Houston Opportunity Zones

Houston sits within Texas, which has filed its OZ 2.0 nominations: 608 tracts submitted to Treasury on September 4, 2026, per the Office of the Governor. These are nominations, not certified zones: they await Treasury certification, and certified zones take effect January 1, 2027. Details: Texas's 608 OZ 2.0 nominations: Dallas County has 60, and 184 are rural and the OZ 2.0 nomination tracker. Texas has 2,431 census tracts eligible under OZ 2.0.

500 eligible tracts fall in Houston's constituent county (Harris County) per the IRS Rev. Proc. 2026-14 appendix — the same county totals shown on the state page. OZ 2.0's tightened eligibility criteria — median family income at or below 70% of the state/metro reference (down from 80% under OZ 1.0), with the contiguous-tract option eliminated — means fewer Houston neighborhoods qualify than under the 2018 OZ 1.0 map. How states choose OZ 2.0 tracts →

For investors targeting Houston, the OZ 2.0 tax benefits — rolling 5-year deferral, 10% basis step-up (or 30% for Rural QROFs in qualifying rural tracts), and 100% federal-tax-free exclusion of QOF appreciation after a 10-year hold — apply to investments made on or after January 1, 2027. See the full OZ 1.0 vs 2.0 comparison →

What Houston's demographics imply: with a median household income of $56,019 and a 19.4% poverty rate, Houston is likely to keep a meaningful share of Opportunity Zone tracts in higher-poverty census areas, while higher-income neighborhoods that qualified through the contiguous-tract pathway under OZ 1.0 will lose zone status under OZ 2.0.