How do I find the zoning for an address in Allentown?

Allentown's Bureau of Planning and Zoning maintains the official zoning map; contacting the bureau or checking the city's GIS tools will confirm the district for a specific address.

What is Allentown's Neighborhood Improvement Zone?

The NIZ is a state-authorized tax-increment financing district covering much of downtown Allentown that has driven substantial recent redevelopment; it operates alongside, not instead of, the underlying zoning ordinance.

What's the process to request a zoning variance in Allentown?

Variance and special exception requests go through Allentown's Zoning Hearing Board after review by the Bureau of Planning and Zoning.

Allentown, Pennsylvania · city zoning districts

Allentown, PA zoning map & districts

Allentown, the Lehigh Valley's anchor city, zones land under the Allentown Zoning Ordinance, administered by the city's Bureau of Planning and Zoning. Downtown Allentown has been the focus of significant redevelopment activity in recent years, driven in part by the Neighborhood Improvement Zone (NIZ), a state-authorized tax-increment financing tool unique to Allentown that has attracted substantial downtown investment.

The code Allentown Zoning Ordinance

Allentown zoning map

The interactive map needs JavaScript. See the official City of Allentown Open Data - City Zoning map instead.

Residential 6
Mixed-use 5
Industrial 3
Special purpose 2
Downtown / core 2

Source: City of Allentown Open Data - City Zoning map, retrieved 2026-08-30. Basemap: © OpenFreeMap © OpenMapTiles © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Find a district by address

District lookup only. No bulk standards and no ordinance citations are held for this city yet. Not a zoning verification.

Source: the official City of Allentown Open Data - City Zoning map , retrieved 2026-08-30 — the authoritative source for current boundaries.

Allentown's zoning map and ordinance are maintained by the city's Bureau of Planning and Zoning, which handles zoning verification for individual parcels.

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 Allentown

Developers working in Allentown should expect the zoning ordinance's standard residential and commercial base districts to interact with the NIZ boundary and other downtown incentive programs, which can materially change a project's financing even where the underlying zoning is unchanged.

Reference depth

No district table for Allentown yet

There is no district-by-district table on this page. We publish one only where every code in it has been read against the currently adopted ordinance — and in some cities there is no district structure to tabulate in the first place. The overview above is the accurate account of which situation Allentown is in, and where to confirm below points at the authoritative source.

Where a table is coming, it lands in the order the state layer does — and the Pennsylvania waitlist below is the queue that decides that order.

Allentown zoning — common questions

How do I find the zoning for an address in Allentown?: Allentown's Bureau of Planning and Zoning maintains the official zoning map; contacting the bureau or checking the city's GIS tools will confirm the district for a specific address.
What is Allentown's Neighborhood Improvement Zone?: The NIZ is a state-authorized tax-increment financing district covering much of downtown Allentown that has driven substantial recent redevelopment; it operates alongside, not instead of, the underlying zoning ordinance.
What's the process to request a zoning variance in Allentown?: Variance and special exception requests go through Allentown's Zoning Hearing Board after review by the Bureau of Planning and Zoning.

Working in Pennsylvania? Get on the list.

The parcel layer lands in the order demand does. Illinois went first because that's where the deals were; the next state is decided by who tells us what they're trying to underwrite. Tell us where you're building and what you wanted to run — you'll hear from us when Pennsylvania opens, and sooner if we need a test parcel.

Keep reading

← Pennsylvania zoning — who holds the zoning power in Pennsylvania, under which enabling statute, and the reforms that override local rules.

Other Pennsylvania cities

The zoning reference → — every state, plus city-level district guides like this one.

Allentown zoning summaries on this page are provided for information, not legal advice. Confirm every project against the current adopted code for the jurisdiction.