which is why complaints exist against a code that is itself genuine.
Neighbour spoofing is the reason a local-looking number is not a guarantee. A caller anywhere in the world can display a 323 number, and the number they display may belong to a real business in Los Angeles that has nothing to do with the call.
The callerAnywhere in the worldSets the caller ID their equipment sends.
What is displayed(323) 960-3543May belong to a real Los Angeles business.
Your phoneLooks localA nearby code and prefix make you likelier to answer.
473Area code 323 had 473 different numbers reported for spam calls in the 30 days to 8 October 2026.
174thArea code 323 ranks 174th of 331 US geographic area codes by spam complaint volume.
44%Of the 517 complaints about area code 323 in the 30 days to 8 October 2026, 44% were reported as a recorded message or robocall.
11%The most reported subject on area code 323 is calls pretending to be government, businesses, or family and friends, appearing in 11% of its complaints in the 30 days to 8 October 2026.
Why am I getting text messages from area code 323?
Texts from 323 numbers follow the same pattern as calls — mostly local businesses and services. Treat any text asking for payment or credentials as suspect regardless of the code.
The common patterns are a wrong-number opener that turns into conversation, an unsolicited job offer, and a crypto or investment tip. Do not reply, do not follow the link, and forward the message to 7726 (SPAM) to report it to your carrier.
Pattern 1Wrong-number openerTurns into conversation.
Pattern 2Unsolicited job offerDo not reply, do not follow the link.
Pattern 3Crypto or investment tipTreat any payment ask as suspect.
Report it7726Forward the message. It spells SPAM on a keypad.
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Area codes that overlay 323
Area code 323 shares its geographic footprint with 2 other codes: 213, 738. Overlays are laid over an existing area rather than splitting it, so all local calls require the full ten-digit number.
Area code 323 was split from 213 in 1998 and covers most of Los Angeles outside the downtown core: Hollywood, East LA, South LA, and a ring of neighborhoods around the center. Since 2017 the two codes have operated as a single overlay, joined by 738. The economy behind them is the second largest of any American city. The Los Angeles metro produced $1.355 trillion in GDP in 2024 (U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis), and the city itself employed 1.95 million people in 2024, led by healthcare and social assistance (about 246,500 workers), professional, scientific, and technical services (roughly 202,000), and retail trade (Data USA). Entertainment is the signature industry, and 323 territory contains most of its production geography, from Hollywood studios to the soundstages and post houses scattered through the eastside.
Who lives in the 323 region
Los Angeles counted 3.86 million residents in 2024, 47.2 percent of them Hispanic and 35.6 percent born outside the United States (Data USA). Spanish is the dominant second language of business here, and in many 323 neighborhoods it is the first. Statewide, the largest foreign-born communities come from Mexico, the Philippines, and China (Data USA, 2024), and Korean, Armenian, and Chinese all have commercial districts inside or bordering the 323 footprint. Median household income was $81,939 against a median property value of $921,200, a gap that explains why so much of the workforce commutes from cheaper counties.
What a 323 number signals to a caller
A 323 number reads as the real, working Los Angeles rather than the office towers of 213 or the westside's 310. Callers describe that as an asset in East LA and Hollywood and a neutral fact elsewhere, since Angelenos juggle multiple area codes daily and rarely blink at any of them. Business conversations in Los Angeles, California run casual in register and fast in expectation: callers describe entertainment-adjacent industries as text-first and allergic to voicemail, while the city's vast small-business economy, much of it Spanish-speaking, still values a phone call and a bilingual greeting. Traffic is a scheduling fact. Callers describe mid-morning and mid-afternoon as the windows when people actually answer.
Area code 323 serves Los Angeles and surrounding communities in California. It is in the Pacific Time zone.
What state is area code 323 in?
Area code 323 is in California. It is not in New York — those are area code 332.
Is area code 323 toll free?
No. Area code 323 is a geographic area code serving Los Angeles, California. The toll-free codes are 800, 833, 844, 855, 866, 877, 888, and a call to a 323 number is charged at your normal rate.
Why am I getting calls from 323?
Calls displaying a 323 number come from businesses and individuals in the Los Angeles area, and from anywhere at all when caller ID is spoofed to look local. 473 323 numbers were reported to the FTC in the 30 days to 8 October 2026.
How do I block calls from area code 323?
Both iOS and Android can silence calls from unknown numbers, and every major US carrier offers free call-blocking. Blocking the whole of area code 323 is rarely worth it, because spoofed numbers change constantly and you would lose legitimate calls from Los Angeles.