HUBZone Map 2026: Address Check Steps and Expiry Dates

By Aoba Works · Published October 26, 2026 · 17 min read

How this guide was made: drafted with AI assistance from the official sources linked below, then passed an automated editorial check before publishing. Our process

• Sba
• Set Aside
• Sam.gov
• Federal Contracting

The HUBZone map is SBA's free online tool at maps.certify.sba.gov/hubzone/map. You type in a street address or GPS coordinates, and it tells you whether that spot sits inside a Historically Underutilized Business Zone (SBA map help). In 2026 a clean result needs one more check. Every "Redesignated Area" created by the 2023 map update expired on July 1, 2026 (SBA map help), so read the designation type and expiration date on the result, then confirm that real HUBZone set-asides exist on SAM.gov in your line of work.

Which option is right for you?

Your first step depends on where you are now. The table gives you a starting point and the page to open.

Why this order? For a beginner the map costs nothing and needs no account (DLA HUBZone overview). Certified firms face the July 2026 expiration risk right now. And if SAM.gov shows almost no HUBZone work in your industry, that tells you more about the program's value to you than any map result.

What is a HUBZone Map?

The HUBZone Map is SBA's online GIS tool for checking whether an address falls in a Historically Underutilized Business Zone. That answer decides whether a business located there can use the HUBZone federal contracting program.

It sits at maps.certify.sba.gov/hubzone/map, on the same SBA certification platform that handles HUBZone applications. According to SBA's map help page, you can:

• search by street address, with autocomplete suggestions as you type
• search by GPS coordinates in "latitude, longitude" format, for example 38.93655, -77.01993, with no degree symbol and a minus sign for negative values
• switch base maps between "Standard," "Light Gray" and "Satellite"
• open the legend to see every HUBZone type with its own color and pattern
• use "My Location" (with browser permission) to check where you're standing
• print the result for your records

The map shows six designation types: Census Tract, County, Indian Land, Redesignated Area, Disaster Area and Governor-Designated Covered Area (SBA map help). Each type follows different rules about how long it lasts, which is why the type matters as much as the yes/no answer.

The common mistake is to treat the map as a certification. It isn't one. It only tells you about a location. To win HUBZone contracts the business also has to be small, at least 51% owned and controlled by U.S. citizens (or certain tribal, Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian or cooperative owners), keep its principal office in a HUBZone, and have at least 35% of its employees living in a HUBZone (SBA HUBZone program).

What is a HUBZone Area?

A HUBZone area is a census tract, county, Indian land, or special-status area that meets SBA's economic distress criteria. Businesses based and staffed there can compete for HUBZone contracts.

The legal definitions are in 13 CFR 126.103. The table below puts them next to the map labels, because the duration column is what catches people out.

Sources: 13 CFR 126.103, SBA map help.

The county test only applies to non-metropolitan counties. So if your office is in a metro county, such as most suburbs of a major city, only census tracts (or one of the special types) can make your address qualify. Neighboring blocks can get different answers.

What is a HUBZone?

HUBZone stands for Historically Underutilized Business Zone. It's an SBA program that gives small businesses located in and employing residents of distressed areas preferred access to federal contracts.

According to SBA and FAR subpart 19.13, as of October 2026 the program works like this:

• Government-wide goal: agencies aim to award 3% of federal contracting dollars to HUBZone firms.
• Set-asides: a contracting officer can restrict a competition to HUBZone firms when there's a reasonable expectation of offers from two or more of them at a fair market price (FAR 19.1305).
• Sole-source awards: allowed up to $8.5 million for manufacturing NAICS codes and $5.5 million for all other NAICS codes, options included (FAR 19.1306).
• Price evaluation preference: in full and open competition, offers from non-HUBZone firms get a 10% factor added when the agency compares prices against a HUBZone offer (FAR 19.1307).
• Recertification: every three years, submitted in the 90 calendar days before your certification anniversary (13 CFR 126.500).

Here's an example, with numbers made up for illustration. A HUBZone firm bids $1,000,000 in a full-and-open competition. A large business bids $950,000. With the 10% factor, the large business's price is evaluated as $1,045,000, so the HUBZone firm comes out lower on price. FAR 19.1307 lists exceptions, so read that section before you count on the preference.

The employee test matters as much as the office address. Under SBA's December 2024 final rule, effective January 16, 2025, an employee counts as a HUBZone resident after living in a HUBZone for 90 days, down from 180. The 35% residency requirement stayed the same (PilieroMazza summary of the rule). Size still decides everything as well, so check your NAICS code in our SBA size standards guide.

