Disclosed herein is a method and system for WiMAX ranging using OVSF ranging codes. Specifically, in an exemplary embodiment, a WiMAX communication system that is configured to provide service at a plurality of quality of service (QoS) levels, may be configured to (a) broadcast a QoS level message in a downlink sub-frame, wherein the QoS level message comprises one or more spreading factor codes, and wherein each spreading factor code indicates a spreading factor for a particular QoS level, (b) receive a ranging request from a device, wherein the ranging request comprises an orthogonal variable spreading factor (OVSF) code, wherein the OVSF code was selected according to the one or more spreading factor codes, (c) determine a spreading factor of the OVSF code in the received ranging request, and (d) use the spreading factor as a basis for selecting a QoS level at which to provide service to the device.