HUD Wind Zones: Can This Mobile Home Legally Go Where You Want to Put It?

Before you buy a home to move, compare its HUD wind-zone rating with the exact destination county, parish, or city. This guide gives you the federal list, a data-plate checklist, and a way to spot a mismatch before transport or closing.

This is general information, not legal, engineering, installation, or financing advice. Requirements vary by state and locality, and the destination authority can impose additional rules.

What HUD Wind Zones I, II, and III mean

HUD's manufactured-home construction standard divides the United States into three wind-design zones. Under the current text of 24 CFR 3280.305 (U.S. federal regulation, checked October 4, 2026), every area not listed as Zone II or Zone III is Zone I.

• Zone I is the default. For a home not designed for Zone II or III, the rule requires at least a 15 pounds-per-square-foot horizontal wind load and a 9 pounds-per-square-foot net roof-uplift load.
• Zone II uses a 100 miles-per-hour design wind speed.
• Zone III uses a 110 miles-per-hour design wind speed.

The 100 and 110 mph figures use the design method specified in the rule: ANSI/ASCE 7-88, Exposure C, with a 50-year recurrence interval, or the rule's alternative table. The federal list is a construction standard, not a current hurricane-risk map or a substitute for a local permit review.

Find the rating before you make an offer

Look for the data plate inside the home, not just the metal HUD certification label outside. The data plate must be permanently affixed near the main electrical panel or another visible, accessible location under 24 CFR 3280.5 (U.S. federal regulation, checked October 4, 2026). HUD says it can be found in a kitchen cabinet, near the electrical panel, or in a bedroom closet, and includes maps for wind, snow, and roof-load design information (HUD manufactured-home labels, checked October 4, 2026).

The exterior certification label is a separate metal label. It does not display the data plate's wind-zone map (24 CFR 3280.11, U.S. federal regulation, checked October 4, 2026). For a fuller label check, start with The HUD Tag: How to Verify a Manufactured Home Before You Buy It.

Data-plate and map checklist

1. Photograph the full interior data plate before making an offer.
2. Find the marked wind-zone map or reference, not merely the exterior HUD tag.
3. Record the home's rating: I, II, III, or a stated higher actual design wind load.
4. Record the exact destination county, parish, or named Virginia city. Do not rely on "near the coast."
5. Compare that place with the federal list below.
6. If the site is within 1,500 feet of the coastline in Zone II or III, read the data plate's Exposure D warning and obtain written requirements before proceeding. The prescribed Zone II/III data plate warns against locating there unless the home, anchoring, and foundation meet its Exposure D requirements (24 CFR 3280.5, U.S. federal regulation, checked October 4, 2026).
7. Before moving a used home, ask the destination state manufactured-housing agency and city or county permitting authority which relocation, transport, installation, anchorage, foundation, and engineering rules apply.

Where the regulation designates Zone II

The following is the Zone II state and local-government reference list in 24 CFR 3280.305 (U.S. federal regulation, checked October 4, 2026). Florida's wording is the regulation's: all Florida counties except the Zone III counties listed later.

• Alabama: Baldwin and Mobile counties.
• Florida: all counties except the Zone III counties below.
• Georgia: Bryan, Camden, Chatham, Glynn, Liberty, and McIntosh counties.
• Louisiana parishes: Acadia, Allen, Ascension, Assumption, Calcasieu, Cameron, East Baton Rouge, East Feliciana, Evangeline, Iberia, Iberville, Jefferson Davis, Lafayette, Livingston, Pointe Coupee, St. Helena, St. James, St. John the Baptist, St. Landry, St. Martin, St. Tammany, Tangipahoa, Vermilion, Washington, West Baton Rouge, and West Feliciana.
• Maine: Hancock and Washington counties.
• Massachusetts: Barnstable, Bristol, Dukes, Nantucket, and Plymouth counties.
• Mississippi: George, Hancock, Harrison, Jackson, Pearl River, and Stone counties.
• North Carolina: Beaufort, Brunswick, Camden, Chowan, Columbus, Craven, Currituck, Jones, New Hanover, Onslow, Pamlico, Pasquotank, Pender, Perquimans, Tyrrell, and Washington counties.
• South Carolina: Beaufort, Berkeley, Charleston, Colleton, Dorchester, Georgetown, Horry, Jasper, and Williamsburg counties.
• Texas: Aransas, Brazoria, Calhoun, Cameron, Chambers, Galveston, Jefferson, Kenedy, Kleberg, Matagorda, Nueces, Orange, Refugio, San Patricio, and Willacy counties.
• Virginia cities: Chesapeake, Norfolk, Portsmouth, Princess Anne, and Virginia Beach.

