Whether it’s that catchy jingle from an old radio commercial, or an obnoxiously enormous billboard on our commute to work, we’ve all experienced that phone number earworm echoing in our subconscious longer than we expected.
We’ll refrain from the complex psychology behind that, but we can confidently say that this phenomenon is, in fact, by design.
People will pay a pretty penny to get their phone number(s) stuck in your head and, hopefully, into your phone’s dial pad. That’s the beauty of Vanity Numbers. In fact, Vanity Numbers had such demand that we saw the total purchases of Premium Vanity Numbers increase by 14% from 2024 to 2025 at NumberBarn. In 2025 alone, thousands of phone numbers were purchased for the explicit purpose of making their way into your recall.
Yes, you heard that right. There’s an entire industry dedicated to selling and buying phone numbers – for businesses, memorization, personal second numbers, or even to create a more immersive experience in TV and movies.
What Are Vanity Numbers & What Makes Them Valuable?
While all Vanity Numbers are phone numbers, not all phone numbers qualify as a Vanity Number. So what does it take for a phone number to qualify as a Vanity Number?
- A memorable sequence of numbers (referred to as Vanity Patterns, e.g., 555-222-2222 or 555-666-7777).
- The numbers spell something recognizable (referred to as Vanity Spellings, e.g., 555-NUMBERS or 555-CALL-NOW).
- A combination of the two (e.g., 555-666-CALL).
Just like any market, supply and demand determine the overall value of a Vanity Number.
On the supply side, major carriers like Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile typically won’t sell you whatever number you want, let alone let you pick a number. But, that’s where marketplaces like NumberBarn come into play with supplying these custom vanity phone numbers.
Now for the demand side, you might wonder, what phone numbers are in high demand? What industries are purchasing these valuable phone numbers? What area codes are considered the most valuable? (Because yes, area codes play a big part in a number’s demand and overall value.)
As the world’s largest telephone number marketplace, with millions of numbers available for sale or license (like leasing or renting), we can confidently say we have insights into all these questions. After looking at every Premium Phone Number sold in our marketplace 2025, here’s what we found.
Key Findings
- New York’s 212 is the most valuable area code for Premium Vanity Numbers.
- The most valuable phone number sold was (***) 600-0000.
- Vanity Patterns are a more popular and valuable choice taking up 65.64% of total purchases and 64.83% of total value from Premium Vanity Number sales.
- “Million” Vanity Numbers (600-0000) are the most valuable Vanity Patterns.
- Law-themed Vanity Numbers are the most valuable Spelling, and cumulatively the most valuable category, surpassing any other type of Spelling or Pattern. (Legal industry-related Vanity Numbers remain most consistently in demand and at high-value prices.)
- California is the most valuable state for Premium Vanity Numbers.
The Most Valuable Phone Numbers
Now, presenting the 10 most valuable Vanity Numbers sold last year:
- (***) 600-0000
- (***) 222-0000
- (***) 600-0000
- (***) 400-0000
- (***) PLUMBER
- (***) INJURED
- (***) 900-0000
- (***) JUSTICE
- (***) 333-2222
- (***) JUSTICE
There’s a healthy mix here of both Vanity Patterns and Spellings, along with representation from various types of Patterns and two different industry Spellings.
(In case you’re seeing double, the recurring “600-0000” and “JUSTICE” have different area codes. We’ve redacted the listed area codes throughout this study to protect the privacy of the phone number’s new owner.)
Let’s take a closer look into Vanity Patterns specifically.
Most Valuable Vanity Patterns
Here’s each Pattern & its phone number(s), sized from most valuable to least:
Phone numbers ending in all zeros (600-0000, 400-0000, etc.) remain the most valuable pattern, taking up 18.12% of the entire value of all Vanity Patterns sold in 2025. Then 6-digit Repeaters (*99-9999, *77-7777, etc.) and (XYZ) XYZ-**** ( (513)-513-****, (214) 214-****, etc.) both at 13.9%.
Pop Culture
A bit further down the list, but still worth mentioning, is the Pop-Culture category. In this category resides only one phone number: 867-5309, as made famous by Tommy Tutone.
Another “Pattern” that could be considered as Pop-Culture is any phone number with repeating 6’s & 7’s. Yes, we’re going there.
6 & 7 were without a doubt the most popular integers of 2025 thanks to everyone’s favorite 6-7 meme. We wondered if that was reflected anywhere in our data while digging through our Premium Phone Number purchases.
We found four phone numbers consisting of just those two digits:
- (***) 767-7777 (purchased twice, with different area codes)
- (***) 666-7777
- (***) 677-7777
Compare that to last year’s single instance (777-6666), you could infer that meme-culture plays a part in Phone Number Economics, increasing demand for 6-7 phone numbers.
