while() { m/(^\d+)(.*)\s?/; my $state = $2; my $numbers = $1; $state =~ s/^\s+\w+\s+//; if ($numbers =~ m/$area_code/) { print "$state\n"; last; } } __DATA__ 201 NJ N New Jersey: Jersey City, Hackensack Bayone (see 973) 202 DC Washington, D.C. 203 CT Connecticut: Bridgeport, New Haven Stamford(see 860) 204 MB Canada: Manitoba Winnipeg Winkler 205 AL Alabama: Birmingham Fairfield Tuscaloosa (see 256 and 334) 206 WA W Washington state: Seattle (see 253, 360, 425)