Building permits · Jun 2026

Building permits per capita by metro area

Metropolitan areas ranked by residential units authorized per 1,000 residents in the 12 months to Jun 2026 — which markets are adding housing fastest relative to their size. Wildwood-The Villages FL leads at 27.1 units per 1,000 residents.

A permit is an authorization, not a housing start — some authorized units are never built. Only metro areas with at least 25,000 residents are ranked.

One time window, top 100 of 387 metro areas

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1.Wildwood-The Villages FL27.1
2.North Port-Bradenton-Sarasota FL19.5
3.Wilmington NC19.0
4.Myrtle Beach-Conway-North Myrtle Beach SC17.9
5.Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers AR17.3
6.Punta Gorda FL16.2
7.St. George UT15.5
8.Ocala FL14.9
9.Daphne-Fairhope-Foley AL14.7
10.Cape Coral-Fort Myers FL14.0

Building permits per capita by metro area, 12 months to Jun 2026. Circle area is proportional to units per 1,000. Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Building Permits Survey.

Building Permits per Capita: Top U.S. Metros
#	Metro area	Units per 1,000	Units, 12 mo.	Population
1	Wildwood-The Villages FL	27.1	3,579	131,832
2	North Port-Bradenton-Sarasota FL	19.5	16,496	844,461
3	Wilmington NC	19.0	8,156	429,447
4	Myrtle Beach-Conway-North Myrtle Beach SC	17.9	6,390	356,578
5	Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers AR	17.3	9,510	550,596
6	Punta Gorda FL	16.2	3,073	189,900
7	St. George UT	15.5	2,844	183,297
8	Ocala FL	14.9	5,633	378,225
9	Daphne-Fairhope-Foley AL	14.7	3,428	233,420
10	Cape Coral-Fort Myers FL	14.0	10,841	772,902
11	Raleigh-Cary NC	13.4	19,018	1,420,825
12	Savannah GA	13.2	5,363	406,575
13	Bend OR	12.8	3,197	248,998
14	Homosassa Springs FL	12.5	1,941	155,173
15	Hilton Head Island-Bluffton-Port Royal SC	12.4	2,713	218,515
16	Auburn-Opelika AL	12.1	2,342	194,324
17	Crestview-Fort Walton Beach-Destin FL	11.9	3,432	288,639
18	Boise City ID	11.8	9,087	771,602
19	Spartanburg SC	11.7	4,182	357,277
20	Bozeman MT	11.4	1,370	119,685
21	Sherman-Denison TX	10.9	1,497	137,008
22	Burlington NC	10.9	1,876	171,779
23	Abilene TX	10.9	1,917	176,656
24	Asheville NC	10.8	4,399	407,332
25	Greeley CO	10.7	3,540	331,466
26	College Station-Bryan TX	10.6	2,854	269,418
27	Madison WI	10.5	7,106	678,995
28	Hinesville GA	10.3	847	82,354
29	Coeur dAlene ID	10.2	1,771	173,396
30	Panama City-Panama City Beach FL	10.2	2,102	206,069
31	Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos TX	10.2	23,368	2,296,377
32	Pinehurst-Southern Pines NC	10.1	1,014	100,759
33	Idaho Falls ID	10.0	1,588	158,478
34	Wenatchee-East Wenatchee WA	10.0	1,218	122,265
35	Provo-Orem-Lehi UT	9.9	6,731	677,964
36	Greenville NC	9.9	1,689	171,196
37	Logan UT-ID	9.8	1,459	148,804
38	Lafayette-West Lafayette IN	9.7	2,188	224,515
39	Durham-Chapel Hill NC	9.5	5,602	586,905
40	Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton NC	9.5	3,475	366,031
41	Charleston-North Charleston SC	9.4	7,529	803,398
42	Huntsville AL	9.3	4,584	493,980
43	Lakeland-Winter Haven FL	9.2	6,787	736,229
44	Sioux Falls SD-MN	9.0	2,594	287,603
45	Hammond LA	8.9	1,192	133,953
46	Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin TN	8.7	17,510	2,015,869
47	Jacksonville NC	8.6	1,761	203,686
48	Greenville-Anderson-Greer SC	8.6	7,991	931,405
49	Naples-Marco Island FL	8.6	3,259	380,221
50	Knoxville TN	8.5	7,675	908,007
51	Gainesville GA	8.4	1,721	204,953
52	Champaign-Urbana IL	8.3	1,961	236,707
53	Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands TX	8.3	59,212	7,170,269
54	Port St. Lucie FL	8.2	4,064	494,081
55	Iowa City IA	8.2	1,443	175,894
56	Kennewick-Richland WA	8.2	2,495	304,252
57	Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington TX	8.1	61,973	7,673,379
58	Clarksville TN-KY	8.0	2,599	322,949
59	Gulfport-Biloxi MS	8.0	3,341	416,839
60	Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford FL	7.9	21,240	2,679,298
61	Columbia SC	7.9	6,575	831,913
62	Bowling Green KY	7.8	1,412	180,624
63	Jacksonville FL	7.7	12,443	1,613,587
64	Lubbock TX	7.7	2,712	352,044
65	Jonesboro AR	7.7	1,030	134,035
66	Goldsboro NC	7.6	895	117,480
67	McAllen-Edinburg-Mission TX	7.6	6,612	873,167
68	Dover DE	7.6	1,379	182,400
69	Corvallis OR	7.5	719	95,615
70	Missoula MT	7.5	924	123,193
71	Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler AZ	7.5	36,414	4,864,209
72	Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia NC-SC	7.4	19,866	2,668,688
73	Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville FL	7.4	4,538	610,723
74	Colorado Springs CO	7.4	5,599	755,081
75	Odessa TX	7.2	1,175	162,300
76	Pensacola-Ferry Pass-Brent FL	7.2	3,693	510,290
77	Carson City NV	7.2	418	58,249
78	Cleveland TN	7.1	897	126,479
79	Rapid City SD	7.0	1,048	148,871
80	Omaha NE-IA	7.0	6,732	966,688
81	Winston-Salem NC	6.9	4,686	678,243
82	Warner Robins GA	6.9	1,326	192,171
83	Traverse City MI	6.9	1,054	153,733
84	Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater FL	6.8	21,666	3,194,310
85	Sebring- FL	6.8	694	102,339
86	Boulder CO	6.7	2,206	328,658
87	Deltona-Daytona Beach-Ormond Beach FL	6.6	4,482	676,035
88	Brunswick-St.Simons GA	6.6	750	113,854
89	Mankato MN	6.5	676	103,402
90	Killeen-Temple TX	6.5	3,103	477,577
91	Richmond VA	6.5	8,493	1,316,145
92	Harrisonburg VA	6.4	875	135,689
93	Des Moines-West Des Moines IA	6.4	4,584	711,490
94	Fort Collins CO	6.4	2,296	359,363
95	Winchester VA-WV	6.3	905	143,385
96	Rochester MN	6.2	1,411	225,911
97	Tallahassee FL	6.2	2,400	386,064
98	Gainesville FL	6.2	2,120	341,067
99	Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater WA	6.2	1,826	294,272
100	Oshkosh-Neenah WI	6.2	1,059	171,197

