How Opportunity Zones are designated

The governor of each state nominates census tracts, and the U.S. Treasury Secretary certifies and designates them.

Section 1400Z-1 defines a qualified opportunity zone as a population census tract that is a low-income community and that is nominated by the chief executive officer of the state and certified by the Secretary of the Treasury.¹ For this purpose, "state" includes the District of Columbia and U.S. possessions, which brings the number of jurisdictions that can nominate to 56.² Governors may delegate the work to a state agency, usually the economic development or commerce department.

Treasury's role is administrative. It publishes the list of eligible tracts, runs the nomination system through the CDFI Fund, checks that each nominated tract is eligible and within the state's cap, and then certifies the designations.^3,4 The CDFI Fund reinstated its online Opportunity Zone Nomination Tool for this cycle, which governors use to submit tracts.^5,6

Treasury publishes eligible tracts, governors gather input and nominate, Treasury certifies, and the designations take effect on January 1 after the nomination year.

Rev. Proc. 2026-14, released in April 2026, sets out the procedures for this cycle and includes the eligible-tract appendix.^3,7 Under §5.04 of the revenue procedure, a governor may also nominate a tract that is not on Treasury's list if the governor provides tract-level data showing it meets the low-income community definition.^8,9

Only tracts that qualify as low-income communities under the statute's two-prong test.

Practitioner summaries of the amended statute describe the same structure.^10,11 Eligibility is measured using American Community Survey 5-year estimates; reports on this cycle point to the 2020 to 2024 estimates released in early 2026.^6,17 One analysis found that only about 60% of the zones in effect today are fully eligible under the current test.¹² The detailed test, with worked examples, is in which census tracts qualify.

No more than 25% of the state's eligible low-income tracts, or 25 tracts if that number is larger.

The cap appears in §1400Z-1(d).¹ Puerto Rico is subject to the same cap as the states for designations taking effect in 2027.¹⁴ There is no statutory rural quota; the rural incentive works through the tax benefits for rural zones, not a nomination set-aside.²

Under Notice 2026-40, each designation period is evaluated on its own, so tracts that are zones today do not count against a state's cap for the period starting January 1, 2027.¹⁵

Nominations opened July 1, 2026; most windows closed in late September or, with the extension, around October 28; certification runs into late 2026.

Rev. Proc. 2026-14 allows one 30-day extension of the nomination period. April commentary described it as available on request; a September report says Treasury gave every jurisdiction an automatic extension unless it opted out.^7,13 Counting from the extended deadline, Treasury's 30-day certification period ends about November 27, 2026, or about December 27, 2026 if Treasury takes its own 30-day extension.^7,16

Each state sets its own process, usually combining data screens with applications or comments from local governments and the public.

States published eligible maps, opened portals for local input and scored tracts on factors such as investment readiness, community need and existing development plans. Ohio, for example, opened a local input process for townships and counties.¹⁷ Texas published a 605-tract nomination list on its governor's site.¹⁸ Kiplinger's overview of the process notes that governors weigh need against investability, since a zone only helps if capital can reach it.¹⁹

The full set of selection approaches, and how communities can influence them in future cycles, is covered in how governors choose Opportunity Zones.

As of October 20, 2026, designation is still in progress, and a data center site counts only if its tract appears on the final certified list.

By the 90-day deadline, at least 16 of 56 jurisdictions had submitted nominations, and the rest had until about October 28.¹³ Washington's governor announced 99 nominated tracts on October 8, 2026.²⁰ The Idaho Business Review reported on October 2 that Treasury had certified Idaho's slate of 25 tracts, while a state-by-state tracker still listed no jurisdictions as designated.^21,16 Treasury has not published a consolidated national list. Current status is in the new Opportunity Zone maps taking effect in 2027.

For data center sponsors, three points follow. First, zone status is tract-specific, and large campuses can straddle tract lines, so map every parcel. Second, wholly rural tracts often offer the large parcels near transmission that campuses need, and they carry extra benefits; see rural Opportunity Zones. Third, do not close on a site in reliance on a nomination; wait for certification or build the contingency into the contract. See data center site selection inside Opportunity Zones.