Where the regulation designates Zone III

The following is the Zone III state and local-government reference list in 24 CFR 3280.305 (U.S. federal regulation, checked October 4, 2026).

• Hawaii: the entire state.
• Alaska: coastal regions, as determined by the 90 mph isotach on the ANSI/ASCE 7-88 map named in the regulation.
• Territories: American Samoa, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
• Florida: Broward, Charlotte, Collier, Dade, Franklin, Gulf, Hendry, Lee, Martin, Manatee, Monroe, Palm Beach, Pinellas, and Sarasota counties. The regulation uses the name Dade, so confirm the current county name and permitting requirements with the destination authority.
• Louisiana parishes: Jefferson, Lafourche, Orleans, Plaquemines, St. Bernard, St. Charles, St. Mary, and Terrebonne.
• North Carolina: Carteret, Dare, and Hyde counties.

Can the home go there?

For the initial installation of a new manufactured home, 24 CFR 3285.103 says it must not be installed in a wind zone with design wind loads that exceed those shown on its data plate (U.S. federal regulation, checked October 4, 2026). That makes a higher-rated home's design benchmark compatible with an equal or lower zone. A lower-rated home is not a clean match for a higher-zone benchmark.

Do not treat that new-home rule as a nationwide approval or rejection for every used-home move. 24 CFR Part 3285 applies to initial installation of new manufactured homes (U.S. federal regulation, checked October 4, 2026), while destination state and local authorities set relocation-specific requirements. Ask for their answer before you buy, transport, or install a used home.

Do not assume new tie-down hardware changes the home's factory wind rating. For an initial new-home installation, the standard calls for manufacturer-provided installation designs and instructions approved by the Secretary or a DAPIA; its alternate-design route has separate approval conditions (24 CFR 3285.2, U.S. federal regulation, checked October 4, 2026). If the destination authority allows a professionally designed solution, get its requirements in writing.

Worked example: a Zone I home headed to Zone II or III

This is a hypothetical example, not a real home, site, or legal determination.

A buyer finds a home whose data plate identifies Wind Zone I. They plan one move to a county on the federal Zone II list. Zone II uses the 100 mph design benchmark under 24 CFR 3280.305 (U.S. federal regulation, checked October 4, 2026). The site exceeds the home's Zone I designation, so it is not a clean match under the federal wind-compatibility benchmark.

The buyer does not assume new tie-downs alone change the factory rating. Before paying for transport or closing, they ask the destination authorities whether relocation is permitted and what evidence they require. If the authority will not approve it, they choose a Zone II home or a different site.

For a Zone III destination, the same Zone I home faces the 110 mph Zone III benchmark in the regulation. The mismatch remains. The decision is not to buy for that destination without written direction from the destination authorities, not to assume hardware can convert the rating at a stated cost.

If the zone is too low for the site

• Choose a home designed for the destination zone.
• Choose a site whose federal designation does not exceed the data-plate rating.
• Obtain written direction from the destination state manufactured-housing agency and local permitting or building authority.
• Use manufacturer-provided, Secretary- or DAPIA-approved instructions, or a professionally designed solution, only when the authority says it can be used.
• Price permits, transport, installation, anchorage, foundation, and engineering work only after the authority identifies the applicable requirements.

Make this comparison part of your early deal screen, alongside The Flipper's Filter: Identifying High-Potential Properties & Dodging Deal Breakers. It can prevent a purchase that cannot be placed at the site you had in mind.