Michigan Zoning MAP

Zoning laws dictate what can be built. 

Across the state of Michigan, they have a tremendous impact on our economy, environment, and society. But often, they are opaque and hard to interpret. That’s why we are collaborating with local, state, and national stakeholders to create the Michigan Zoning MAP: a user-friendly map to visualize how housing is permitted by zoning ordinances across the state.

Rising housing costs and a mismatch between Michigan’s housing stock and its households have sparked local, regional, and statewide interest in zoning reform. Many communities are realizing a data-driven need for diverse forms of housing, located near jobs and amenities. 

But in many cases, policymakers must fly blind. There is no consistent, high-quality data that describes how zoning is working on the ground–especially across communities. 

  • Planners, municipal professionals, and elected and appointed land use officials are not prepared to identify where reforms are needed. 
  • State policymakers lack the granular detail to implement visions like the Michigan Statewide Housing Plan. 
  • The business community, including homebuilders and land developers eager to build a wider variety of housing types, is stymied by codes that prohibit innovative solutions to contemporary challenges.

The MZM Project

The Michigan Zoning MAP (MZM) has steadily evolved as the Michigan Association of Planning has grown our three-county pilot project into a full-blown standalone tool, designed and crafted to directly address the need to understand how zoning is impacting our state specifically.  Today, 15 of our 83 counties, home to 60% of Michigan's population, have been analyzed and mapped over the course of several phases. 

Pilot / Phase 1: Partnership with the National Zoning Atlas

During the genesis of this project, MAP worked alongside 30 other states to explore the possibility and feasibility of analyzing zoning codes across the country according to a common methodology to assess housing regulations. Each state team functioned independently, defining their own areas of study and producing both the analytical and spatial data that were then entered into a common platform. 

As the project progressed, the National Zoning Atlas (NZA) team found that it was difficult to efficiently produce data with a high degree of consistency across teams using this "confederated" approach, and began requiring the analyses to be done by their internal team.

  • Northwest Michigan. MAP and Housing North partnered with the National Zoning Atlas to analyze 8 of the 10 counties in the Northwest Michigan region. Learn more in the Northwest Michigan Housing Summit Workshop PowerPoint. 

  • Allegan County. The Allegan County Community Foundation invested in an analysis to support the work of the Allegan County Housing Initiative. Watch the Allegan County Zoning Atlas Tour to get ideas for using the tool. 

All of these counties can be viewed on the National Zoning Atlas website. Click the image below to be taken to that site.  

Nza Screenshot For Link

Phase 2 and Beyond: The Michigan Zoning MAP

As the Michigan Association of Planning gained familiarity with the deep value of new insights gained through analysis of zoning codes on the regional scale, our vision for the tool grew beyond the NZA framework. In our role as Michigan's primary educators and advocates for planning and zoning, we wanted the results of this substantial effort to be as tailored as possible to our state's unique conditions, and as accessible as it could be to the communities who need this information to guide change.

This led us to take the bold step of investing our own expertise and capacity in developing a Michigan-specific tool. The Michigan Zoning MAP accomplishes the same goal as the NZA while also looking further into the future toward a more holistic understanding of the impacts of zoning on not just housing, but also the many other land uses that are shaped by zoning.  Other states from the initial cohort, such as New Hampshire and Montana, are investing in similar growth and customization of their NZA-inspired data. As another example, Washington State has pursued a statewide zoning analysis according to an indepenent methodology. This is an idea whose time has come. 

The MZM is now under development in partnership with our state's three most populous counties, and is scheduled to be available in mid-2026. MAP is also working to include the counties from the Pilot and Phase 1 on the MZM.    

  • Southeast Michigan. The MZM team is concluding its analysis of Wayne, Oakland, and Macomb Counties. These findings will be available in mid-2026. 

In every place in our state where zoning affects land use--particularly housing--our goal is to understand how. That is why we are actively seeking our next partners.  

What have we learned so far? 

Across 14 of the counties we have analyzed...

