Area code 601 calling hours: can you call now?

Area code 601 serves Jackson, Hattiesburg, and Meridian in Mississippi. It is on Central time. Clocks move for daylight saving time in March and November.

Debt collection: federal — Presumed convenient 8 a.m.-9 p.m. local time at the consumer's location, any day. Mississippi: no separate hour rule.
Telemarketing: federal — 8 a.m.-9 p.m. local time at the called party's location, any day. Mississippi: Telephone solicitations are allowed only from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., Monday through Saturday, and never on Sunday.

Live check: area code 601

Turn on JavaScript for the live check. The rules table below lists every window that applies to 601.

Not checked here: consent, Do-Not-Call lists, Reg F call frequency (7 calls in 7 days), cease-communication requests or attorney representation, reassigned numbers, and whether the consumer has told you a time is inconvenient.

Calling-hour rules for 601

Hours are local time at the person you are calling. When federal and Mississippi rules differ, the narrower window governs; the live check applies every row at once.

Rule set	Debt collection	Telemarketing
Federal	Presumed convenient 8 a.m.-9 p.m. local time at the consumer's location, any day. Every day 8:00 a.m.–9:00 p.m. 15 U.S.C. § 1692c(a)(1) · 12 CFR § 1006.6(b)(1)(i) (Regulation F) · Reg F Official Interpretation, comment 6(b)(1)(i)-2 (consumer's location) · 12 CFR § 1006.14(b)(2) Call-frequency presumption: a collector is presumed to comply with the harassment ban if it places no more than 7 calls to a person about a particular debt within 7 consecutive days, and no call within 7 days after a telephone conversation with that person about the debt; exceeding either is presumed a violation (12 CFR § 1006.14(b)(2)). Conflicting location information: if the collector's information indicates the consumer may be in more than one place (e.g. an Eastern-zone area code and a Pacific-zone address), it complies only by calling at a time convenient in all of those locations (Reg F comment 6(b)(1)(i)-2). A collector may not call at any time it knows or should know is inconvenient to the consumer (e.g. after the consumer says so), regardless of the 8 a.m.-9 p.m. default (15 U.S.C. § 1692c(a)(1); Reg F comment 6(b)(1)-1). No federal Sunday or holiday ban, but a consumer's statement that a day or time is inconvenient makes calls then unlawful. The 8-9 window is a default presumption that the consumer's prior consent (given directly to the collector) or a court can override.	8 a.m.-9 p.m. local time at the called party's location, any day. Every day 8:00 a.m.–9:00 p.m. 47 CFR § 64.1200(c)(1) (TCPA rules) · 16 CFR § 310.4(c) (Telemarketing Sales Rule) No telephone solicitation to a number on the National Do Not Call Registry absent an established business relationship or the consumer's signed written permission (47 CFR § 64.1200(c)(2); 16 CFR § 310.4(b)(1)(iii)(B)). Autodialed or artificial/prerecorded-voice telemarketing calls to wireless numbers, and prerecorded telemarketing calls to residential lines, require the called party's prior express written consent (47 CFR § 64.1200(a)(2)-(3)). Sellers must honor company-specific do-not-call requests (47 CFR § 64.1200(d); 16 CFR § 310.4(b)(1)(iii)(A)). TSR § 310.4(c) allows calls outside 8-9 with the person's prior consent; the TCPA time rule in § 64.1200(c)(1) has no consent exception for telephone solicitations as defined.
Mississippi	No separate state hours; the federal window applies.	Telephone solicitations are allowed only from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., Monday through Saturday, and never on Sunday. Mon–Sat 8:00 a.m.–8:00 p.m.; Sun no calls Miss. Code Ann. § 77-3-723 · Miss. Code Ann. § 77-3-723 as amended by H.B. 1350 (2024) · Miss. Code Ann. § 77-3-603 (brought forward in H.B. 1225, 2023) Telephone solicitations about Medicare Advantage plans are prohibited unless the consumer first initiated a call about such a plan (Miss. Code Ann. § 77-3-707, added by H.B. 1350, 2024). Callers must state their name, company and purpose at the start of the call, may not block caller ID, and may not use recorded-message dialers except for existing customers (Miss. Code Ann. § 77-3-723). Civil penalties up to $10,000 per call, enforced by the Attorney General (Miss. Code Ann. § 77-3-725). The statute states the window in 'Central Standard Time'; during daylight saving time a literal reading would shift it to 9 a.m.-9 p.m. CDT, so the safest window during DST is 9 a.m.-8 p.m. local. Separately, unsolicited residential sales calls under § 77-3-603 are limited to 8 a.m.-9 p.m. Mon-Sat (no Sunday), and charitable solicitations under § 79-11-524 to 9 a.m.-9 p.m. Mon-Sat (no Sunday). The former Public Service Commission rule banning legal-holiday calls was repealed when enforcement moved to the Attorney General in 2023.

Debt collection

Telemarketing

Federal

Presumed convenient 8 a.m.-9 p.m. local time at the consumer's location, any day.

Every day 8:00 a.m.–9:00 p.m.

15 U.S.C. § 1692c(a)(1) · 12 CFR § 1006.6(b)(1)(i) (Regulation F) · Reg F Official Interpretation, comment 6(b)(1)(i)-2 (consumer's location) · 12 CFR § 1006.14(b)(2)

Call-frequency presumption: a collector is presumed to comply with the harassment ban if it places no more than 7 calls to a person about a particular debt within 7 consecutive days, and no call within 7 days after a telephone conversation with that person about the debt; exceeding either is presumed a violation (12 CFR § 1006.14(b)(2)).
Conflicting location information: if the collector's information indicates the consumer may be in more than one place (e.g. an Eastern-zone area code and a Pacific-zone address), it complies only by calling at a time convenient in all of those locations (Reg F comment 6(b)(1)(i)-2).
A collector may not call at any time it knows or should know is inconvenient to the consumer (e.g. after the consumer says so), regardless of the 8 a.m.-9 p.m. default (15 U.S.C. § 1692c(a)(1); Reg F comment 6(b)(1)-1).

