With more than 8,700 designated census tracts in the Opportunity Zone program, some offer a greater appreciation potential for investors than others. Federal criteria for determining the eligibility of an Opportunity Zone census tract include property rates above 20 percent or median family income below 80 percent of either the statewide or metropolitan area income. According to Locus, Opportunity Zones are scored on four metrics – walkability, job density, housing diversity, and distance to the nearest Top 100 central business district. Other factors also include transit accessibility, housing and transportation affordability, diversity of housing tenure, and social vulnerability. Furthermore, Policymap.com ranks Opportunity Zones in accordance to state, region, and national percentiles for housing stability, education, health and well-being, economic security, and mobility.
With so many factors contributing to designating Opportunity Zones, Matthews™ identifies the following as some of the top Opportunity Zones in the United States with the highest appreciation.
- Hollywood – Los Angeles, CA
- Deep Ellum – Dallas, TX
- Berkeley & Oakland – San Francisco Bay Area, CA
- Crystal City – Washington DC, VA
- Sterling, Dulles, Manassas, and Woodbridge – Washington DC, VA
- Costa Mesa – Orange County, CA
- Stratford & Cascade Heights – Atlanta, GA
- Cary (Western Raleigh) – Raleigh, NC
- Richmond, Rosenberg, and Brookshire (Western Houston) – Houston, TX
- Brooklyn – New York, NY
