Building permits · Jun 2026
Metro areas where multifamily is the biggest share of new housing
How this is measured. Units in structures with 5 or more units, divided by all units authorized, over the trailing 12 months. The ranked value is a share, so a mid-size metro where nearly everything approved is apartments outranks the country's largest apartment markets, which authorize far more units but also a great deal of single-family housing — the "All units" column shows each market's size. Note this is the 5+ definition; it excludes duplexes and 3-to-4-unit buildings, which some multifamily measures (including the per-geography pages on this site) fold in as 2+. Only metro areas permitting at least 500 units over the window are ranked, so a market with 6 total units and one triplex cannot top the chart.
Figures are new privately owned residential units authorized by building permits, from the U.S. Census Bureau Building Permits Survey. A permit authorizes construction; it is not a housing start and not a completion. Permits lead starts by weeks to months, and some authorized units are never built. The survey covers permit-issuing jurisdictions: a jurisdiction that did not report in a month contributes nothing for that month, so an absent figure is not a zero. Data window ends Jun 2026.
Metro areas ranked by the share of residential units authorized in buildings with 5 or more units, over the 12 months to Jun 2026. Champaign-Urbana IL leads at 85.8% multifamily.
A permit is an authorization, not a housing start — some authorized units are never built. Only metro areas permitting 500+ units over the window are ranked.
One time window, top 100 of 299 metro areas
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- 1.Champaign-Urbana IL85.8%
- 2.Boulder CO79.7%
- 3.Bridgeport-Stamford-Danbury CT79.7%
- 4.Santa Cruz-Watsonville CA78.1%
- 5.New York-Newark-Jersey City NY-NJ75.3%
- 6.New Haven CT75.1%
- 7.Madison WI74.4%
- 8.Syracuse NY74.0%
- 9.San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara CA73.9%
- 10.Dubuque IA71.6%
| # | Metro area | 5+ unit share | 5+ unit units | Other units | All units |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Champaign-Urbana IL | 85.8% | 1,682 | 279 | 1,961 |
| 2 | Boulder CO | 79.7% | 1,759 | 447 | 2,206 |
| 3 | Bridgeport-Stamford-Danbury CT | 79.7% | 2,601 | 664 | 3,265 |
| 4 | Santa Cruz-Watsonville CA | 78.1% | 605 | 170 | 775 |
| 5 | New York-Newark-Jersey City NY-NJ | 75.3% | 42,491 | 13,910 | 56,401 |
| 6 | New Haven CT | 75.1% | 771 | 255 | 1,026 |
| 7 | Madison WI | 74.4% | 5,290 | 1,816 | 7,106 |
| 8 | Syracuse NY | 74.0% | 1,778 | 625 | 2,403 |
| 9 | San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara CA | 73.9% | 5,987 | 2,110 | 8,097 |
| 10 | Dubuque IA | 71.6% | 434 | 172 | 606 |
| 11 | Lafayette-West Lafayette IN | 71.3% | 1,561 | 627 | 2,188 |
| 12 | Oshkosh-Neenah WI | 70.8% | 750 | 309 | 1,059 |
| 13 | Kalispell MT | 70.4% | 643 | 270 | 913 |
| 14 | Corvallis OR | 69.5% | 500 | 219 | 719 |
| 15 | Kiryas Joel-Poughkeepsie-Newburgh NY | 68.8% | 1,560 | 707 | 2,267 |
| 16 | Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach FL | 65.4% | 12,530 | 6,615 | 19,145 |
| 17 | Burlington-South Burlington VT | 63.9% | 783 | 442 | 1,225 |
| 18 | Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue WA | 62.8% | 12,569 | 7,449 | 20,018 |
