Methodology · Building Permits Survey
Coverage, lag & revisions
Roughly a two-month lag, with recent months revised as more places report.
BPS data is published with about a two-month lag, and recent months are revised upward as more jurisdictions report. The latest figures firm up over the following months.
At the city level, counts are small and reporting is uneven, so month-over-month percentage changes can swing wildly. PUMSdata leans on trailing-12-month totals and year-over-year comparisons to tell the steadier story.
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Coverage, lag & revisions — FAQ
What is coverage, lag & revisions in building permits data?+
Roughly a two-month lag, with recent months revised as more places report. BPS data is published with about a two-month lag, and recent months are revised upward as more jurisdictions report. The latest figures firm up over the following months.
Why does coverage, lag & revisions matter?+
At the city level, counts are small and reporting is uneven, so month-over-month percentage changes can swing wildly. PUMSdata leans on trailing-12-month totals and year-over-year comparisons to tell the steadier story.
Where does this building-permit data come from?+
All figures come from the U.S. Census Bureau's Building Permits Survey (BPS), a monthly census of permit-issuing jurisdictions. PUMSdata is an independent product that makes it easy to map and compare, and is not affiliated with the Census Bureau.