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.

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.

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.

How this compares with the FTC's headline figures

Our rolling-window tally covers 326,887 complaints against the 48,411 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 (October 1, 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.

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.

Sourced from the official NANPA (North American Numbering Plan Administrator) numbering database, current as of October 1, 2026. Refreshed monthly.