Top 100 of 387 ranked metro areas. Every row links to that geography’s full monthly permit history.

Other permit rankings

Metro areas with the most building permitsMetropolitan and micropolitan areas ranked by housing units authorized over the last 12 months.Counties with the most building permitsU.S. counties ranked by housing units authorized over the last 12 months.Building permits per capita by countyCounties ranked by units authorized per 1,000 residents — the housing-supply rate, not raw volume.Fastest-growing housing markets by building permitsMetro areas with the largest year-over-year increase in permitted units, same window both years.Housing markets with the steepest permit declinesMetro areas with the largest year-over-year drop in permitted units, same window both years.Metro areas where multifamily is the biggest share of new housingMetro areas ranked by the share of permitted units in buildings with 5 or more units — share, not volume.

Go deeper

Every metro area →Monthly permit history for all metropolitan and micropolitan areas.Home sale prices →County median sale prices — pair supply with what the market is clearing at.Fair Market Rents →HUD rents by county, metro, and bedroom count — the rent side of the same market.

Building permits by state

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Building permits per capita by metro area — FAQ

Which metro area permits the most housing per capita?+

Wildwood-The Villages FL permitted 27.1 housing units per 1,000 residents over the 12 months to Jun 2026, the highest rate of any ranked U.S. metro area.

Why do fewer metro areas appear here than on the volume ranking?+

Per-capita ranking needs a population denominator, and the population series ships for metropolitan areas only. Micropolitan areas appear on the volume leaderboards but not this one.

Is a high rate good?+

It is a supply measure, not a verdict. A high rate means a market is authorizing a lot of housing relative to its population, which typically tracks in-migration and land availability; it says nothing on its own about affordability or absorption.

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