No federal Sunday or holiday ban, but a consumer's statement that a day or time is inconvenient makes calls then unlawful. The 8-9 window is a default presumption that the consumer's prior consent (given directly to the collector) or a court can override.

8 a.m.-9 p.m. local time at the called party's location, any day.

Every day 8:00 a.m.–9:00 p.m.

47 CFR § 64.1200(c)(1) (TCPA rules) · 16 CFR § 310.4(c) (Telemarketing Sales Rule)

No telephone solicitation to a number on the National Do Not Call Registry absent an established business relationship or the consumer's signed written permission (47 CFR § 64.1200(c)(2); 16 CFR § 310.4(b)(1)(iii)(B)).
Autodialed or artificial/prerecorded-voice telemarketing calls to wireless numbers, and prerecorded telemarketing calls to residential lines, require the called party's prior express written consent (47 CFR § 64.1200(a)(2)-(3)).
Sellers must honor company-specific do-not-call requests (47 CFR § 64.1200(d); 16 CFR § 310.4(b)(1)(iii)(A)).

TSR § 310.4(c) allows calls outside 8-9 with the person's prior consent; the TCPA time rule in § 64.1200(c)(1) has no consent exception for telephone solicitations as defined.

Mississippi

No separate state hours; the federal window applies.

Telephone solicitations are allowed only from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., Monday through Saturday, and never on Sunday.

Mon–Sat 8:00 a.m.–8:00 p.m.; Sun no calls

Miss. Code Ann. § 77-3-723 · Miss. Code Ann. § 77-3-723 as amended by H.B. 1350 (2024) · Miss. Code Ann. § 77-3-603 (brought forward in H.B. 1225, 2023)

Telephone solicitations about Medicare Advantage plans are prohibited unless the consumer first initiated a call about such a plan (Miss. Code Ann. § 77-3-707, added by H.B. 1350, 2024).
Callers must state their name, company and purpose at the start of the call, may not block caller ID, and may not use recorded-message dialers except for existing customers (Miss. Code Ann. § 77-3-723).
Civil penalties up to $10,000 per call, enforced by the Attorney General (Miss. Code Ann. § 77-3-725).

The statute states the window in 'Central Standard Time'; during daylight saving time a literal reading would shift it to 9 a.m.-9 p.m. CDT, so the safest window during DST is 9 a.m.-8 p.m. local. Separately, unsolicited residential sales calls under § 77-3-603 are limited to 8 a.m.-9 p.m. Mon-Sat (no Sunday), and charitable solicitations under § 79-11-524 to 9 a.m.-9 p.m. Mon-Sat (no Sunday). The former Public Service Commission rule banning legal-holiday calls was repealed when enforcement moved to the Attorney General in 2023.

Exchanges and time zones

Every assigned exchange in 601 sits in Central time, so the area code alone settles the zone for a landline. The 25 largest rate centers by exchange count:

Rate center	Exchanges
Jackson, MS	155
Hattiesburg, MS	55
Meridian, MS	49
Vicksburg, MS	31
Laurel, MS	29
Natchez, MS	23
Brookhaven, MS	20
McComb, MS	18
Picayune, MS	16
Philadelphia, MS	14
Wiggins, MS	13
Columbia, MS	12
Lucedale, MS	12
Forest, MS	11
Madison, MS	11
Waynesboro, MS	10
Clinton, MS	9
Collins, MS	9
Poplarville, MS	9
Port Gibson, MS	9
Canton, MS	8
Tylertown, MS	8
Unspecified rate center, MS	8
Brandon, MS	7
Carthage, MS	7

Overlay codes — same territory as 601, same rules: 769

Other area codes in Mississippi:

228 Biloxi
471
662 Tupelo

Why area code alone is not enough

Mobile numbers travel with their owners, and a ported number keeps its original 601 area code and exchange. A 601 number tells you where the line was assigned, not where the person is today.
Under Regulation F, when you know of more than one location for a consumer — a mailing address in one zone, an area code in another — the time must be convenient in every one of them. Use the address-state field above to add the zones you know about.
Call only when the window is open in every location you know about, and stop calling at times the consumer tells you are inconvenient, whatever the clock says.

Questions

What time can you call area code 601?

Area code 601 is in Mississippi, on Central time. Debt collection: federal — Presumed convenient 8 a.m.-9 p.m. local time at the consumer's location, any day. Mississippi: no separate hour rule. Telemarketing: federal — 8 a.m.-9 p.m. local time at the called party's location, any day. Mississippi: Telephone solicitations are allowed only from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., Monday through Saturday, and never on Sunday.

What time zone is area code 601?

Area code 601 is entirely in Central time. Clocks move for daylight saving time in March and November.

Can a debt collector call a 601 number on Sunday?

Neither federal law nor Mississippi sets separate Sunday hours for debt collection; the 8 a.m.–9 p.m. local-time window applies, and a consumer can tell a collector that Sunday is inconvenient.

Is the 601 area code enough to know the person's local time?

No. Mobile numbers move with their owners and ported numbers keep their area code, so a 601 number may belong to someone in another time zone. If you know other locations for the person, the call should fit the window in all of them.

Sources

This page is general information, not legal advice. Laws change and some rules depend on who is calling and why; confirm with counsel. Rules last reviewed 2026-10-07.