How to Use the HUBZone Map for a 2026 Eligibility Check

Enter a full street address, not just a city or ZIP code, because eligibility follows census tract lines that can change block by block. Then read the result and the legend together.

Step-by-step

1. Open maps.certify.sba.gov/hubzone/map. You don't need an account.
2. Click the search bar and type the full address: number, street, city, state. Pick the matching autocomplete suggestion (SBA map help).
3. Press Enter or click the magnifying glass icon.
4. Read the result panel. It shows whether the location is qualified and which designation type applies.
5. If the address is rural or brand new and the geocoder can't find it, clear the field with the "x" and search by coordinates in latitude, longitude format.
6. Switch the base map to "Light Gray." SBA says it gives a clearer view than "Standard," which helps when your pin sits near a tract boundary.
7. Open the legend and check that the color under your pin matches the type in the result panel.
8. If the type is Redesignated Area, Disaster Area or Governor-Designated Covered Area, write down the expiration date (see the next section).
9. Print the result. The map has a print option for documentation (SBA map help).
10. Repeat for every employee's home address, not just the office. The 35% test depends on where people live.

Common mistakes and fixes

How to Confirm Redesignated-Area Expiration Dates on the HUBZone Map

A redesignated HUBZone area keeps its status for three years after losing its original qualification, and the map shows its expiration date. Every redesignated area from the July 2023 update expired on July 1, 2026.

SBA's map help says tracts and counties that lose status "remain qualified for three years," and that the map displays expiration dates for them. The regulation counts those three years from the date the area stopped qualifying (13 CFR 126.103). SBA also says it would update the map in 2026 to remove expiring Redesignated Areas, and that Disaster and Governor-designated areas can expire at any time of year (SBA map help).

How to check

1. Search the address as described above.
2. In the result panel, find the designation type. If it says Redesignated Area, look for the expiration date next to it.
3. Compare that date with today (October 2026). A date of July 1, 2026 or earlier means the area no longer counts, even if the map hasn't caught up yet.
4. Toggle the legend and turn off the Redesignated Area layer if you can. If your pin no longer sits on any other qualified color, the address doesn't qualify on its own.
5. Do the same check for Disaster Area and Governor-Designated Covered Area results, since those expire on their own schedules.
6. Log in to MySBA Certifications and compare your company profile with what the map shows now.

Why this matters even if your certification says "active"

Since January 16, 2025, a firm has to be an eligible HUBZone small business on the date it submits an offer for a HUBZone contract, not just on its certification date (PilieroMazza; FAR 19.1304). A firm can therefore show "active" in SBA's system and still submit an ineligible offer if its office or 35% residency depended on an expired area (OpenGrants, July 2026).

Two related rules come up often:

• Legacy employees. A firm can count up to four "legacy" HUBZone employees as long as it has at least one current HUBZone resident employee. But someone who first qualified by living in a Redesignated Area or Disaster Area can never be a legacy employee, and anyone who worked under 30 hours a week at any point is excluded (PilieroMazza).
• Attempt to maintain. While you're performing a HUBZone contract, you have to make documented efforts (job ads, written offers, job fairs) to stay at 35%. Falling below 20% counts as failing that requirement (13 CFR 126.103).

Pitfall: don't expect a quick fix from the map. SBA won't update Qualified Census Tracts and Counties again until July 2028 (SBA map help), so an office that lost status in July 2026 won't get it back from new data any time soon. Your realistic options are moving the office, hiring HUBZone residents, or pausing HUBZone-only bids.

How to Read Your HUBZone Map Certification Result

The map result gives you three things to record: qualified or not, the designation type, and any expiration date. That's your location evidence for an SBA application, a recertification, and your own bid-day eligibility check.

One correction to a common belief: you don't get HUBZone status by checking a box in SAM.gov. You apply, and later recertify every three years, through MySBA Certifications (SBA; 13 CFR 126.500). You still need an active SAM.gov registration, and our SAM.gov registration guide covers that.

How to turn the result into a usable record

1. Save the printed map result (or a PDF of the print view) with the date in the file name.
2. Copy the designation type and any expiration date into a simple log with these columns: address, office or employee, type, expiration, date checked.
3. For employees, add their move-in date. Someone becomes a HUBZone resident after 90 days at that address (PilieroMazza).
4. Calculate your residency share: HUBZone-resident employees ÷ total employees. It has to be at least 35%.
5. Re-run steps 1–4 before each HUBZone offer, since eligibility is tested on the offer date.
6. Put your recertification window on the calendar: the 90 days before your three-year anniversary. If you miss it, SBA decertifies you, but it will reinstate you if you recertify within 30 days of the end of your eligibility period (13 CFR 126.500).

