Structure types · Building Permits Survey
Multifamily (5+ units)
Buildings with five or more units — apartment and condo buildings.
Multifamily permits cover structures with five or more housing units: apartment buildings, large condo developments, and the like. In BPS this is the '5+ units' category.
A single multifamily permit can represent many housing units in one building, so a handful of these permits can add far more units than a wave of single-family permits. On PUMSdata, 'multifamily share' broadly refers to all units in 2-or-more-unit structures.
Also known as: 5+ units, apartments, apartment buildings.
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Multifamily (5+ units) — FAQ
What is multifamily (5+ units) in building permits data?+
Buildings with five or more units — apartment and condo buildings. Multifamily permits cover structures with five or more housing units: apartment buildings, large condo developments, and the like. In BPS this is the '5+ units' category.
Why does multifamily (5+ units) matter?+
A single multifamily permit can represent many housing units in one building, so a handful of these permits can add far more units than a wave of single-family permits. On PUMSdata, 'multifamily share' broadly refers to all units in 2-or-more-unit structures.
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.