Most Valuable Vanity Spellings
Here’s each Spelling & its phone number(s), sized from most valuable to least:
Of the 15 industries featured in our top Premium Vanity Numbers sold, the law industry alone accounts for 31.46% of the entire value of all Vanity Spellings. The most valuable lawyer phone numbers include the following spellings:
- JUSTICE
- INJURED
- ABOGADO (‘lawyer’ in Spanish)
- HURTING
- GOT-HURT
Other industries with high-value spellings included:
- Construction – with phone numbers spelling the likes of PLUMBER and ROOFING.
- Real Estate – with phone numbers spelling the likes of HOME and SOLD.
- Health Care – with phone numbers spelling the likes of NURSING and the rare, 8-digit spelling, MEDICARE.
On top of these 15 industries, there are four numbers we categorized as “Other,” as their interpretation is more ambiguous or from an infrequently represented industry. In “Other” you can find these valuable Spellings:
- STAND-UP
- JACKPOT
- COMPASS
- BEST
Most Valuable Area Codes & States
You might be wondering, “With numbers like JUSTICE purchased multiple times, what determines the value of one ‘JUSTICE’ number versus the next?”
That’s a very astute observation and we’re glad you hypothetically asked.
While many attributes play into any one phone number’s overall value, one of the primary factors is that phone number’s area code.
It’s just a fact that some area codes are more desirable, sought-after, and ultimately valuable than others. And states as well. (We’ll explain more on this later.) Let’s explore area codes first.
Which area codes made the list for most valuable?
10 Most Valuable Area Codes
New York City’s 212 area code reigns supreme yet again as the most valuable area code.
Los Angeles, CA’s’s 310 area code and the 214 area code for Dallas, TX are the second and third most valuable area codes of 2025, respectively.
We also have a toll free code, with 833 landing as the fourth most valuable “area” code of 2026. (Quotations added since 833 isn’t an area code, per se, but we’ll count it.)
The rest of the ten most valuable area codes are as follows:
- 623 area code – Phoenix, AZ
- 713 area code – Houston, TX
- 480 area code – Phoenix, AZ
- 561 area code – West Palm Beach, FL
- 915 area code – El Paso, TX
- 432 area code – Midland, TX
Most Valuable States
Now, let’s take a look at the most valuable phone numbers by state:
The state with the most valuable phone numbers belongs to California, with Los Angeles’s 310, Long Beach’s 562, and Irvine’s 949 area codes doing a lot of the heavy lifting.
Second, we have Texas, which is no surprise given it has more area codes in the top 10 than any other state.
Then we have New York as the state with the third most valuable phone numbers. Despite 212 claiming the title of most valuable area code, New York doesn’t have as many in-demand area codes, though its contributions from 332 and 516 certainly help the state’s well-deserved third position.
Then we have Florida and Arizona in fourth and fifth place, largely thanks to their representation in the Top 10 area codes.
Why We Cover Area Codes & States
Yes, Vanity Numbers like JUSTICE or 600-0000 are highly valuable outside of other factors. However, a major factor that determines whether a number’s value skyrockets or hovers just over the Premium standard is the area code attached to the spelling or pattern.
Using our chart as an example, if either of these spellings or patterns were paired with an area code like 212, it’d have a significantly higher value than if paired with that of a lower value like 585. (Not to diminish the value of 585 phone numbers. They’re still highly valuable.)
Taking a look at our inventory of available phone numbers for purchase, just search “JUSTICE” and you’ll see numbers listed for as low as $4,995 and as high as $49,999.
Let’s take a look at the value of phone numbers ending in “PAIN.” You’ll see phone numbers valued on the low end, around $100-$300. Now if you search for just 212 phone numbers, you’ll see that “low-end” jumps up to $1,400. Lastly, add a repeating pattern like “777” in front of “PAIN,” making 212-777-PAIN, and you have yourself a phone number worth over $22,000.
How Valuable is Your Phone Number?
There’s more to phone numbers than meets the eye. And, far more valuable phone number combinations than we have the time to cover in this post.
If you believe you have a valuable phone number, check out our Free Phone Number Appraisal tool to appraise it or see if it spells anything cool.
Like what it tells you about your number’s value? You can always try to sell your phone number on our marketplace.
Methodology
- We looked at Premium Phone Numbers purchased through our marketplace in 2025.
- For the purposes of this article, we define “Premium” as any phone number sold for $2,500.00 or more.
- We intentionally removed any identifying information in our graphs to protect our customers’ privacy.
- We explored the individual top selling numbers, top selling patterns and top selling vanity spellings as well as industries most purchasing these numbers.
- Vanity Spellings are defined as phone numbers where the digits spell a popular, marketable English or Spanish word when typed on a traditional dial pad.
- Vanity Patterns are defined as phone numbers where the digits result in a memorable pattern, such as repeating or alternating digits, among others.
- Vanity Numbers are the overarching term used to describe all variations, Vanity Spellings and Vanity Patterns included.
- Our placement of an asterisk (*) throughout this article is to:
- Show any digit could take its place in a given Vanity Number without changing its value.
- Remove any identifying information to not incidentally expose a customer’s full phone number.
