Building permits per 1,000 residents, metro by metro
From 2021 to 2025 the United States authorized 4.7 new housing units a year for every 1,000 residents. Among metro areas of a million people or more, Austin ran fastest at 15.4, Raleigh came next at 13.3, and Buffalo was lowest at 1.2.
Totals reward size: a metro area of six million people will usually authorize more homes than one of 600,000 even if it is building far more slowly. Dividing by population turns the count into a pace that can be compared across places of any size. This site uses the Census Bureau's July population estimates for 2021 to 2025 and averages the five years, so a single large project does not decide the rank.
The large metro areas, fastest and slowest
| Metro area | Units per 1,000 a year | Units a year, 2021–2025 | Population change, 2020–2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX | 15.4 | 38,332 | 14% |
| Raleigh-Cary, NC | 13.3 | 20,236 | 13% |
| Nashville-Davidson–Murfreesboro–Franklin, TN | 11.7 | 24,735 | 8.7% |
| Jacksonville, FL | 11.0 | 18,937 | 11% |
| Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL | 9.6 | 27,339 | 10% |
| Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC | 9.6 | 26,985 | 10% |
| Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX | 9.1 | 69,236 | 10% |
| Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ | 9.0 | 45,917 | 7.2% |
| Greenville-Anderson-Greer, SC | 8.9 | 8,732 | 9% |
| Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX | 8.9 | 72,526 | 11% |
The fastest large metro areas cluster in Texas, the Carolinas, Tennessee, Florida and Arizona. They are also among the fastest-growing by population, which is what one would expect: permits follow people, and new residents need somewhere to live. The link is loose, though. A metro area can authorize many homes for people moving within it, and one with a tight permit pipeline can grow mainly by filling existing homes.
| Metro area | Units per 1,000 a year | Units a year, 2021–2025 | Population change, 2020–2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Buffalo-Cheektowaga, NY | 1.2 | 1,453 | −0.8% |
| Providence-Warwick, RI-MA | 1.4 | 2,365 | 2.1% |
| Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT | 1.5 | 1,754 | 3% |
| Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN | 1.8 | 16,707 | −0% |
| Rochester, NY | 1.8 | 1,898 | −0.7% |
| Cleveland, OH | 1.8 | 3,901 | −0.8% |
| Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI | 1.8 | 7,957 | 0.1% |
| San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA | 2.0 | 9,196 | −2.4% |
At the other end are older metro areas of the Northeast and Great Lakes, plus San Francisco. Each of them authorized less than half the national rate.
The highest rates of all
Across the 227 metro areas profiled on this site the leaders are smaller places. Florida has 6 of the top 15.
| Metro area | Units per 1,000 a year | Residents, 2025 |
|---|---|---|
| Wildwood-The Villages, FL | 26.7 | 157,772 |
| Punta Gorda, FL | 21.8 | 217,212 |
| Wilmington, NC | 20.1 | 492,772 |
| North Port-Bradenton-Sarasota, FL | 17.6 | 948,158 |
| Myrtle Beach-Conway-North Myrtle Beach, SC | 17.3 | 427,551 |
| Cape Coral-Fort Myers, FL | 16.5 | 875,607 |
| Bozeman, MT | 15.7 | 128,740 |
| Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX | 15.4 | 2,620,945 |
| St. George, UT | 15.3 | 213,670 |
| Ocala, FL | 14.8 | 442,660 |
| Daphne-Fairhope-Foley, AL | 14.2 | 267,761 |
| Lakeland-Winter Haven, FL | 13.8 | 874,790 |
| Hilton Head Island-Bluffton-Port Royal, SC | 13.5 | 242,966 |
| Raleigh-Cary, NC | 13.3 | 1,595,720 |
| Sherman-Denison, TX | 13.3 | 153,613 |
Wildwood-The Villages, FL stands apart at 26.7 units per 1,000 residents a year, 5.7 times the national pace.
What a typical metro area looks like
Across all 387 metro areas the median rate was 3.6 units per 1,000 residents a year, below the national 4.7, because the national figure is pulled up by the big, fast-building metro areas. In all, 152 metro areas ran above the national rate.
Very low rates deserve a second look before any conclusion. In some areas much of the land lies outside places that require building permits, so new homes there are never counted. This site gives no page to metro areas below one unit per 1,000 residents a year for that reason; the counting rules explain it.
Rates by metro size
Pooled together, each size class builds at a different pace. The pooled rate divides all units in the class by all residents; the median is the rate of the middle metro area of the class.
| Metro areas of | Count | Pooled rate per 1,000 | Median rate per 1,000 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 million or more residents | 56 | 4.7 | 4.5 |
| 500,000 to 999,999 residents | 55 | 5.8 | 4.9 |
| 250,000 to 499,999 residents | 85 | 4.9 | 3.6 |
| under 250,000 residents | 191 | 4.5 | 3.2 |
A slowing pace since 2021
The national rate was 5.2 units per 1,000 residents in 2021, 5.0 in 2022, 4.5 in 2023, 4.3 in 2024 and 4.2 in 2025. Over the same years the population kept growing, so the falling rate reflects fewer permits rather than more people. In 262 of the 387 metro areas the 2025 rate was lower than the 2021 rate.
Rates and population growth
Of the ten large metro areas with the fastest population growth from 2020 to 2025, 9 are also among the ten with the highest permit rates: Austin, Raleigh, Jacksonville, FL, Dallas, Orlando, Houston, Charlotte, Greenville, SC, Nashville. The overlap is strong but not complete; a rate measures housing authorized, population growth measures people added, and the two can drift apart for years at a time.
Rates across the Census divisions
Pooling the states of each of the nine Census divisions gives a regional view of the pace. From fastest to slowest the 2021–2025 rates per 1,000 residents a year were: Mountain 7.0; South Atlantic 6.7; West South Central 6.5; East South Central 4.6; West North Central 4.0; Pacific 3.3; East North Central 2.6; Middle Atlantic 2.6; New England 2.4. The fastest division built at 3.0 times the rate of the slowest.
Among metro areas under 250,000 residents that have a page here, the highest rates belong to Wildwood (26.7), Punta Gorda (21.8), Bozeman (15.7), St. George (15.3), Hilton Head Island (13.5). In places this size one large subdivision or apartment complex can lift the rate for several years, so the five-year average is the fairer figure.
Using the rate
The rate describes how much housing was authorized relative to the people already there. It is not a measure of need, affordability or quality of life, and a high rate today says nothing certain about next year. Each metro page states its own rate and how it compares with the nation, and Versus plots any two areas together.
Sources
US Census Bureau, Building Permits Survey, annual county and state files 2004–2025; OMB metro area delineation of July 2023; US Census Bureau, Population Estimates, Vintage 2025. All figures computed by this site; see the counting rules.