530 Area Code: Chico, California
Area code 530 serves Chico, Redding and Marysville, California in the Pacific time zone, in service since 1997. Consumers have filed 4,918 unwanted-call complaints against 3,840 different 530 numbers, 705 of them with the FTC in the last 30 days. Look up the exact number that called you below.
Area code 530 at a glance
- State
- California
- Main cities
- Chico, Redding, Marysville, Auburn, Placerville, Davis + 118 more
- Counties
- Butte County, Shasta County, Yolo County, El Dorado County + 18 more
- Local time
- —Pacific
- In service since
- November 1, 1997
- Split from
- 916
- Overlay code
- 837 (2025)
- Local dialing
- 10 digits (area code + number)
- Exchanges
- 131 rate centers, 782 prefixes
Sources: NANPA area code and central office code records (refreshed weekly); cities and counties matched from US Census Bureau and USGS place names.
Most-reported 530 numbers
Ranked by FTC Do Not Call complaints this month, then all-time FTC and FCC complaints. Only numbers with enough complaints for a full report page are listed. Click one for what it was reported for and where.
What calls from 530 numbers are about
1,521 FTC Do Not Call complaints about 530 numbers since Jul 24. The most common named subject is debt-relief pitches, at 25% of complaints (88% of those were recorded messages). Overall, 71% of callers who answered said the call was a robocall.
FTC complaint subjects
- Other / unspecified47931%
- Debt reduction38525%
- No subject given20513%
- Impostor (government, business, family)18612%
- Dropped call / no message17912%
- Medical & prescriptions332%
- Energy, solar & utilities151%
FCC complaints by call type, last 2 years
- Live Voice7043%
- Prerecorded Voice7043%
- Text Message2214%
14% of recent FCC complaints about 530 numbers are about text messages, not calls.
When 530 spam calls come in
32% of complaints that give a call time describe calls between 9am and 12pm. 94% came Monday to Friday, most on Mondays, the pattern of call-center robocall campaigns that run on business hours. Times are as consumers reported them to the FTC.
By hour of the day
By day of the week
Is it getting worse?
692 FTC complaints about 530 numbers in the last four weeks; leaving out the concentrated source below, complaints are up 35% on the four weeks before. FCC complaints about 530 numbers peaked in 2018 (572); the FTC's daily Do Not Call data has carried most of the volume since mid-2026.
Data note: 100 of the last four weeks' 530 complaints (14%) came from one place, South Lake Tahoe, CA (callers' own phones in area code 530), up from 26 in the comparison period. That pattern usually means one or a few very active filers, so trend figures here leave it out.
FTC complaints per week
FCC complaints per year
Years shown as '15 to '26; the current year is partial.
Who gets these calls
50% of the FTC complaints about 530 numbers came from people whose own phone number also starts with 530, and 62% from California. Calls that look local to the person receiving them are the signature of neighbor spoofing: robocallers display a number from your own area code because you're more likely to answer.
These shares include South Lake Tahoe, CA, flagged under “Is it getting worse?” as an unusually concentrated source.
Where complainants live
- California94462%
- Texas463%
- Florida403%
- New York312%
- Illinois292%
What people with 530 numbers report
People whose own number starts with 530 filed 2,108 FTC complaints since Jul 24. 36% were about calls showing another 530 number. The most common named subject was debt-relief pitches.
Area codes on the calls they reported
- 530 (same code)76736%
- 833 (toll-free)663%
- 877 (toll-free)462%
- 916462%
- 888 (toll-free)452%
Likely campaigns using 530 numbers
Groups of numbers that drew the same FTC complaint in the same pattern over the last 60 days. The grouping is statistical and doesn't identify who is calling.
Busiest 530 prefixes this month
FTC complaints in the last 30 days, grouped by the first six digits. When one prefix collects complaints about many different numbers, a campaign is usually cycling through that block. The carrier is who NANPA assigned the prefix to, not who made the calls.
Carriers operating in 530
NANPA has assigned 782 530 prefixes (NPA-NXX central-office codes) across 131 rate centers: 26% to wireless carriers, 74% to landline and VoIP operators; 82% are pooled blocks shared by several carriers. 8 prefixes were assigned in the last 12 months (newest 2026-08-26). The carrier holding a prefix is who the number was issued through. It says nothing about who is calling, since caller ID is routinely spoofed.
