Opportunity Zones
Opportunity Zones, a bipartisan initiative authored by Senator Tim Scott and enacted through the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, empowered the governors of each state to designate economically-distressed communities that were ripe for investment and tie them to a brand new federal tax incentive to drive private investment into our nation’s most distressed zip codes.
More than 50 million Americans currently live in economically-distressed communities. Opportunity Zones put the decision-making in the hands of state and local leaders who know their communities best. This incentive aims to lift entire communities out of poverty by attracting private dollars to the corners of our country that have been left behind as the American economy has surged forward.
Here are the numbers:
- 8,764 census tracts have since been designated as Opportunity Zones.
- 31.5 million people currently call Opportunity Zones home.
- The majority of Opportunity Zones residents, 57 percent, are non-white minorities.
- The average poverty rate among Opportunity Zones is 27.7 percent.
- While Opportunity Zones only cover one-quarter of the country’s low-income census tracts, they cover 38 percent of all U.S. census tracts that have been persistently poor since at least 1980, and 49 percent of the country’s pockets of concentrated persistent poverty.
- More adults in OZs lack a high school diploma than have a 4-year college degree.
- Poverty rates rose in 53 percent of zones between the 2006-10 and 2014-18 periods.
- The average median family income across Opportunity Zones is around $47,000, nearly $27,000 less than the national figure.
- Nearly one out of five Opportunity Zone tracts were simultaneously experiencing a rising poverty rate along with declining median family income and home values.
- While Opportunity Zones represent around 11 percent of all census tracts, they account for 24 percent of the nation’s food deserts. In total, 2,225 Opportunity Zones, or 28 percent of all zones, qualify as food deserts.
- Of the 379 zone colleges and universities, 47 are HBCUs, or Historically Black Colleges and Universities and 16 are tribal colleges.
- Households are defined as rent-burdened if they spend 30 percent or more of their household income on rent.
- Homeownership rates are lower in Opportunity Zones than outside: 46 percent of the Opportunity Zone population owns a home, compared to 64 percent nationwide.
The Opportunity Zones incentive allows taxpayers to reap significant tax benefits by making powerful investments into our most economically stagnant areas – areas which investors have avoided for far too long. At the same time, this incentive provides needy communities with a new tool and a level playing field when competing for investment. By offering communities a hand up instead of a hand out, Opportunity Zones are already credited with spurring economic development, job creation, revitalization, and new opportunities for countless Americans.
South Carolina:
New buildings slated for Orangeburg County/City Industrial Park; $21 million private investment planned to attract business
New business opens in Aiken’s Opportunity Zone
Carolina Opportunity Funds Chooses BioEconomy Solutions
Arkansas:
Safe Foods opens state-of-the-art North Little Rock facility
Tennessee:
Opportunity Zone Development Receives $21 Million in Construction Financing via Walker & Dunlop
Illinois:
Chicago investors target $750 million for opportunity zones
Colorado:
125-Acre Industrial Park Announced for Aurora
Utah:
Main Street Meets Opportunity Zones In Brigham City
Pennsylvania:
Retired NFL Linebacker Invests in Hometown
Titans Linebacker Derrick Morgan Retires From NFL And Launches $200 Million Opportunity Zone Fund
Opportunity zone incentives to 'breathe life' into downtown Philipsburg
Erie lost people for decades. Now, leaders there hope a new tax break will transform the city
Florida:
How is Russell Galbut redesigning Miami?
Montana:
1st new building in West Broadway ‘opportunity zone’ to break ground Monday
Missouri:
DCA Outdoor sponsors first qualified opportunity property in Opportunity Zone
Georgia:
Beltline visionary part of team seeking redevelopment of West End mall
Maine:
Biotech business is booming in former Waterville mill that once made shirts for Union soldiers
Maryland:
$25M fund targets Baltimore's underinvested neighborhoods
NY/IL (Fifth Third):
Fifth Third Bank Announces $100 Million Investment in Opportunity Zones
California:
West Adams Is Looking Up
Finding opportunity for those in distressed communities
How To Eliminate Crypto Capital Gain Taxes By Investing In Opportunity Zones?
Trump says wealthy investing 'tremendous' amounts in underserved communities via Opportunity Zones
Thinking Of Opening A New Business? Be Sure To Explore OZs For Your HQ
Trump targets “aquaculture opportunity zones”
Sen. Tim Scott: Opportunity zones are really working
Final Opportunity Zone Regulations Released By Trump Administration
Scott Launches Nationalwide Virtual Opportunity Zones Tour
ICYMI: POTUS PRAISES OPPORTUNITY ZONES, SCOTT EFFORTS DURING STATE OF THE UNION
Senator Scott Praises Treasury Department’s Final Action on Opportunity Zones
ICYMI: CBS Sports Highlights Opportunity Zones Initiative
Scott Statement on New Opportunity Zone Regulations
WTAS: Scott, McMaster Headline Opportunity Zone Summit in Columbia
WTAS: ‘Opportunity Zones’ Nominated in States Across the Country
U.S. Economic Development Administration | Press Releases
LATEST OPPORTUNITY ZONES PRESS RELEASES
Department of Treasury | Press Releases
Treasury and IRS Issue Final Regulations on Opportunity Zones
Additional Press Releases
Latest
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Wednesday | December 2, 2020
Scott Launches Nationwide Virtual Opportunity Zones Tour
While the pandemic is still ongoing, the work Opportunity Zones are doing to uplift our most devastated communities hasn’t stopped. I am so excited to launch my nationwide Virtual Opportunity Zone Tour in my home state of South Carolina.
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Saturday | October 31, 2020
ICYMI: The Post and Courier: ‘The Boeing of agriculture’ touches down in a corner of SC that needs it
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Monday | September 14, 2020
Farmers say new SC agriculture campus a ‘shot in the arm’ for struggling local economy
A recently announced 1,000-plus acre agriculture development in Hampton County has thrilled local and state officials because of the infusion of many new jobs and the boost to the local economy.
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Thursday | September 10, 2020
Sens. Scott, Graham secure $21.6 million grant for SC Ports that will lead to new jobs
Sen. Lindsey Graham and Sen. Tim Scott worked together to help South Carolina Ports Authority secure a $21.6 million grant that will help create new jobs in Ridgeville.
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Wednesday | September 2, 2020
Huge Opportunity Zone Announcement, 1,500 Permanent Jobs Coming to South Carolina
This is the exact sort of investment we expected in creating Opportunity Zones, and is a classic example of the potential for zones across the country. These 1,500 new full-time jobs and 500 seasonal jobs will help power rural Hampton County’s economy for years to come.
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Wednesday | September 2, 2020
First-of-its-kind agricultural center a boon to Hampton County, SC consumers
EARLY BRANCH - Billed as the nation’s largest investment in an opportunity zone development, a high-tech agricultural campus announced Wednesday aims to ensure a safer and more reliable food source for South Carolina consumers while bringing hundreds of jobs to this rural part of the Lowcountry.
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Monday | August 24, 2020
New Report: $75 Billion Committed to Opportunity Zones
U.S. Senator Tim Scott (R-S.C.), author of Opportunity Zones, released the following statement after the release of The White House Council of Economic Advisers’ assessment of Opportunity Zones.
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