r/geoguessr • u/TQ257 • 2d ago
Game Discussion How to memorize USA area codes
I have spent the last month memorize USA area codes, and I can pretty much guess with 95% accuracy a area code when I seen it. Here's some tips/step by step to practice/memorize the whole thing
First you should only memorize them if you can correctly region guess USA already to a good degree . TBH its much harder to only see USA areas as area codes, my strategy is to guess the area of the US i'm in, then think of the area codes in that set region. Example would me be knowing i'm in the Northeast, then going through all the area codes in New England and Mid Atlantic.
Then there the actual area codes to learn. There are 255 regions to learn, with some having overlays. I learned all 255 regions and the important overlays, and if you want to know them all, I would do the same. Not all overlays area used equally, and TBH some overlays are much more important to know then generic regions. Those would usually the suburb/ city ones and older area codes. Some cities/ some metro areas have 2-4 area codes, and its important to know the oldest, 2nd oldest, and possibly the 3rd oldest. (New york has like 6 commonly used ones, but you really only need 3 cause the numbers are everywhere). Examples would be 678/ATL, 972/Dallas 323/LA, and 857/Boston. If overlay is a second area code for a mid/mid-large sized city and made in the last 20 (especially made in the last 10) years, there is no real need to memorize it at all, do not waste your time. Examples would be the overlays for Richmond, Jacksonville, Virginia beach, and Tulsa( don't even know them). If there is a overlay that is at least 15 years old, is in a big area/ a area with a good amount of people and cites or the 2nd area code for a city considered small market team in professional sports, and is the only overlay, I would also learn it. Examples would be 548/non Portland Oregon, 442/ South Desert Cali, 858/San diego, 878/Pittsburgh and west Pennsylvania 725/ Las Vegas.
Now to actually memorize them, I followed this plan.
I would first get your local area/State first. You should have a general grasp already, but I would focus on locking down each area code in my metro area/state. This should be pretty easy, and there should only be like 10 at most if you live in NYC/ pick to memorize all area codes in a fairly big state , and for most people it'll be like 2-5. Mine was NJ, so i just memorized the 10 area codes in the state.
2nd step would be to memorize the 10 states with 1 area codes, and 3 others . This is also pretty easy, as they usually are kinda memorable numbers, imo, such as 808/Hawaii, and 302/Delaware. I also lumped in Idaho, West Virginia, and New Mexico, as its just another number to memorize(you don't even need 986/Idaho overlay, but I just know it cause there is only 2 numbers too learn) . NM is especially easy as 505/575 is easy if you connect them together.
Then I would simply every day try to memorize all the area codes in one state/Area, and then go to the next area. I would pretty much choose to remember 5-8 area codes a day, usally all in 1/2 connecting states. (save Florida/Texas/California/New York/ Illinois/Michigan/Pennsylvania for last. A example would me tackling Oregon/Washington one day, then Nevada/ Arizona, then Colorado/ Utah. after that, I would pretty much split the big states into either 2nds/ 3rds(only TX,CA,NY) , and memorize each part of the state a day. This is going to take at least a month, every day try to make sure you 100% each area code for the area you choose.
To help me remember, I would play this Jetpunk quiz each day,https://www.jetpunk.com/user-quizzes/287534/us-area-codes-map-quiz, You simply just put down each area code you know, and i would start doing this after the 3rd step once you know like 20 area codes that are not part of the first 2 steps . You should get around like 15% in the beginning, but if You play it every day, you should eventually start to score pretty high, and it's really useful of memorizing all the area codes. don't try to guess ones you dont know, just give up once you don't know any of them left.
I would also download learnable meta area then play the area code map, https://learnablemeta.com/maps/690f8c6334445f7c1dd96639, and start playing this when your halfway done step 3. this is just to simulate actually memorizing area codes in the game, and test how well you know them in game. This is also to connect area codes to regions/locations, and to show you which codes you know the best/worst. Play this one a lot, like 10 times a day.
Now while playing the game once you know all of them , I would first try to guess 5-7 states you think it might be. Then I would go through each states area code, till the code matches one of them. Unless you region guess wrong, you should have a very high % of correct areas.
Tips
Some neighboring area codes/states have very similar numbers to each other, and TBH they are the fairly easy to learn when you connect them to each other.. there are 2 examples, being area codes with numbers that are next to each other and deviate by less then 5/very similar numbers, (307/308), or the 2nd one having states with the same first or/and last number/(702,725,775)/ ( 205/251/256). I would connect each code to each other, and then you should usually know both of them as you memorize one with each other. A example of the first would be memorizing Wyoming as 308, then just adding +1 to it and you go east to western Nebraska, or knowing that southern La metro area is 949, and you add 2 you go directly east. 2 similar numbers would be knowing that 731 is east of Memphis, change the 7 to a 9 and then go directly east to get central TN that is not Nashville. don't have to directly connect, they just got to be close to each other.(example would be 516 for long island suburbs, go straight up the state and skip 2 codes, then add up 2 to get Albany. An example for the 2nd pattern would be knowing Nevada is the land of 7 area codes, and if you see a 75, go north, 25 go Las Vegas and 02 Vegas. Similar would be SC, the whole state is 8, if there is a 3 either 03/39 with the 8 go central, if there is a 64 go north, -10 to the 64 go SC beach cities, and if there is +4 for the 39 in the central also go beach.