| Carrier | Type | Prefixes | Rate centers | Newest assignment |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pacific Bell (AT&T) | Incumbent landline (ILEC) | 181(23%) | 72 | — |
| AT&T Mobility (New Cingular Wireless PCS) | Wireless | 67(9%) | 29 | 2025-09-24 |
| Onvoy (Sinch) | Competitive / VoIP (CLEC) | 66(8%) | 43 | 2026-08-26 |
| Verizon Wireless (Cellco Partnership) | Wireless | 53(7%) | 25 | 2024-10-21 |
| Level 3 (Lumen) | Competitive / VoIP (CLEC) | 50(6%) | 42 | 2017-08-07 |
| T-Mobile USA | Wireless | 47(6%) | 15 | 2026-01-07 |
| Bandwidth.com | Competitive / VoIP (CLEC) | 43(5%) | 33 | 2022-06-29 |
| Ip Horizon LLC | Competitive / VoIP (CLEC) | 25(3%) | 24 | 2021-09-21 |
| Frontier Communications | Incumbent landline (ILEC) | 24(3%) | 19 | — |
| Teleport Communications America, LLC | Competitive / VoIP (CLEC) | 23(3%) | 23 | 2023-08-22 |
| Metro by T-Mobile (MetroPCS) | Wireless | 20(3%) | 12 | 2025-03-26 |
| U.S. Telepacific CORP. dba Tpx Communications | Competitive / VoIP (CLEC) | 16(2%) | 11 | 2022-06-29 |
Largest rate centers (exchanges) by prefixes: Chico (64), Redding (60), Marysville (53), Auburn (38), Davis (33), Woodland (26), Placerville West (25), Grass Valley (23), Oroville (22), South Lake Tahoe (19). Source: NANPA Central Office Code Utilized Assignments (public, refreshed weekly).
What to do about calls from 530 numbers
Before you call back
- Debt reduction is the top named complaint here. Don't pay upfront fees for debt relief; the FTC's Telemarketing Sales Rule bans them. Talk to your lender or a nonprofit credit counselor instead. Read about debt-relief robocalls.
- Look up the full number above. A missed call from 530 with no voicemail is usually a robocall; anyone who needs you will leave a message.
- If it looks like a neighbor's number, it may be spoofed. See calls from your own area code.
- Block repeat callers: iPhone, Android, or your carrier's free filter (Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile).
Report it in California
- Unwanted sales calls and robocalls: donotcall.gov (FTC). Scams and fraud: ReportFraud.ftc.gov.
- Spoofing, texts and call-blocking problems: FCC consumer complaints.
- State complaints: California Attorney General.
- California formally adopted the FTC's National Do Not Call Registry as its own state list rather than running a separate one, so a single free registration at donotcall.gov covers you. State authorities can still enforce against telemarketers who ignore it, in addition to any federal penalty.
Your FTC and FCC reports are published (without your name or number) in the datasets this page is built from. How to report unwanted calls.
Area code 530: questions answered from the data
Where is area code 530?
Area code 530 serves Chico, Redding and Marysville, California, covering Butte County, Shasta County and Yolo County and 19 more counties. It has been in service since November 1, 1997. It was split from area code 916.
What time zone is area code 530 in?
Area code 530 is in the Pacific time zone (UTC−8, or UTC−7 during daylight saving time). The current local time is shown at the top of this page.
Which area codes overlay 530?
837 (in service 2025) serves the same area as 530. New numbers there can be issued with any of these codes, and local calls need all 10 digits. A spoofed call can display any of them.
What are calls from 530 numbers usually about?
Since Jul 24, consumers filed 1,521 FTC Do Not Call complaints about 530 numbers. The most common named subject was debt-relief pitches: 25% of complaints, 88% of them recorded messages. Across all subjects, 71% of callers who answered the question said the call was a robocall.
When do 530 spam calls happen?
32% of the complaints that give a call time describe calls between 9am and 12pm, and 94% came on weekdays, most often on Monday. Times are as consumers reported them.
Are calls from 530 numbers really local?
Not necessarily. 50% of the FTC complaints about 530 numbers came from people whose own phone number also starts with 530, and 62% from California. Calls that look local to the person receiving them are the signature of neighbor spoofing: robocallers display a number from your own area code because you're more likely to answer.
Are 530 robocalls increasing?
In the four weeks to Oct 20, consumers filed 692 FTC complaints about 530 numbers. Leaving out one town that filed an unusual share of them, that is 35% more than the four weeks before.
How do I report a 530 scam call in California?
Report unwanted sales calls and robocalls to the FTC at donotcall.gov, and scams to ReportFraud.ftc.gov. The FCC takes complaints at consumercomplaints.fcc.gov. In California, the California Attorney General also handles consumer complaints about scam calls. Reports feed the public data this page is built from.
Other California area codes
Sources: FTC Do Not Call complaints (unverified consumer reports), published every weekday and available here from Jul 24; FCC Consumer Complaint Data, public record, imported nightly; NANPA numbering records. A number appearing here means consumers reported calls that displayed it. Caller ID can be spoofed.