| 19 | Rochester MN | 61.9% | 874 | 537 | 1,411 |
| 20 | Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford CT | 61.0% | 909 | 582 | 1,491 |
| 21 | Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura CA | 60.0% | 897 | 597 | 1,494 |
| 22 | Bremerton-Silverdale-Port Orchard WA | 59.9% | 914 | 613 | 1,527 |
| 23 | Asheville NC | 59.7% | 2,628 | 1,771 | 4,399 |
| 24 | San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad CA | 59.4% | 6,524 | 4,465 | 10,989 |
| 25 | San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont CA | 59.4% | 4,410 | 3,020 | 7,430 |
| 26 | Boston-Cambridge-Newton MA-NH | 58.4% | 6,111 | 4,347 | 10,458 |
| 27 | Ann Arbor MI | 58.0% | 912 | 661 | 1,573 |
| 28 | Mankato MN | 57.5% | 389 | 287 | 676 |
| 29 | Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim CA | 57.2% | 19,230 | 14,384 | 33,614 |
| 30 | Urban Honolulu HI | 57.1% | 916 | 687 | 1,603 |
| 31 | Kenosha WI | 56.4% | 351 | 271 | 622 |
| 32 | Appleton WI | 56.3% | 841 | 652 | 1,493 |
| 33 | Sioux City IA-NE-SD | 56.0% | 315 | 247 | 562 |
| 34 | Iowa City IA | 56.0% | 808 | 635 | 1,443 |
| 35 | Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater WA | 55.9% | 1,021 | 805 | 1,826 |
| 36 | Kingston NY | 55.8% | 345 | 273 | 618 |
| 37 | Worcester MA | 55.7% | 1,006 | 800 | 1,806 |
| 38 | Columbus OH | 55.5% | 7,164 | 5,737 | 12,901 |
| 39 | Salt Lake City-Murray UT | 55.3% | 3,904 | 3,161 | 7,065 |
| 40 | Helena MT | 54.9% | 304 | 250 | 554 |
| 41 | Fort Collins CO | 54.7% | 1,255 | 1,041 | 2,296 |
| 42 | Washington-Arlington-Alexandria DC-VA-MD-WV | 54.3% | 11,732 | 9,856 | 21,588 |
| 43 | Gainesville FL | 54.2% | 1,149 | 971 | 2,120 |
| 44 | Waco TX | 53.9% | 957 | 820 | 1,777 |
| 45 | Eugene-Springfield OR | 53.2% | 762 | 669 | 1,431 |
| 46 | Wenatchee-East Wenatchee WA | 52.7% | 642 | 576 | 1,218 |
| 47 | Denver-Aurora-Centennial CO | 52.7% | 8,170 | 7,336 | 15,506 |
| 48 | Missoula MT | 52.5% | 485 | 439 | 924 |
| 49 | Santa Maria-Santa Barbara CA | 51.9% | 588 | 544 | 1,132 |
| 50 | Savannah GA | 50.9% | 2,732 | 2,631 | 5,363 |
| 51 | Tallahassee FL | 50.4% | 1,209 | 1,191 | 2,400 |
| 52 | Santa Rosa-Petaluma CA | 50.4% | 845 | 833 | 1,678 |
| 53 | Santa Fe NM | 49.4% | 263 | 269 | 532 |
| 54 | Waterloo-Cedar Falls IA | 49.1% | 249 | 258 | 507 |
| 55 | Bowling Green KY | 49.1% | 693 | 719 | 1,412 |
| 56 | Lincoln NE | 48.7% | 975 | 1,027 | 2,002 |
| 57 | Amarillo TX | 48.6% | 801 | 847 | 1,648 |
| 58 | Richmond VA | 48.4% | 4,108 | 4,385 | 8,493 |
| 59 | Sioux Falls SD-MN | 48.0% | 1,244 | 1,350 | 2,594 |
| 60 | Ogden UT | 47.4% | 1,726 | 1,916 | 3,642 |
| 61 | Reno NV | 46.8% | 1,532 | 1,740 | 3,272 |
| 62 | Fargo ND-MN | 46.5% | 661 | 759 | 1,420 |
| 63 | Salem OR | 46.2% | 861 | 1,001 | 1,862 |
| 64 | Green Bay WI | 46.2% | 833 | 971 | 1,804 |
| 65 | Durham-Chapel Hill NC | 45.9% | 2,569 | 3,033 | 5,602 |
| 66 | Reading PA | 45.8% | 242 | 286 | 528 |
| 67 | Bend OR | 45.3% | 1,448 | 1,749 | 3,197 |
| 68 | Bloomington IN | 44.9% | 314 | 386 | 700 |
| 69 | Chambersburg PA | 44.3% | 399 | 502 | 901 |
| 70 | Omaha NE-IA | 44.3% | 2,981 | 3,751 | 6,732 |
| 71 | Roanoke VA | 44.1% | 430 | 544 | 974 |
| 72 | Providence-Warwick RI-MA | 44.1% | 1,347 | 1,706 | 3,053 |
| 73 | South Bend-Mishawaka IN-MI | 43.8% | 463 | 593 | 1,056 |
