Area code 262

North American telephone area code 262 covers much of Southeastern Wisconsin, and was created on September 25, 1999, when it was split from area code 414. It covers most of the suburbs of Milwaukee, but not Milwaukee County itself.

Map of Wisconsin showing area codes: Area code 262, the second smallest at the lower right.

The eastern portion of Wisconsin had been served by 414 for half a century until Green Bay and the Fox River Valley split off as area code 920 in 1997. Although this was intended as a long-term solution, within a year 414 was back to the brink of exhaustion due to the continued proliferation of cell phones and pagers. When it became apparent that 414 was running out of numbers, original plans called for 262 to be an overlay for all of southeastern Wisconsin. However, overlays were a new concept at the time, and met with some resistance to the mixing of area codes in the same area and the ensuing requirement for ten-digit dialing. As a result, 262 was made a separate area code for nearly all of the old 414 territory outside Milwaukee County. A few slivers of Waukesha and Washington counties stayed in 414.

Despite the Milwaukee area's continued growth, 262 is nowhere near exhaustion. Projections in early 2019 suggested the Milwaukee suburbs would not need another area code until 2044 at the earliest, but later in 2019 no exhaust date was listed, meaning the date is 30 years or more in the future.[1]

Counties served by this area code:

Kenosha, Ozaukee, Racine, Walworth, Washington (shared with 414), and Waukesha (shared with 414)

Towns, cities and villages served by this area code:

Allenton, Auburn, Bassett, Belgium, Benet Lake, Big Bend, Bristol, Brookfield, Burlington, Butler, Camp Lake, Cedarburg, Colgate, Darien, Delafield, Delavan, Dousman, Eagle, East Troy, Elkhorn, Elm Grove, Erin, Fontana, Franksville, Fredonia, Genesee Depot, Genoa City, Germantown, Grafton, Hartford, Hartland, Honey Creek, Hubertus, Jackson, Kansasville, Kenosha, Kewaskum, Lake Geneva, Lannon, Lyons, Menomonee Falls, Mequon, Merton, Mukwonago, Muskego, Nashotah, New Berlin, New Munster, Newburg, North Lake, North Prairie, Oconomowoc, Okauchee, Paddock Lake, Pell Lake, Pewaukee, Pleasant Prairie, Port Washington, Powers Lake, Racine, Richfield, Rochester, Salem, Saukville, Sharon, Silver Lake, Slinger, Somers, Springfield, Stone Bank, Sturtevant, Sullivan, Sussex, Thiensville, Trevor, Twin Lakes, Union Grove, Vernon, Wales, Walworth, Waterford, Waukesha, West Bend, Whitewater, Williams Bay, Wilmot, and Zenda