Indiana's Economic Development Corporation has published the 126 census tracts Gov. Mike Braun nominated for Opportunity Zone 2.0 on September 25, 2026, the full 25% of the state's 501 eligible tracts. The IEDC list puts 29 of them in Marion County, 12 in Lake County and 9 in Allen County; the five largest counties hold 62 of the 126, and 29 counties get a single tract. Forty-two are marked rural. Every nominated GEOID is on the IRS Rev. Proc. 2026-14 eligible list, and the list's rural flags match the appendix. The nominations are pending Treasury certification; certified zones take effect January 1, 2027.
The filing. In a September 25, 2026 release, Gov. Mike Braun announced that Indiana nominated 126 census tracts for the 2027–2036 Opportunity Zone cycle and submitted them to Treasury. The release says federal law allowed Indiana to nominate up to 126 of its 501 eligible tracts, so the state used its full cap, and that the picks reach all 15 economic development regions and include all or part of 61 cities or towns and 47 counties.
By county. The IEDC's nominations list (posted on its 2027–2036 Opportunity Zone map page) gives each tract's GEOID, county and rural status. By our count of that list, Marion County has 29 tracts, Lake County 12, Allen County 9, St. Joseph County 7 and Vanderburgh County 5: 62 of the 126 in five counties. At the other end, 29 of the 47 counties have one nominated tract each. Every tract appears in the tract table on our Indiana zone page; you can also check one with the census tract lookup.
Rural picks. The list marks 42 of the 126 tracts as rural, matching the release. Those 42 sit in 32 counties, led by LaPorte County with 4 and Shelby County with 3. For investors the label matters: OZ 2.0 investments through a qualified rural opportunity fund get a 30% basis step-up after five years instead of 10%, per IRS Notice 2026-55.
Checked against the federal list. We matched all 126 GEOIDs to the Rev. Proc. 2026-14 appendix: every one is on the eligible list (Indiana has 501 eligible tracts, 120 of them rural), and the IEDC's rural flag agrees with the appendix for all 126. Using our 2010-to-2020 tract crosswalk, 64 of the 126 lie fully inside a current (2018) Opportunity Zone and 4 partly.
How Indiana chose. The release says the state scored all eligible tracts on economic conditions and demographic trends, weighed specific development opportunities and alignment with state, regional and community priorities including the READI program, and took tract recommendations from local governments, economic development groups, investors, developers and community organizations during a public input period.
What happens next. The nominated tracts are not Opportunity Zones until Treasury certifies them under Rev. Proc. 2026-14; the IEDC says certified zones will be in effect from January 1, 2027 through December 31, 2036. Indiana is listed as filed on our nomination tracker, and the filing is logged in our rule-changes feed.
Original reporting by Sarah Whitfield 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.
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