Counties in California by housing units authorized by building permits
Los Angeles County had the highest housing units authorized by building permits of 58 counties in 2024, at 19,809. Sierra County had the lowest, at 3. The median was 480. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.
All counties, 2024
Full ranking
| Rank | Counties | 2024 | Change on 2023 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Los Angeles County Estimated | 19,809 | -18.4% |
| 2 | San Diego County Estimated | 11,572 | +0.9% |
| 3 | Riverside County Estimated | 9,598 | -25.9% |
| 4 | Orange County Estimated | 6,972 | +7.6% |
| 5 | Sacramento County Estimated | 6,747 | -2.6% |
| 6 | San Bernardino County Estimated | 6,226 | -14.9% |
| 7 | Santa Clara County Estimated | 3,834 | -34.3% |
| 8 | San Joaquin County Estimated | 3,779 | +74.1% |
| 9 | Placer County Estimated | 3,713 | +0.9% |
| 10 | Kern County Estimated | 3,244 | +32.4% |
| 11 | Fresno County Estimated | 2,439 | -22.7% |
| 12 | Contra Costa County Estimated | 2,155 | +6% |
| 13 | Alameda County Estimated | 1,743 | -39.6% |
| 14 | Ventura County Estimated | 1,648 | +41.7% |
| 15 | Solano County Estimated | 1,455 | +2.9% |
| 16 | Tulare County Estimated | 1,447 | +24.2% |
| 17 | Madera County Estimated | 1,343 | +21.1% |
| 18 | San Luis Obispo County Estimated | 1,104 | +14.8% |
| 19 | San Mateo County Estimated | 1,088 | -7.2% |
| 20 | Sonoma County Estimated | 1,012 | -57% |
| 21 | Butte County Estimated | 946 | +1.8% |
| 22 | Stanislaus County Estimated | 902 | +11.4% |
| 23 | San Francisco County Estimated | 770 | -32.2% |
| 24 | Yuba County Estimated | 756 | +44.6% |
| 25 | Santa Barbara County Estimated | 750 | +59.2% |
| 26 | Kings County Estimated | 726 | -2.8% |
| 27 | Yolo County Estimated | 716 | -0.8% |
| 28 | Monterey County Estimated | 677 | +9.7% |
| 29 | Merced County Estimated | 520 | +28.1% |
| 30 | Napa County Estimated | 439 | +32.6% |
| 31 | El Dorado County Estimated | 437 | -28.1% |
| 32 | San Benito County Estimated | 281 | -28.5% |
| 33 | Santa Cruz County Estimated | 259 | -52% |
| 34 | Imperial County Estimated | 253 | -3.8% |
| 35 | Shasta County Estimated | 246 | +18.3% |
| 36 | Del Norte County Estimated | 242 | +764.3% |
| 37 | Nevada County Estimated | 215 | -15% |
| 38 | Humboldt County Estimated | 194 | -33.3% |
| 39 | Tehama County Estimated | 186 | +12.7% |
| 40 | Marin County Estimated | 158 | -48% |
| 41 | Mono County Estimated | 125 | +228.9% |
| 42 | Sutter County Estimated | 117 | +36% |
| 43 | Lake County Estimated | 114 | +50% |
| 44 | Glenn County Estimated | 108 | -2.7% |
| 45 | Mariposa County Estimated | 89 | -48.9% |
| 46 | Calaveras County Estimated | 72 | -41.5% |
| 47 | Tuolumne County Estimated | 62 | -13.9% |
| 48 | Amador County Estimated | 57 | -37.4% |
| 49 | Colusa County Estimated | 53 | +307.7% |
| 50 | Siskiyou County Estimated | 48 | -11.1% |
| 51 | Plumas County Estimated | 39 | -58.9% |
| 52 | Trinity County Estimated | 21 | -4.5% |
| 53 | Inyo County Estimated | 13 | -38.1% |
| 54 | Mendocino County Estimated | 9 | -47.1% |
| 55 | Lassen County Estimated | 6 | -64.7% |
| 56 | Modoc County Estimated | 5 | -58.3% |
| 57 | Alpine County Estimated | 3 | -57.1% |
| 57 | Sierra County Estimated | 3 | -50% |
Other periods
About this ranking
Annual number of new privately owned housing units authorized by building permits, from the US Census Bureau Building Permits Survey.
Final annual county estimates include imputation for missing reports. Counts housing units, not buildings, starts, completions or sales. Covers permit-issuing areas; areas where permits are not required are outside the survey. Not seasonally adjusted or expressed as an annualized monthly rate. The total is the sum of units in the four published structure categories; inputs are retained.
Every value in the ranking comes from the same publisher and the same period, so the counties are compared on one definition. Equal values share a rank.
How to cite
U.S. Census Bureau. Building Permits Survey: final annual county estimates of new privately owned housing units authorized, including imputation. https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/County/co2024a.txt. Retrieved 2026-10-10.Use this data in your AI agent
Invokely serves this figure to AI assistants through MCP and to code through a REST API, with the source and citation attached. Ask your assistant:
Rank Counties in California by housing units authorized by building permits using official data, and cite the source.
rank_places {"indicator":"building_permit_units","level":"province","within":"California","limit":10}
GET https://invokely.ai/api/v1/rank?indicator=building_permit_units&level=province&within=California&limit=10Questions
Which county has the highest housing units authorized by building permits?
Los Angeles County, with 19,809 in 2024, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
Which county has the lowest housing units authorized by building permits?
Sierra County, with 3 in 2024.
Where does this ranking come from?
Every value comes from one source and one period, so the places are comparable: U.S. Census Bureau, Building Permits Survey: final annual county estimates of new privately owned housing units authorized, including imputation. Retrieved 2026-10-10.
Housing units authorized by building permits: other rankings
- US counties
- Counties in Texas
- Counties in Georgia
- Counties in Virginia
- Counties in Missouri
- Counties in Kansas
- Counties in North Carolina
- Counties in Iowa
- Counties in Illinois
- Counties in Kentucky
- Counties in Tennessee
- Counties in Indiana
Counties in California: more rankings
- Asian population share
- Bachelor's degree or higher, population 25 and over
- Live births, July to June
- Black or African American population share
- Crude birth rate, July to June
- Crude death rate, July to June
- Deaths, July to June
- Foreign-born population share
- Real GDP growth
- GDP per capita, US dollars
- Gross domestic product (GDP), US dollars
- Gini index
- Hispanic or Latino population share
- Homeownership rate (US, housing units)
- County house price annual change, sales and refinances
- County house price index, 1990 = 100