Area code 502 serves north central Kentucky, primarily Louisville, its suburbs, and the state capital of Frankfort. Its service area encompasses the following Kentucky counties (the boundary closely, but not exactly, tracks county lines):
Parts of Hardin and Meade counties are also served by this area code, specifically:
Besides Louisville and Frankfort, major cities in the 502 territory include Georgetown, Shelbyville, and Bardstown. Georgetown is a long-distance call to other cities in the 502 area code, but not Lexington, which is in the 859 area code.
The area code was one of the first established in October 1947, initially covering the entire state of Kentucky. The eastern half of the state split off as area code 606 in 1954, while the western half split off as 270 in 1999.