| 74 | Cincinnati OH-KY-IN | 43.7% | 3,779 | 4,864 | 8,643 |
| 75 | Eau Claire WI | 43.6% | 355 | 460 | 815 |
| 76 | Lansing-East Lansing MI | 43.2% | 404 | 531 | 935 |
| 77 | Medford OR | 43.1% | 429 | 566 | 995 |
| 78 | Kennewick-Richland WA | 43.0% | 1,073 | 1,422 | 2,495 |
| 79 | Greenville NC | 42.5% | 718 | 971 | 1,689 |
| 80 | Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton PA-NJ | 42.5% | 909 | 1,231 | 2,140 |
| 81 | Kansas City MO-KS | 42.3% | 4,218 | 5,761 | 9,979 |
| 82 | Spokane-Spokane Valley WA | 42.2% | 1,241 | 1,701 | 2,942 |
| 83 | Milwaukee-Waukesha WI | 42.1% | 1,402 | 1,931 | 3,333 |
| 84 | Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford FL | 41.8% | 8,872 | 12,368 | 21,240 |
| 85 | LaGrange GA-AL | 41.5% | 330 | 465 | 795 |
| 86 | Colorado Springs CO | 40.5% | 2,266 | 3,333 | 5,599 |
| 87 | Bellingham WA | 40.4% | 443 | 653 | 1,096 |
| 88 | Hammond LA | 40.4% | 481 | 711 | 1,192 |
| 89 | Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington PA-NJ-DE-MD | 40.3% | 5,657 | 8,379 | 14,036 |
| 90 | Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers AR | 40.0% | 3,803 | 5,707 | 9,510 |
| 91 | Naples-Marco Island FL | 39.8% | 1,298 | 1,961 | 3,259 |
| 92 | Portland-South Portland ME | 39.8% | 1,350 | 2,043 | 3,393 |
| 93 | Topeka KS | 39.8% | 224 | 339 | 563 |
| 94 | Trenton-Princeton NJ | 39.0% | 410 | 640 | 1,050 |
| 95 | Harrisonburg VA | 38.9% | 340 | 535 | 875 |
| 96 | Greensboro-High Point NC | 38.6% | 1,556 | 2,471 | 4,027 |
| 97 | Bozeman MT | 38.4% | 526 | 844 | 1,370 |
| 98 | Hanford-Corcoran CA | 37.8% | 292 | 480 | 772 |
| 99 | Detroit-Warren-Dearborn MI | 37.7% | 3,241 | 5,348 | 8,589 |
| 100 | Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington MN-WI | 37.5% | 5,331 | 8,891 | 14,222 |
Top 100 of 299 ranked metro areas. Every row links to that geography’s full monthly permit history.
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Metro areas where multifamily is the biggest share of new housing — FAQ
Which metro area has the highest multifamily share of new housing?+
85.8% of housing units authorized in Champaign-Urbana IL over the 12 months to Jun 2026 were in buildings with 5 or more units, the highest share of any ranked metro area. That is a share of a comparatively small total — 1,961 units — not the largest number of apartments.
Does the top metro area authorize the most multifamily units?+
No, and the two questions have different answers. This board ranks the share of new housing that is multifamily; the biggest apartment markets in the country authorize tens of thousands of multifamily units a year but also authorize many single-family homes, which pulls their share down. The "5+ unit units" column reports each ranked market's multifamily volume.
What counts as multifamily here?+
Buildings with 5 or more units. The Building Permits Survey also reports 2-unit and 3-to-4-unit structures separately; those are counted in the "other units" column here, not as multifamily.
Why does this differ from the multifamily share on a metro's own page?+
The per-geography pages report the 2-or-more-unit share, the broader definition. This leaderboard uses the 5-or-more-unit share, which is the standard cut for apartment development. The same metro will show a lower number here.
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