Example of reading a result (illustrative)

Take a 10-person firm with these sample results:

• Office: "Census Tract," no expiration. That qualifies through July 2028 at least.
• Employees: 3 in Census Tracts, 1 in a "Redesignated Area" that expired July 1, 2026, and 6 outside any HUBZone.

Before July 2026 it had 4 of 10, or 40%. Now it has 3 of 10, or 30%, which is below 35%. On bid day this firm wouldn't meet the residency requirement, even though its SBA status still shows active. One more HUBZone-resident hire who has lived at their address for 90 days would bring it to 4 of 11, about 36%.

SBA also runs a program examination of each certified firm at least once every three years, and it can do them more often based on risk (13 CFR 126.500). A dated log like the one above is what you'd show an examiner.

HUBZone Map by State: Virginia, Georgia, and Maryland Examples

There's no reliable state-level HUBZone list for Virginia, Georgia, Maryland or any other state. Check each address on the live map, because qualification is set tract by tract and some types expire.

People search "HUBZone map Virginia" or "HUBZone map Maryland" hoping for a list of qualified cities. SBA's tool doesn't work that way: it answers one location at a time (SBA map help). Here's how the rules play out in common situations in these three states. These are examples of the logic, not claims about specific addresses.

• Metro suburbs (for example Northern Virginia, the Atlanta metro, or suburban Maryland around Baltimore and Washington). These counties are metropolitan, so the non-metro county test can't apply. Only Qualified Census Tracts or special types can qualify an address (13 CFR 126.103). Expect a patchwork where one block qualifies and the next doesn't.
• Rural counties (for example parts of southwest Virginia, south Georgia, or Maryland's Eastern Shore). A whole non-metro county can qualify on income or unemployment, so one county result may cover all your employees. Still confirm each one, because a county that lost status in 2023 would have been a Redesignated Area and expired on July 1, 2026.
• Areas hit by federally declared disasters. A Disaster Area designation can make an address qualify for a while. Write down how long it lasts, because it ends when SBA updates the map (13 CFR 126.103).

Pitfalls: state agencies, local chambers and consultants sometimes post PDF maps or county lists. Treat those as background reading only. Look at the date on any such document. If it was made before July 1, 2026, it may still show expired Redesignated Areas. If your employees live across a state line (DC, Maryland and Virginia are a classic case), check each home address on its own. The map doesn't care about state borders.

HUBZone Map 2025 vs 2026: What Changed

The main change from 2025 to 2026 is that all Redesignated Areas from the 2023 update expired on July 1, 2026. The underlying census tracts and counties stay the same until July 2028.

SBA now updates Qualified Census Tracts and Qualified Non-Metropolitan Counties on a five-year cycle. The current map took effect in July 2023, and the next full update is scheduled for July 2028 (SBA map help). The July 2023 update used 2020 Census-based data, and areas that dropped out got the three-year Redesignated status that just ended (Ward & Berry summary via search).

Sources: SBA map help, 13 CFR 126.500, PilieroMazza.

Pitfall: reusing a 2025 screenshot. A 2025 printout showing "Redesignated Area" was accurate then, but it doesn't help you now. Make a fresh check and file it with this year's date.

HUBZone Set-Aside: Finding Live Contract Opportunities on SAM.gov

Once the map confirms your eligibility, search SAM.gov Contract Opportunities filtered to HUBZone set-asides to see what you could actually bid on. Most map guides skip this step.

SAM.gov uses two HUBZone set-aside codes, per the GSA Get Opportunities API documentation:

• HZC: "Historically Underutilized Business (HUBZone) Set-Aside (FAR 19.13)"
• HZS: "Historically Underutilized Business (HUBZone) Sole Source (FAR 19.13)"

Steps

1. Open the prefiltered SAM.gov search. The setAside=HZC part of the URL applies the HUBZone Set-Aside filter for you.
2. In the left filter panel, keep the status on active notices so expired ones don't clutter your results.
3. Under Notice Type, choose "Solicitation" and "Combined Synopsis/Solicitation" for things you can bid on now. Add "Sources Sought" if you want to influence future set-asides.
4. Enter your primary NAICS code in the NAICS filter.
5. Optionally narrow by place of performance (state or ZIP code).
6. Open a notice and confirm that its "Set Aside" field says HUBZone. Then read the solicitation's eligibility clauses.
7. Check the notice's NAICS size standard against your firm's size.
8. If you're logged in, save the search so you can run it again quickly.

