Opportunity Zones (OZs) represent the nation’s largest place-based investment incentive, offering federal tax benefits to steer private capital into low-income communities. Yet five years after the program’s rollout, the precise distribution and impact of these investments remain difficult to assess. As governors prepare to nominate a new round of Opportunity Zones by July 2026 under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act of 2025, better data are needed.

Ohio is one of the few states that collects project-level reporting on OZ investments, thanks to a state tax incentive that requires disclosure. This analysis draws on Ohio data to explore what kinds of projects are being funded and what governors should consider as they select OZs for the next decade.

Why This Matters

Governors have pivotal decisions to make that will shape the next era of OZ activity. The 2017 OZ designation process occurred with limited data, no historical precedent, and a tight timeline. Ohio’s investment trends offer a window into how OZ capital is being deployed and provide critical evidence that can affect future designations and OZ investments.

What We Found

Ohio’s project-level OZ data provide a clearer picture of how the OZ incentive is being used and for what types of development in Ohio. Specific findings include the following: 

• Most Ohio OZ dollars supported real estate, not businesses. Residential development was the dominant project type, accounting for 64 percent of OZ capital, followed by commercial (20 percent) and industrial (6 percent) projects. Mixed-use and multifamily rental housing made up the bulk of residential investments.
• Affordability was limited. The vast majority of OZ-funded residential units in Ohio were priced above local median rents. We found 78 percent of units in multifamily developments rented for more than the median rent in the census tract, and nearly 70 percent of multifamily units were priced at more than 120 percent of the tract’s median rent.
• OZ capital alone was rarely sufficient to support affordable housing. Projects that did produce below-market units in Ohio typically combined OZ equity with other subsidies, such as Low-Income Housing Tax Credits or The US Department of Housing and Urban Development’s HOME Investment Partnerships Program.
• The OZ program functions more as a real estate incentive than a tool for inclusive development. Given how OZs are used in Ohio, governors should approach zone selection with realistic expectations and a focus on areas where market-rate real estate investment can yield meaningful community benefit without causing displacement.

How We Did It

We examined transaction-level data from Ohio’s Opportunity Zone tax incentive program, matching individual project addresses with CoStar property data and other sources to identify project types and characteristics. We also analyzed tract-level demographics and economic indicators using the American Community Survey and employment data from the US Census Bureau’s Longitudinal Employer-Household Dynamics program.