Mapping Zoning Reform Across the United States
NAHB’s Mapping Zoning Reform Across the United States webpage is an interactive resource designed to help users quickly understand where and how zoning and land use reforms are being adopted across the United States. These maps translate complex policies into an accessible visual format, allowing users to see patterns, gaps, and momentum in zoning reform at the state, county, and local levels. The goal is to provide a clear, data-driven picture of the regulatory changes that can meaningfully expand housing supply and improve affordability.
The maps are organized into three thematic areas that reflect the most common and impactful reform strategies:
- Land Use Reforms capture changes such as accessory dwelling unit allowances, upzoning, affordable housing and density bonus programs, and updates to form-based or pattern zoning.
- Process and Approval Reforms highlight efforts to reduce uncertainty and delays in housing production, including streamlined approvals, by-right housing policies, and reforms tied to broader strategic plans.
- Transportation and Parking Reforms focus on policies that better align housing with mobility, including parking reform and transit-oriented development incentives or overlay districts.
Users can filter the maps by state, county, or city and town to explore reforms at different scales. At the state level, many states have enacted multiple, overlapping reforms that apply to different housing types or jurisdictions. Because a single map view may not capture the full scope of these layered policies, users are encouraged to download the Zoning Reform Policy Tracker data sheet to see the complete set of reforms tracked for each state and locality.
Users can also access to a companion report that examines national and regional zoning reform trends and explains the methodology behind the data collection. Together, the maps, data and analysis are intended to support informed conversations among public officials, planners, housing advocates and industry stakeholders about how regulatory frameworks can be modernized to better meet housing needs. This work was developed in collaboration with Myerson Consulting LLC.
Land Use Reforms
Process and Approval Reforms
Transportation and Parking Reforms
This report documents and analyzes zoning reforms adopted since 2020 across all regions of the United States, with a focus on binding regulatory changes at the state and local levels.
