Aspects of the present disclosure address systems and methods for local cluster refinement for integrated circuit (IC) designs using a dynamic weighting scheme. Initial cluster definitions are accessed. The initial cluster definitions define a plurality of clusters where each cluster includes a plurality of pins. Each cluster is evaluated with respect to one or more design rule constraints. Based on the evaluation, clusters are identified from the plurality of clusters. A set of refinement candidates are generated based on the one or more clusters. A scoring function that employs a dynamic weighting scheme is used to determine a refinement quality score for each refinement candidate in the set of candidates and one or more refinement candidates are selected from among the set of refinement candidates based on respective refinement quality scores. A refined clustering solution is generated based on the selected refinement candidates.