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HUBZone certification: office location and employee residence

For an ordinary HUBZone application, the principal office must qualify and at least 35% of employees must reside in HUBZones. Small-business size and qualifying ownership also apply. The rules determine which employees and office count.

Business Certifications Editorial Desk · Sources checked 8 Oct 2026

Which office and employees count?

The principal office is generally the location where the greatest number of employees at one location perform work. The employee definition addresses hours, the review period and additional conditions. Those details can change the denominator in the residence calculation, so a raw payroll headcount may not be the correct count. 13 CFR 126.103: HUBZone definitions ↗.

SBA also examines small-business size and at least 51% qualifying ownership and control. Qualifying owners may be U.S. citizens or the specific eligible entity types described in the rules. The ordinary residence requirement is 35%; exceptions and continuing-program requirements must be checked for the business’s circumstances.

Checking an address on the HUBZone map

  1. Open the Official HUBZone map ↗ and search the office or residence location.
  2. Confirm that the map matched the correct address or coordinate.
  3. Read the designation and any expiry information.
  4. Save the printable result and the date checked.
  5. Repeat for the locations needed to support the application.

A previous map result may no longer describe the area’s status. Some area types can change before the scheduled July 2028 QCT/QNMC update. The HUBZone map guidance ↗ explains the map’s designations and dates. This site does not collect employee addresses.

Calculating the employee-residence percentage

Divide qualifying HUBZone residents by the employees counted under the applicable rules. With 25 employees, nine qualifying residents gives 36%; eight gives 32%. The calculation is straightforward once the counts are established. It cannot tell you which workers or residences SBA will accept.

The counts are used in this browser tab and are not saved automatically. This calculator has no document upload.

Documents for the application

Organize ownership and governance documents, principal-office records and employee-residence records. Alongside the employee counts, keep the rule and map dates used to establish them. MySBA will request the documents required for your application; the checklist groups preparation tasks but is not a complete official document list.

Requirements after certification

Recertification is generally every three years. SBA may align the date for a business holding other certifications. The rule distinguishes businesses that received a HUBZone award in the preceding 12 months from those that did not. 13 CFR 126.500: HUBZone maintenance ↗.

For the recent-award circumstances covered by the rule, “attempting to maintain” the employee-residence requirement means making documented efforts. It does not remove the workforce obligation. The definitions and contract requirements still apply. 13 CFR 126.103: HUBZone definitions ↗.

Use the dates in your official record for recertification. The 30-day reinstatement provision after expiry does not preserve certification while a business is decertified. You must also respond to examinations, report relevant changes and meet the requirements of individual contracts.

Sources

Sources checked 8 October 2026. Regulations reflect the official consolidated text available through 6 October. Check current SBA notices before applying.