The statute establishing the HUBZone Program directs the SBA to rely upon definitions provided by other Federal agencies to determine which areas qualify as HUBZones. Generally speaking, these determinations are arrived at after the collection of either income or employment data, and that data forms the basis for the calculations cited below:
A HUBZone may be one of the following:
- A qualified census tract. The definition for Qualified Census Tract is based on an Internal Revenue Service provision for the low income housing tax credit program that is developed in conjunction with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The Secretary of HUD designates Qualified Census Tracts by a notice published periodically in the Federal Register. The most recent notice based on the results of the 2000 census data collection appeared December 12, 2002, and were represented on the HUBZone mapping system on May 19, 2003. (11,600 TOTAL in U.S.).
Information on how data is compiled for the Qualified Census Tracts designation is available on the web at qct.huduser.org - A qualified county. The definition for qualified county is any county that, based on the most recent data available from the U.S. Census Bureau, is not located in a metropolitan statistical area and in which the median household income is less than 80 percent of the median household income for the entire non-metropolitan area of a state and/or any non-metropolitan county that, based on the most recent data available from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), has an unemployment rate that is not less than 140 percent of the statewide average unemployment rate. (1,200 TOTAL in U.S.).
Information on decennial census data used to determine the household income is available on the web at www.census.gov/main/www/cen2000.html.
Information in the local employment data used to determine the unemployment element is available on the web at www.bls.gov/lau/home.htm#data
- A qualified Indian reservation. The definitions for qualified Indian reservations, which include lands covered by the phrase ‘Indian Country,’ are those established and used by the Bureau of Indian Affairs. There is one exception, which applies to portions of the state of Oklahoma where HUBZone is using a definition arrived at by the Internal Revenue Service. (EXCEEDS 340 TOTAL in U.S.).
Information on Native American reservations and related information is available on the web at www.doi.gov/bureau-indian-affairs.html.
Information on the Internal Revenue Service description for former Indian Reservations in Oklahoma is available on the web at www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=99491,00.html