How to use what you find

Count the results. If you see few HUBZone notices in your NAICS code across a year, many of your opportunities may still come through total small business set-asides (see total vs partial small business set-asides) or the 10% price preference in open competitions. Sources sought notices tagged with your NAICS code are a chance to tell the contracting officer that HUBZone firms exist. That matters because a HUBZone set-aside needs a reasonable expectation of two or more HUBZone offers (FAR 19.1305). Our sources sought response template shows how to answer one.

Example (illustrative): say a janitorial firm finds a HUBZone set-aside solicitation in its state. Before bidding, it re-runs the map on its office and staff addresses (bid-day eligibility), checks the size standard, and confirms its SAM.gov registration is active. Only then does it start the proposal.

Pitfall: HUBZone Sole Source (HZS) notices are usually announcements of an award to a specific firm, not open calls for bids. Read the notice type before you spend time on one.

Next steps

You can do the first check today in under an hour, and everything below except paid advisers is free.

Do it yourself today:

1. Run your office address and every employee's home address on the SBA HUBZone map. Record the type and any expiration date, and work out your residency share against 35%.
2. Open the SAM.gov HUBZone set-aside search, add your NAICS code, and count active solicitations.
3. If you're already certified, log in to MySBA Certifications and note your three-year anniversary, so you know when the 90-day recertification window opens.

If you'd rather not do it alone:

• APEX Accelerators. Free counseling funded by the Department of Defense. Counselors can walk you through HUBZone eligibility and your application (APEX Accelerators; DLA HUBZone overview). Good for first-time applicants and firms on a budget. Less suited to complex ownership questions or disputes, and appointment wait times vary by office.
• SBA certification itself has no application fee (as of October 2026; check the official page), so nobody needs to pay just to apply.
• Government contracts attorneys or private consultants. Useful if your eligibility depends on edge cases such as legacy employees, an office move, or a protest. They charge their own rates, so get a written quote first. This is usually more than a simple single-office firm needs.

Related guides on this site:

• How to Bid on Government Contracts: 7 Steps, 2026 Costs
• Capability Statement Example: 5 Sections Buyers Read First
• RFQ vs RFP: 5 FAR Clues and What to Submit (2026)

FAQ

What is a HUBZone map used for?

It checks whether a specific address or GPS point lies in a HUBZone and which designation type applies. Businesses use it for their principal office and employee residences, since the program requires both. It doesn't certify a business. That happens through MySBA Certifications.

Is the HUBZone map on sba.gov official?

Yes. The official tool is at maps.certify.sba.gov/hubzone/map, run by SBA as part of its certification platform. Third-party copies may lag behind SBA's data, especially after the July 1, 2026 expirations, so use SBA's map for any decision.

What does it mean if my address shows as HUBZone eligible?

It means that location currently meets one HUBZone designation. Check the type: Census Tract and County results last until the July 2028 update, while Redesignated, Disaster and Governor-designated areas can expire. You still need 35% HUBZone-resident employees, small size, eligible ownership and SBA certification.

How often does the HUBZone map update?

SBA updates census tracts and non-metro counties every five years. The current map took effect in July 2023 and the next update is July 2028. Redesignated, Disaster and Governor-designated areas can be added or expire between those updates, so check again before each HUBZone bid.

What is a HUBZone set-aside contract?

It's a federal contract competition limited to certified HUBZone small businesses, used when a contracting officer expects offers from at least two of them at a fair market price (FAR 19.1305). On SAM.gov these notices carry the code HZC. You must be eligible on the date you submit your offer.

Sources

• SBA HUBZone Map
• SBA HUBZone Map Help / Overview
• SBA HUBZone program
• MySBA Certifications
• 13 CFR 126.103 definitions (Cornell LII)
• 13 CFR 126.500 maintaining certification (Cornell LII)
• FAR subpart 19.13, HUBZone Program (acquisition.gov)
• Federal Register: HUBZone Program Updates and Clarifications, Dec. 17, 2024
• PilieroMazza: New rule makes major changes to HUBZone program
• OpenGrants: HUBZone certification status isn't eligibility (July 2026)
• Ward & Berry: HUBZone redesignated areas set to expire in July 2026
• GSA Get Opportunities Public API (set-aside codes)
• SAM.gov HUBZone set-aside search
• DLA Small Business: HUBZone Program
• APEX Accelerators

Spotted something out of date or wrong? Tell us at shigoto.ai.note@gmail.com. Guides are re-checked against official sources on a rolling schedule.