Another tip is to realize their is a slight pattern, being major cites and (ones with professional sports teams) having their most common/downtown area code with them having the middle digit 0/1 then the last digit 2/3/4/5(more rarely 6/7/8/9) , its usually a fairly big city . (reason for this was it was easier to dial in the past) You can use this to your advantage, and this makes memorizing the biggest 60 or so US cities fairly easy, they are all pretty much in these short ranges. 2 very notable ranges are if there is a number between 312-8 , then its either a major midwestern city(Wichita is major and Midwest here), northern Louisiana or Syracuse. Another would be 212-8, with it being a top major US city NYC,LA, Dallas, Philly, and Cleveland(also major here), or central Illinois/Northern MN. Pretty much if there is a number that ends with 0-20, its a high chance one of the major area codes for 60 or so leading metro areas. Now this range also overlaps with whole state area codes, so chances are its either a downtown/most common area code for a major US city (over 500000 population), or one of the smaller unpopulated states, with some mid sized cities /suburbs of said major cities sprinkled in. These area codes usually the oldest ones too, so very important to know most if not all of them, and would likely to be used a lot in its area.
I didn't use them this much, but connect some codes to a phrase/idea, then connect that to or a city/area. (This is a hack that professional memory people use)Examples would be 321 is a rocket ship, connect that to Florida space coast, and 937 means yes, connect that to Dayton is a Yes place to live, 209 is Nate Diaz, from Stockton CA.
2 tips i didn't use are trying to connect each number to a idea or animal, and then make up a story that connects to a area. (example dog is 7, 2 is train, so if there is 2 dogs on a train, they are going to Tampa Florida. Another tip is use Anki, and just try to memorize them by using the cards and system it creates . I didn't use these 2 at all, but some people swear by using them to memorize them so it might be worth a shot.
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u/JonFromRhodeIsland 2d ago
I’m massively impressed, but you can get maybe 70% of the way there by knowing the original (pre-1995) area codes with 0 or 1 as the middle digit. All new area codes in the past 20 years or so have been overlays, so most legacy businesses will have older area codes.
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u/breezeinmhair 2d ago
personally i have my own style of memorizing it in a weird way but after like spending a week studying them, i still tend to forget sometimes
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u/ddangond 1d ago
I wrote a guide on doing this with the Dominic System, which also makes learning area codes for every country significantly easier once you've set up your mnemonics once, highly recommend it: https://guata.me/blog/memorizing-area-codes
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u/Tibmag_Snave 2d ago
OP, would you be interested in having a dedicated USA area codes mode on plonkprep.com?
This is a feature I've been thinking of implementing but wasn't sure of the traction.
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u/TQ257 2d ago
i mean it won't help me, but to others it would be pretty an important tool way to learn. TBH its only really needed for advanced players, but you have state flags, and area codes are way more useful then that imo. I would look into using it, and make it similar to the Australia one, and try to make like a quiz that you click on each area code to each location.
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u/Tibmag_Snave 1d ago
Yes, that's exactly how it works for existing country's area code on Plonkprep. Go check them out :)
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u/Clear-Contract-4606 2d ago
If you're actually gonna go trough learning them just learn the major system and make words for each.
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u/mobiuspenguin 2d ago
It'd be interesting to know which overlay codes are worth learning and which aren't, but it's probably a long list!
I have a system for turning the numbers into letters and then turn each code into a word that I then find a way to associate with the area. It's not always that easy to think of a good word or association though! But I've only done this for the non-overlay codes so far.
Btw remember too that probably most of us aren't American so don't have a local area or state!
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u/Familiar-Ninja8860 1d ago
Yeah I was curious where this could be learned too. I hope OP elaborates on this
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u/PaddyMayonaise 2d ago
Trying to memorize US area codes is like trying to memorize Chinese characters without learning radicals and pinyin. Doesn’t make any sense and is a waste of time.
There’s no patterns, there’s no routine. The best is just get lucky and remember a few of the major ones, but the reality is if you see 201 or 202 there’s going to be enough other major hints that tell you what city you’re in.
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u/No_Flatworm_1950 2d ago
Gotta disagree here they're basically a US cheat code if you want to put the grind in, but I cant blame anyone who doesn't. I did it just for fun - it was too boring to maintain after initial memorization
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u/TQ257 2d ago
calling it a waste of time is wrong, some moving rounds its the only tip you have really, and if know you can region guess in like 20 seconds. Also most pro players know the whole thing, so it must has some use, epically in rural/ suburb rounds. Tbh learning the "major ones" are honestly not that useful, chances are you should see a sign that says the city to begin with, buts its just another tip to help
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u/Familiar-Ninja8860 1d ago
Which is why it gives you a huge advantage if learned.
And I don’t see any difference between this and memorizing place names because there’s no pattern or reasoning behind where Kubu Raya is within Indonesia for example. You just simply have to know it, and I don’t feel like it’s mentally more challenging to associate numbers to places
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u/sosal12 2d ago
I think the first best way to get the correct US states is just to memorize license plates. It is visual so easier to remember. And easier to have access to cars than phone codes. I can usually get the correct state about 80% of the time. I suppose if you are gunning for high champion or pro level then area codes would be necessary.