A historic district in the United States is a group of buildings, properties, or sites that have been designated by one of several entities at different levels historically or as architecturally significant. The buildings, structures, objects and places within a historic district typically fall into two categories; taxpayer and non-taxpayer. Districts vary greatly in size, some districts have hundreds of structures, while others only have a few.

The United States Federal Government designates historic neighborhoods through the United States Department of the Interior, under the auspices of the National Park Service. Federally designated historic neighborhoods are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Historic districts may follow similar criteria and have no restrictions on owners' properties or they may require strict adherence to historic rehabilitation standards. The local historic district offers, for now, the majority of legal protection on historic properties because most land use decisions are made at the local level. Local districts are generally administered by the county or municipal government. The tendency of local districts to impose restrictions on property owners makes them the target of resistance from the majority of the public.

The first historic district is located in Charleston, South Carolina "Charleston (South Carolina)") and dates back to 1931, predating the US federal government's designation by more than three decades.[1] Other local historic districts began to stand out and in 1966 the US Government created the National Register of Historic Places during a report from a conference of mayors in which it was said that Americans were suffering from "uprootedness". In the 1980s there were thousands of federally designated historic districts.