California has nominated 620 census tracts for Opportunity Zone 2.0, the 25% maximum of its 2,479 eligible tracts, in 55 counties, per the Department of Finance tract file linked from GO-Biz. Los Angeles County has 201, and 106 of the 620 are rural. Treasury has not yet published its OZ 2.0 list.
California has nominated 620 census tracts for Opportunity Zone 2.0, the next round of opportunity zones, which starts January 1, 2027. The Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development (GO-Biz) posted the list on its Opportunity Zones page, with a Department of Finance tract file naming all 620 tracts. GO-Biz estimates the tracts are home to about 2.6 million people.
620 is the most California can pick. Treasury’s September 2026 eligibility data lists 2,479 eligible California tracts, and under IRS Rev. Proc. 2026-14 a state may nominate up to 25% of its eligible tracts, rounded up, which is 620. All 620 tracts in the state’s file are on Treasury’s eligible list.
How the tracts were picked. GO-Biz says the Department of Finance scored all 2,479 eligible tracts on poverty, median family income, renter cost burden, crowding and unemployment, using Census Bureau 2020–2024 American Community Survey data, and weighed local recommendations. An initial list of 560 tracts was published for public comment on August 3, 2026, and Finance received 3,754 comments on 863 tracts through August 28. GO-Biz says the final 620 balance the Finance score, local recommendations and public comments.
Where the tracts are. The list covers 55 counties. Los Angeles County has the most (201, about a third of the state’s picks), followed by San Diego (41), San Bernardino (34), Riverside (28), Sacramento (27), Alameda and Kern (26 each) and Fresno (25). Treasury’s data marks 106 of the 620 as rural (17%), compared with 346 of the 2,479 eligible tracts (14%). Fresno has the most rural picks (14), then Kern (9) and Tulare (7); only one of Los Angeles County’s 201 is rural. A qualified rural opportunity fund gets a 30% basis step-up instead of 10% under OZ 2.0.
Overlap with today’s zones. Using our crosswalk of the CDFI Fund’s 2018 zone list to 2020 tract boundaries, 226 of the 620 nominated tracts are current Opportunity Zones and 8 are partly in one. The other 386 would be new zones if Treasury finalizes them. See the matching method.
Nominated, awaiting Treasury review. Treasury has not yet published its OZ 2.0 list, so OZI lists California’s tracts as nominated until it does. Nominated tracts would take effect January 1, 2027, only if Treasury finalizes them. California’s filing brings our tracker to 22 filings, from 21 states and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Nationwide, Treasury’s September 2026 data counts 25,461 eligible tracts. Every nominated tract is marked on the California Opportunity Zones page and in the California tract list, and every state’s filing is on the OZ 2.0 tracker.
Sources. GO-Biz, Opportunity Zones in California · Department of Finance OZ 2.0 tract file (XLSX) · IRS Rev. Proc. 2026-14 (PDF) · Treasury Sept 2026 eligible-tract data (XLSX)
- business.ca.gov, as of October 30, 2026
- dof.ca.gov, as of October 30, 2026
- irs.gov, as of October 30, 2026
- home.treasury.gov, as of October 30, 2026
Original reporting by the Opportunity Zone Invest Editorial Team for Opportunity Zone Invest, an independent OZ 2.0 research site. Facts are drawn from the primary sources cited above per our editorial standards. Nothing here is tax, legal, or investment advice. Found an error? See our corrections policy or write to Opportunity Zone Invest.
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