  • Single-household homes are allowed almost everywhere. In every county, 90% or more of the residential land allows a single detached home to be built by right (meaning without a public hearing)
  • Rural areas permit more duplexes than urban ones - by a lot. In Northwest Michigan and Allegan County, an average of 46% of residential land allows duplexes by right, ranging from 13% to 94% (!). But in the West Michigan pilot counties and in Southeast Michigan, the average is less than 6%.
  • "Middle housing" is treated the same as the highest-density housing. In any given county, the percentage of residential land that allows 2-4 homes is virtually (and usually literally) the same as the percentage of land that allows an unspecified number of housing units.  
  • Overall, just 3.6% of residential land legally allows more than two homes by right. This number actually decreases slightly (3.4%) when we only consider our urbanized areas. That's a bummer, because urban areas are where we have invested in the kind of infrastructure that supports a wide range of housing choice. 

Join the Michigan Zoning MAP

MAP is actively seeking partnerships with counties and regions that are ready to better understand where and how housing can legally be built. 

To create the Michigan Zoning MAP, we:

  • Analyze zoning codes against over 100 data points to determine what housing can be built and how.
  • Collect or create GIS-based spatial data for each jurisdiction.
  • Combine and display this data in the housing-focused interactive map.

For each partner, we compile area-wide findings into shareable reports focusing on land use, parking requirements, and housing format flexibility.

How much does it cost? 

Excellent question. Costs are subject to some variables, and so proposals are developed on a per-project basis. Factors that most significantly affect the final budget estimate include the population and the number of jurisdictions in the county or region, and whether up-to-date, consolidated, accessible spatial data already exists. 

We are happy to answer your questions, think through your plans, and help you connect with partners and resources. Contact Leah DuMouchel at ldumouchel@planningmi.org.

Who is funding this work? 

Each proposal has been locally funded. What this says to us is that the value of understanding and accessing zoning regulations is clear to a wide variety of organizations across the geography of our entire state. The following organizations have invested in this new knowledge: 

  • Michigan State Housing Development Authority, Regional Housing Partnerships. Three regional partnerships have chosen to invest their funds in a Zoning MAP to support the adopted goals in their Housing Action Plans. This is among the most popular and accessible avenues, and several more RHP leads have been in contact with us to develop a project that meets their unique needs.
    • Region L, Oakland County. Lead agencies: Alliance for Housing, Pontiac Housing Commission, Pontiac Community Foundation
    • Region M, Macomb County. Lead agency: Macomb County Health and Community Services
    • Region N, Wayne County. Lead agency: Wayne Metro Community Action Agency
  • Michigan Economic Development Corporation
  • University of Michigan Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning, Pressing Matters Grant
  • Kent County, American Rescue Plan Act
  • Allegan County Community Foundation
  • Grand Traverse County, Economic Development Association
  • Macomb County, Planning and Economic Development Department
  • Wayne County, Sustainability Division
  • Petoskey-Harbor Springs Area Community Foundation
  • City of Petoskey
  • Emmet County
  • Rotary Charities of Traverse City
  • Huntington Bank
  • Charlevoix County Community Foundation
  • Manistee County Community Foundation

Learn more

Michigan’s Housing Shortage

Michigan’s Statewide Housing Plan - A 2022 plan led by the Michigan State Housing and Development Authority is the state’s first collaborative statewide housing plan.

Grand Rapids, Kent County, and Ottawa County Housing Needs Assessments - 2020 and 2021 reports document housing needs in the Grand Rapids area, the Atlas pilot location. 

Northwest Michigan Housing Needs Assessment - 2023 report documents the housing need in the fast-growing 10-county region 

Zoning Reform in Michigan

Zoning Reform Toolkit: 15 Tools to Expand Housing Choice and Supply - MAP publication details a comprehensive suite of tools that local governments can put into action today to support a more diverse and affordable housing stock

Zoning Reform Stories and Studies: A Companion Guide  - A statewide deep dive into how real local governments have tackled the housing shortage in their communities

MAP Zoning Reform Resources - Webpage includes news, on-demand training, national and statewide partnerships, and more.