2025 Qualified Census Tract, Difficult Development Area Designations Published

2025 DDAs and QCTs are effective for LIHTC allocations made after Dec. 31, 2024.

HUD recently published a notice in the Federal Register establishing 2025 difficult development areas (DDAs) and qualified census tracts (QCTs) for purposes of the low-income housing tax credit (LIHTC). HUD is required to designate these areas under Internal Revenue Code Section 42. Both QCTs and DDAs are eligible for an increase in basis and available tax credits of up to 30 percent for new construction and rehabilitation costs.

QCTs are those areas where either 50 percent or more of the households have incomes below 60 percent of the area median gross income or the poverty rate is at least 25 percent. DDAs are areas with high construction, land, and utility costs relative to the area median gross income, and QCTs are low-income areas based on new income and poverty data released in the American Community Survey (ACS).

The 2025 DDAs and QCTs are effective for LIHTC allocations made after Dec. 31, 2024, or for buildings financed by tax-exempt private activity bonds (PABs) if the bonds are issued or the building is placed in service after Dec. 31, 2024. An interactive map, full listing of the 2025 QCTs and DDAs, and other historical data can be accessed at www.huduser.gov/portal/datasets/qct.html.