On November 5, 2026, the U.S. Department of the Treasury (Treasury) and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced the designation of 6,576 Qualified Opportunity Zones (QOZs) across all 50 states, the U.S. territories, and the District of Columbia. These designations are the first under the redesigned, permanent Opportunity Zone program enacted in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) on July 4, 2025 (commonly referred to as QOZ 2.0 or OZ 2.0). Of the newly designated census tracts, 2,594 are in rural areas eligible for enhanced incentives.
The new zones take effect on January 1, 2027, and remain in place for 10 years. The designations were drawn from 25,332 eligible tracts (8,334 of them rural) identified by Treasury, meaning roughly one quarter of eligible tracts nationwide received the designation.
The Treasury has published a full list and map of the newly designated zones, along with poverty-rate and median-family-income data for each census tract.
“Today’s announcement of the new designations will help direct private investment to communities that stand to benefit most, and expand economic opportunity, support job creation, and unlock long-term growth in these communities across the country,” said Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. The program has generated more than $110 billion in private-sector investment since its creation in 2017.
Shumaker's Opportunity Zone team, which is a cross-disciplinary group of tax, corporate, securities, fund formation, real estate, and construction lawyers who provide comprehensive counsel from formation to exit, continues to monitor these developments and their potential implications. If you have questions about how the QOZ 2.0 designations affect your investments or projects, please contact Nicholas D. Horner or Justin J. Wallace.