Lincoln, Nebraska · city zoning districts · 19 districts
Lincoln, NE zoning map & districts
Lincoln zones under Title 27 of its Municipal Code, administered jointly with Lancaster County through the combined Lincoln-Lancaster County Planning Department — a structure that lets the city coordinate zoning with county land use and the shared comprehensive plan out to the city's growth-tier boundary. As a home-rule capital city, Lincoln has more flexibility than Nebraska's statutory cities to set its own review process, and it runs rezonings and special permits through the Lincoln-Lancaster County Planning Commission before City Council action.
The code Lincoln Municipal Code, Title 27 (Zoning)
Lincoln zoning map
The Lincoln-Lancaster County Planning Department maintains the official Title 27 zoning map and code text, searchable by address through the department's joint city-county GIS portal.
There is no link to the official map here yet — confirm current district boundaries directly with the Lincoln planning or zoning department.
A published summary is never the authority. The adopted ordinance and the city's official zoning map govern, and both change — verify the district and every standard on your parcel before you rely on it.
How zoning works in Lincoln
Lincoln's zoning letter scheme runs Agricultural (AG) through numbered Residential districts, Office (O), numbered Business districts, Industrial (I), and Public Use (P) districts, with B-4 designating the downtown Lincoln Center core. Developers working near the University of Nebraska–Lincoln campuses or downtown should expect denser B and R districts layered with design or historic-overlay review.
Lincoln zoning districts by family
The 19 district codes below are the ones that decide most projects in Lincoln, grouped by what they are for rather than by the order the ordinance prints them.
| Code | District | What it is for |
|---|---|---|
| Residential 8 districts | ||
| AGR | Agricultural Residential District | Missing from the prior dataset; a real transitional rural-residential tier. |
| R-1 | Residential District | Single-family detached, large-lot tier. |
| R-2 | Residential District | Single-family detached, standard-lot tier. |
| R-3 | Residential District | Smaller-lot single-family and some attached housing. |
| R-4 | Residential District | Allows duplexes and lower-density multi-family. |
| R-6 | Residential District | Missing from the prior dataset; a multi-family tier. |
| R-8 | Residential District | Missing from the prior dataset; the highest-density multi-family tier. |
| R-T | Residential Transitional District | Missing from the prior dataset. |
| Mixed-use 2 districts | ||
| O-1 | Office District | Professional office use, often as a buffer between residential and commercial. |
| O-2 | Office District | Missing from the prior dataset; a second office tier. |
| Commercial 4 districts | ||
| B-1 | Local Business District | Small-scale neighborhood-serving retail and services. |
| B-2 | Planned Neighborhood Business District | Larger neighborhood commercial centers, typically site-planned. |
| B-3 | Commercial District | Missing from the prior dataset; a general commercial tier. |
| H-3 | Highway Commercial District | Missing from the prior dataset; the entire H-series highway-commercial tier was absent. |
| Downtown / core 1 district | ||
| B-4 | Lincoln Center Business District | Downtown core district permitting high-intensity mixed-use and high-rise development. |
| Industrial 2 districts | ||
| I-1 | Industrial District | General light-to-medium industrial use. |
| I-2 | Industrial District | Missing from the prior dataset; a heavier industrial tier. |
| Special purpose 2 districts | ||
| AG | Agricultural District | Farming and low-intensity rural use at the urban fringe. |
| P | Public Use District | Government, school, and other public-facility land. |
Lincoln zoning — common questions
- What does B-4 zoning mean in Lincoln?
- B-4 is the Lincoln Center Business District, Lincoln's downtown core zoning designation. It permits the city's highest-intensity mixed-use and high-rise development, without the setback and height limits typical of the neighborhood B-1/B-2 commercial districts.
- How do I find the zoning for an address in Lincoln?
- The Lincoln-Lancaster County Planning Department's GIS portal lets you search by address to pull up the parcel's Title 27 zoning district, since the city and county share one combined planning and mapping system.
- Is Lincoln zoning set by the city or Lancaster County?
- Both, through a joint department — the City of Lincoln and Lancaster County share the Lincoln-Lancaster County Planning Department, which administers a combined comprehensive plan and zoning map that extends from the city core into unincorporated growth-tier land.
Keep reading
← Nebraska zoning — who holds the zoning power in Nebraska, under which enabling statute, and the reforms that override local rules.
Other Nebraska cities
- Bellevue 14 districts
- Fremont 16 districts
- Grand Island 14 districts
- Kearney 11 districts
- Omaha 19 districts
The zoning reference → — every state, plus city-level district guides like this one.
Lincoln zoning summaries on this page are provided for information, not legal advice. Confirm every project against the current adopted code for the jurisdiction.