The map decides which new deals can carry the incentive.
On October 2, 2026, the Healey-Driscoll administration nominated 104 census tracts across 46 Massachusetts municipalities for the next Opportunity Zone round. The state says Treasury certification is still pending. If certified, the new designations take effect January 1, 2027, and run through December 31, 2036.
Massachusetts designated 138 zones in 2018. The proposed total is 34 lower, or 24.6% fewer (derived). That comparison measures total counts, not tract-by-tract turnover; it does not prove that exactly 34 existing zones were removed or that all 104 proposed zones are retained zones.
The federal eligibility tests are alternatives. A tract qualifies with median family income at or below 70% of the applicable area median family income, OR with a poverty rate of at least 20% and median family income at or below 125% of that median. The benchmark is the metropolitan-area median for metro tracts and the statewide median for nonmetro tracts. These are tract-level family-income tests, not individual household earnings limits. The former exception for otherwise-ineligible contiguous tracts has been removed.
Connect CRE, citing the Boston Business Journal, reports that Alewife, Assembly Square, Malden Center and part of Medford are outside the new slate, while areas including Dorchester Bay City, a Fall River riverfront corridor and Joint Base Cape Cod are included. Those neighborhood descriptions do not replace a parcel-level tract check.
For a new development or land acquisition, verify the exact census tract against the final certified list before assuming an incentive in the equity case. A nomination is not a certification. The proposed map also should not be read as an immediate cancellation of tax benefits for existing investments; transition rules and each investment’s timing require separate review.
Key Takeaways
- Underwrite a new Opportunity Zone deal against its exact tract, final certification and investment timing. The 104-versus-138 comparison is a change in total count, not a count of old zones removed.
Massachusetts Executive Office of Economic Development — 2026 Massachusetts Opportunity Zone Program; October 2 nominations, accessed October 13, 2026 https://www.mass.gov/info-details/2026-massachusetts-opportunity-zone-program · Internal Revenue Service — Revenue Procedure 2026-14, Section 2.02(3), 2026 https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-drop/rp-26-14.pdf · Connect CRE — Healey Administration Proposes Pared-Down Slate of Opportunity Zones, October 12, 2026 (citing Boston Business Journal) https://www.connectcre.com/stories/healey-administration-proposes-pared-down-slate-of-opportunity-zones/
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