Spam calls by area code: FTC complaint statistics
Spam and robocall complaints by U.S. area code and state, built from the FTC's public Do Not Call data — state rankings normalized per 100,000 residents, the most-reported area codes, embeddable cards, and a full methodology. Refreshed monthly.
The FTC receives millions of Do Not Call complaints a year but publishes the geographic breakdown only inside an annual PDF data book. This page turns the underlying public "Reported Calls" files into a live, sortable picture: which states generate the most complaints per resident, and which area codes show up most on caller ID — refreshed every month and free to embed.
What these numbers are — and aren't. They count consumer complaints in the U.S. FTC's Do Not Call database — unverified reports, not proof of wrongdoing. Because most scam calls spoof a real number or a local area code, a high count means an area code or state is being imitated and reported often, not that its residents are scammers. State rates also reflect how readily people report. areacode.fyi is not a consumer reporting agency and this data is not for any FCRA purpose (employment, credit, tenant, or insurance screening). Report unwanted calls at DoNotCall.gov.
Spam-call complaints by state (per 100,000 residents)
Every state and DC with at least one reported number, ranked by FTC Do Not Call complaints per 100,000 residents (2024 Census population). Per-capita normalization is what makes a small state comparable to a large one. Each row links to that state's area codes.
| # | State | FTC complaints | Per 100k residents |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | District of Columbia | 5,344 | 761 |
| 2 | Virginia | 12,386 | 141 |
| 3 | New York | 19,410 | 98 |
| 4 | Illinois | 12,383 | 97 |
| 5 | Kentucky | 4,136 | 90 |
| 6 | Delaware | 582 | 55 |
| 7 | Wyoming | 325 | 55 |
| 8 | New Jersey | 5,019 | 53 |
| 9 | Colorado | 3,093 | 52 |
| 10 | Connecticut | 1,802 | 49 |
| 11 | Ohio | 5,808 | 49 |
| 12 | Florida | 11,407 | 49 |
| 13 | Kansas | 1,294 | 44 |
| 14 | Nevada | 1,419 | 43 |
| 15 | Georgia | 4,782 | 43 |
| 16 | West Virginia | 714 | 40 |
| 17 | California | 15,432 | 39 |
| 18 | Idaho | 739 | 37 |
| 19 | Maryland | 2,211 | 35 |
| 20 | Arizona | 2,652 | 35 |
| 21 | Utah | 1,208 | 34 |
| 22 | Washington | 2,704 | 34 |
| 23 | Michigan | 3,310 | 33 |
| 24 | Oklahoma | 1,326 | 32 |
| 25 | New Hampshire | 451 | 32 |
| 26 | Massachusetts | 2,255 | 32 |
| 27 | Alabama | 1,558 | 30 |
| 28 | Arkansas | 923 | 30 |
| 29 | Minnesota | 1,719 | 30 |
| 30 | Pennsylvania | 3,859 | 30 |
| 31 | Louisiana | 1,341 | 29 |
| 32 | North Carolina | 3,166 | 29 |
| 33 | South Carolina | 1,557 | 28 |
| 34 | Wisconsin | 1,692 | 28 |
| 35 | Nebraska | 541 | 27 |
| 36 | Texas | 8,102 | 26 |
| 37 | Tennessee | 1,792 | 25 |
| 38 | Missouri | 1,466 | 23 |
| 39 | Indiana | 1,621 | 23 |
| 40 | Rhode Island | 253 | 23 |
| 41 | Iowa | 720 | 22 |
| 42 | Mississippi | 608 | 21 |
| 43 | Oregon | 833 | 19 |
| 44 | North Dakota | 155 | 19 |
| 45 | Hawaii | 259 | 18 |
| 46 | New Mexico | 377 | 18 |
| 47 | Maine | 248 | 18 |
| 48 | Vermont | 113 | 17 |
| 49 | Montana | 189 | 17 |
| 50 | South Dakota | 140 | 15 |
| 51 | Alaska | 92 | 12 |
Most-reported geographic area codes
Raw complaint counts — no per-capita rate here on purpose (see the FAQ). These are true geographic codes; the toll-free prefixes that dominate raw volume live on scam & spam area codes. Each links to its area-code scam page.
