Cities in Colorado by housing units authorized by building permits

Denver, CO had the highest housing units authorized by building permits of 47 cities in 2016, at 7,842. Northglenn, CO had the lowest, at 0. The median was 243 and the figure for Colorado was 38,974. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

Highest7,842Denver, CO

Lowest0Northglenn, CO

Median24347 cities

Colorado38,974History

All cities, 2016

count. Source: Invokely calculation with data from U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

Rank	Cities	2016 count	Change on 2015
1	Denver, CO Estimated	7,842	-0.7%
2	Aurora, CO Estimated	2,709	+174.7%
3	Fort Collins, CO Estimated	1,874	+92%
4	Castle Rock, CO Estimated	1,251	+34.1%
5	Thornton, CO Estimated	1,124	+10%
6	Longmont, CO Estimated	1,117	+171.8%
7	Arvada, CO Estimated	856	+16.9%
8	Lakewood, CO Estimated	770	+17.9%
9	Littleton, CO Estimated	727	+151.6%
10	Parker, CO Estimated	689	-5.4%
11	Centennial, CO Estimated	583	+1,434.2%
12	Greeley, CO Estimated	575	-38.9%
13	Loveland, CO Estimated	572	-17.5%
14	Broomfield, CO Estimated	546	+22.1%
15	Commerce City, CO Estimated	522	+51.3%
16	Brighton, CO Estimated	460	+120.1%
17	Erie, CO Estimated	434	+1.2%
18	Wellington, CO Estimated	425	+84%
19	Windsor, CO Estimated	368	+3.7%
20	Firestone, CO Estimated	283	0%
21	Louisville, CO Estimated	270	+34.3%
22	Berthoud, CO Estimated	259	+135.5%
23	Englewood, CO Estimated	257	-46.7%
24	Lafayette, CO Estimated	243	-5.1%
25	Frederick, CO Estimated	199	-16.4%
26	Westminster, CO Estimated	196	+14.6%
27	Johnstown, CO Estimated	181	+15.3%
28	Timnath, CO Estimated	162	-12.4%
29	Boulder, CO Estimated	101	-58.4%
30	Durango, CO Estimated	96	-51%
31	Fort Lupton, CO Estimated	84	+320%
32	Lone Tree, CO Estimated	80	0%
33	Severance, CO Estimated	73	-29.8%
34	Evans, CO Estimated	71	+39.2%
35	Montrose, CO Estimated	56	+1.8%
36	Greenwood Village, CO Estimated	45	+21.6%
37	Federal Heights, CO Estimated	37	+48%
38	Wheat Ridge, CO Estimated	34	-41.4%
39	Superior, CO Estimated	33	-52.2%
40	Cañon City, CO Estimated	21	+425%
41	Rifle, CO Estimated	10	0%
42	Fort Morgan, CO Estimated	5	-90.7%
42	Golden, CO Estimated	5	-44.4%
42	Sterling, CO Estimated	5	0%
45	Castle Pines, CO Estimated	2	n/a
46	Glenwood Springs, CO Estimated	0	n/a
46	Northglenn, CO Estimated	0	n/a

Other periods

About this ranking

Number of new privately owned housing units authorized by building permits in the year or month, from the US Census Bureau Building Permits Survey. Annual totals for the nation, states and counties; monthly counts for the nation and states.

Counts housing units, not buildings, starts, completions or sales. Monthly counts are not seasonally adjusted and do not add up exactly to the annual total, which includes later corrections; the national seasonally adjusted annual rate in the monthly New Residential Construction release is a different measure.

Every value in the ranking comes from the same publisher and the same period, so the cities are compared on one definition. 1 cities with data in other periods have no value for 2016 and are left out rather than filled from another source. Equal values share a rank.

How to cite

U.S. Census Bureau. Building Permits Survey: final annual estimates of new privately owned housing units authorized by permit-issuing place, including imputation. https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/West%20Region/we2016a.txt. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Citation styles

The publisher is the author. Invokely is named only as the place the figures were read, where a style asks for it.

APA 7

U.S. Census Bureau. (2017). Building Permits Survey: final annual estimates of new privately owned housing units authorized by permit-issuing place, including imputation (Cities in Colorado by housing units authorized by building permits, 2016) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/West%20Region/we2016a.txt

MLA 9

Building Permits Survey: final annual estimates of new privately owned housing units authorized by permit-issuing place, including imputation, Cities in Colorado by housing units authorized by building permits, 2016. U.S. Census Bureau, 1 May 2017, https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/West%20Region/we2016a.txt. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/colorado-cities?period=2016. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

U.S. Census Bureau. 2017. Building Permits Survey: final annual estimates of new privately owned housing units authorized by permit-issuing place, including imputation. Cities in Colorado by housing units authorized by building permits, 2016. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/West%20Region/we2016a.txt. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/colorado-cities?period=2016.

Harvard

U.S. Census Bureau (2017) Building Permits Survey: final annual estimates of new privately owned housing units authorized by permit-issuing place, including imputation, Cities in Colorado by housing units authorized by building permits, 2016 [Dataset]. Available at: https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/West%20Region/we2016a.txt, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/colorado-cities?period=2016 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX

@misc{census_cities_in_colorado_by_2016,
  author = {{U.S. Census Bureau}},
  title = {{Building Permits Survey: final annual estimates of new privately owned housing units authorized by permit-issuing place, including imputation: Cities in Colorado by housing units authorized by building permits, 2016}},
  year = {2017},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/West%20Region/we2016a.txt},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/colorado-cities?period=2016. Publisher attribution: U.S. Census Bureau. Building Permits Survey: final annual estimates of new privately owned housing units authorized by permit-issuing place, including imputation. https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/West\%20Region/we2016a.txt. Retrieved 2026-10-12.},
}

RIS

TY  - DATA
AU  - U.S. Census Bureau
TI  - Building Permits Survey: final annual estimates of new privately owned housing units authorized by permit-issuing place, including imputation: Cities in Colorado by housing units authorized by building permits, 2016
PY  - 2017
DA  - 2017/05/01
PB  - U.S. Census Bureau
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/West%20Region/we2016a.txt
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/colorado-cities?period=2016
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/colorado-cities?period=2016.
N1  - Publisher attribution: U.S. Census Bureau. Building Permits Survey: final annual estimates of new privately owned housing units authorized by permit-issuing place, including imputation. https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/West%20Region/we2016a.txt. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
ER  -

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rank_places {"indicator":"building_permit_units","level":"municipality","within":"Colorado","limit":10}
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Questions

Which city has the highest housing units authorized by building permits?

Denver, CO, with 7,842 in 2016, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Which city has the lowest housing units authorized by building permits?

Northglenn, CO, with 0 in 2016.

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 estimates of new privately owned housing units authorized by permit-issuing place, including imputation. Retrieved 2026-10-12. 1 cities have no value for 2016 and are not ranked.