Zoning laws dictate what can be built.
The Michigan Zoning MAP (MZM) shows what kind of housing can be built and where. For every zoning district in a community on the MZM, the research team recorded more than 100 variables, and the tech team renders them interactively.
The Michigan Zoning MAP can...
- Show everyone how zoning laws literally shape housing in your community
- Give land use officials and their staff a regional perspective on their decisions
- Help housing developers, especially new and emerging ones, identify opportunities to build
What parts of Michigan does the MZM show?
Wayne County is the first county on the MAP, launched in May 2026, to be followed by Oakland and Macomb Counties in June. West Michigan counties (Kent, Muskegon, Ottawa, and Allegan) will roll out this summer, alongside our newest counties, Shiawassee and Lapeer. (See link below for information on northwest Michigan counties.)
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.
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.
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West Michigan. Our pilot project not only analyzed the legal landscape for housing in Kent, Ottawa, and Muskegon Counties, but also developed the protocols and public awareness that have supported the duration of the project. This work was conducted by the University of Michigan and MAP, in partnership with Housing Next. Read the Project Report from the University of Michigan or the Zoning Atlas Introductory Webinar PowerPoint.
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.
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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.
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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.
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 2026 launch of the MZM is made possible by the initial and founding cohort of Southeast Michigan. Organizations across Wayne, Oakland, and Macomb counties, including their County departments and their Regional Housing Partnership leads, all independently saw the value of this information and then worked in coordination to resource it. The investment and the cohesion have been equally critical in making it happen.
Join the Michigan Zoning MAP
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: 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. This includes educational materials and activites.
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 H, Shiawassee, Lapeer, and Tuscola Counties. Lead Agency: Communities First, Inc.
- 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
- Grand Traverse County, Economic Development Association
- Macomb County, Planning and Economic Development Department
- Wayne County, Sustainability Division
- Emmet County
- Allegan County Community Foundation
- Charlevoix County Community Foundation
- Manistee County Community Foundation
- Petoskey-Harbor Springs Area Community Foundation
- City of Petoskey
- Rotary Charities of Traverse City
- Huntington Bank
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 collab orative 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.
