Disclosed is a system, computer program product, and method for performing logic, physical synthesis, and post-route optimization. The method begins with identifying a plurality of groups of paths in a circuit by a unique criteria. The unique criteria is any one of a netlist regular expression, a cell topology regular expression, a physical structure, or a combination thereof. An optimization process is performed on the design and is repeated until the cumulative histogram corresponds to the reference histogram within a threshold. The histogram optimization on the group of paths to make the cumulative histogram correspond to the reference cumulative histogram can be adjusted to account for timing, power, yield, or a combination thereof. After a first group of paths has been optimized, the process can be repeated for other groups of paths. The histogram optimization performed on each group of paths is merged into overall histogram optimization design.