| # | Area code | Region | FTC complaints |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 434 | Charlottesville, Virginia | 6,851 |
| 2 | 315 | Syracuse, New York | 6,295 |
| 3 | 217 | Champaign-Urbana, Illinois | 4,603 |
| 4 | 202 | Washington, District of Columbia | 3,311 |
| 5 | 540 | Roanoke, Virginia | 3,289 |
| 6 | 502 | Louisville, Kentucky | 2,509 |
| 7 | 407 | Orlando, Florida | 2,261 |
| 8 | 771 | Washington, District of Columbia | 2,033 |
| 9 | 309 | Peoria, Illinois | 1,648 |
| 10 | 470 | Atlanta, Georgia | 1,451 |
| 11 | 585 | Rochester, New York | 1,341 |
| 12 | 201 | Hackensack, New Jersey | 1,311 |
| 13 | 224 | Arlington Heights, Illinois | 1,196 |
| 14 | 321 | Cocoa, Florida | 1,122 |
| 15 | 213 | Los Angeles, California | 1,108 |
| 16 | 440 | Hillcrest, Ohio | 1,098 |
| 17 | 206 | Seattle, Washington | 1,074 |
| 18 | 949 | Irvine, California | 1,073 |
| 19 | 614 | Columbus, Ohio | 1,019 |
| 20 | 209 | Stockton, California | 1,009 |
How this compares with the FTC's headline figures
Our rolling-window tally covers 306,021 complaints against the 46,266 most-reported numbers — those reported three or more times. The FTC's full annual Do Not Call complaint volume is higher (about 2.6 million in FY2025) because it counts every one-off report too. So use these figures to compare states and area codes to each other, not as the FTC's national headline total. The direction of travel matches the FTC's published data books: toll-free debt-relief and imposter robocalls dominate volume, while spoofing spreads the geographic reports across every area code.
Methodology & sources
Complaint data. The U.S. Federal Trade Commission publishes its Do Not Call "Reported Calls" as daily CSV files. We aggregate a rolling window of roughly the last 12 months, keeping numbers reported three or more times, and group each by the area code shown on caller ID. Counts are refreshed monthly; the "updated" date above reflects the current data (July 4, 2026).
State rates. State complaint totals sum the geographic area codes assigned to each state in the official NANPA numbering database, then divide by that state's resident population (U.S. Census Bureau, Vintage 2024, July 1 2024 estimate) to give complaints per 100,000 residents. Toll-free and other non-geographic prefixes are excluded from the state rankings because they aren't tied to a place. Canada is excluded — the FTC data is U.S.-only.
What the counts mean. These are unverified consumer complaints, not confirmed scams. Caller ID is easily spoofed, so the area code on a complaint is where the call appeared to come from, not necessarily its origin. A high count reflects reported volume and reporting propensity — treat it as a relative signal, not an accusation against any number, person, or place. There is intentionally no per-capita rate for individual area codes (overlays and toll-free prefixes make it meaningless).
Sources
- FTC — Do Not Call (Reported Calls) daily data
- U.S. Census Bureau — state population estimates (Vintage 2024)
- FTC — National Do Not Call Registry Data Book, FY2025
- FTC — $3.5B reported lost to imposter scams in 2025
- YouMail Robocall Index — 52.5B U.S. robocalls in 2025
- Nomorobo — 74% of 2025 robocalls used fake local area codes
Embed this data
Free to reuse (CC0). Drop the national card on any page with this snippet — it stays current as the data refreshes, and carries a link back for attribution:
<iframe src="https://areacode.fyi/embed/spam-stats-national.html" width="100%" height="340" style="border:0;max-width:520px" title="U.S. spam-call complaints — areacode.fyi" loading="lazy"></iframe>For a single state, point the same iframe at https://areacode.fyi/embed/spam-stats/district-of-columbia.html instead — one card exists for every ranked state and DC. The cards are self-contained (no tracking, no site chrome) and set to noindex, so the credit flows through the visible attribution link.
All state embed URLs
Keep exploring
- See the most-reported area codes (and why a "scam area code" is mostly a myth).
- Browse the most-reported phone numbers from the same FTC data.
- Check a specific caller on the who-called-me lookup.
- Track new and planned codes on area code news.
Frequently asked questions
How are spam calls counted by area code and state?
We tally consumer complaints in the FTC's public Do Not Call "Reported Calls" data over a rolling ~12-month window (numbers reported three or more times), grouped by the area code shown on caller ID. State totals add up the geographic area codes assigned to each state and are then divided by that state's 2024 Census population to get complaints per 100,000 residents.
Does a high per-100k rate mean a state has the most scammers?
No. The rate reflects where numbers are displayed and how often residents report — not where callers actually are. Because most scam calls spoof a local number, a high rate usually means a state's area codes are imitated often, and that its residents report diligently. It is a signal of reported call volume, not of local wrongdoing.
Why is there no per-capita rate for individual area codes?
Population doesn't map cleanly to a single area code. Overlays stack two or more codes over the same region, new codes have few active lines, and non-geographic (toll-free) prefixes have no population at all. A per-100k rate at the area-code level would be misleading, so we publish raw complaint counts per area code and reserve per-capita normalization for states.
Can I embed or reuse this data?
Yes. The data is free and released under a CC0 public-domain dedication. Copy the iframe snippet in the "Embed this data" section for a national or single-state card, or link to this page. Attribution to areacode.fyi is appreciated and is built into every embed card.
How often is this updated?
Monthly. The figures recompute from the latest FTC Do Not Call files each time the dataset is refreshed, and the "updated" date on this page reflects the current data.
Sourced from the official NANPA (North American Numbering Plan Administrator) numbering database, current as of July 4, 2026. Refreshed monthly.