Historic Tax Credit Drives $9.2 Billion in GDP in FY 2025, Supports 163,000 Jobs in FY 2025

News Release Date: October 13, 2026
Contact:NPS News Media

WASHINGTON - The National Park Service today announced that private investment in historic rehabilitation projects totaled an estimated $9.6 billion in fiscal year 2025, generating approximately 163,000 jobs, $18.1 billion in total economic output, and $9.2 billion in gross domestic product to the U.S. economy.

The findings are detailed in the Annual Report on the Economic Impact of the Federal Historic Tax Credit for Fiscal Year 2025, documenting the significant economic benefits generated by private investment in historic rehabilitation across the country. The report was prepared by the Rutgers University Center for Urban Policy Research through a cooperative agreement with the National Park Service. It examines the direct and secondary economic effects associated with historic rehabilitation investment during FY 2025 and cumulatively since the program's first certified completed rehabilitation projects in FY 1978.

"The Historic Tax Credit shows what can happen when preservation and economic development work together," said Jessica Bowron, Comptroller Exercising the Authority of the Director of the National Park Service. "Historic buildings that once stood vacant or underused can become new housing, businesses, workplaces and community gathering places while creating jobs and supporting economic activity in communities across the country."

Historic rehabilitation creates jobs and investment

In FY 2025, NPS certified 939 completed rehabilitation projects, representing approximately $9.6 billion in total rehabilitation investment. NPS also approved 1,170 proposed projects. Many involved abandoned or underutilized buildings in need of substantial rehabilitation to return them to productive use.

The economic impact extended across numerous sectors. Of the approximately 163,000 jobs generated by FY 2025 HTC-related activity, an estimated 57,000 were in construction and 36,000 were in manufacturing. The activity generated approximately $3.0 billion in construction GDP and $2.6 billion in manufacturing GDP.

The report also identifies how the program supports the creation of new housing and the rehabilitation of existing housing, including affordable housing. In FY 2025, 11,544 new housing units were created through the adaptive reuse of historic buildings, and 10,390 existing housing units were rehabilitated, with 53% of the 21,934 total created/rehabilitated housing units low- and moderate-income.

Highlighted success stories from the FY 2025 report include:

• Temple, Texas, the rehabilitation of the vacant Hawn Hotel, Arcadia Theatre and an adjacent commercial building created 59 new housing units, commercial space and an events venue as part of a $32.4 million redevelopment.

• In Lawrence, Massachusetts, the long-vacant 1848 Stone Mill was converted into 86 apartments, including 69 affordable housing units as part of a $53 million rehabilitation, while retaining the building's historic industrial character.

• In Logan, Utah, a $565,000 rehabilitation of Dale's Sinclair Service Station restored a distinctive 1950s gas station and returned it to active commercial use as a flower and gift shop.

• In Little Rock, Arkansas, a long-vacant 400,000-square-foot Veterans Administration Hospital Building was rehabilitated into more than 200 apartments and office space, preserving important features of the building's midcentury architecture.

About the Federal Historic Preservation Tax Incentives Program

The Federal Historic Preservation Tax Incentives Program, commonly known as the Historic Tax Credit, is designed to preserve historic buildings while encouraging their continued productive use and promoting economic revitalization in cities, towns, Main Streets and rural communities. It provides a 20% federal tax credit to property owners who undertake a substantial rehabilitation of a historic building in a business or other income-producing use while maintaining its historic character. Since the program began, NPS has certified the rehabilitation of more than 51,000 historic properties. Those projects have leveraged approximately $269.2 billion in inflation-adjusted private rehabilitation investment and generated approximately 3.6 million jobs.

NPS administers the historic preservation aspects of the program through its Technical Preservation Services program, in partnership with State Historic Preservation Offices. The process includes evaluation of a property's historic significance, review of proposed rehabilitation work and certification of completed work. The Internal Revenue Service administers the tax-credit provisions under the Internal Revenue Code.

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