Cities in Colorado by housing units authorized by building permits

Denver, CO had the highest housing units authorized by building permits of 48 cities in 2023, at 5,725. Federal Heights, CO had the lowest, at 0. The median was 233 and the figure for Colorado was 39,404. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

Highest5,725Denver, CO

Lowest0Federal Heights, CO

Median23348 cities

Colorado39,404History

All cities, 2023

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

Full ranking

Rank	Cities	2023 count	Change on 2022
1	Denver, CO Estimated	5,725	-31%
2	Aurora, CO Estimated	3,846	+17.3%
3	Broomfield, CO Estimated	1,277	+137.4%
4	Parker, CO Estimated	1,200	+50.2%
5	Fort Collins, CO Estimated	1,003	+25.1%
6	Loveland, CO Estimated	969	-8.4%
7	Commerce City, CO Estimated	869	-2.1%
8	Longmont, CO Estimated	836	+7.2%
9	Erie, CO Estimated	772	-14.9%
10	Thornton, CO Estimated	758	-13.4%
11	Castle Rock, CO Estimated	690	-8%
12	Greeley, CO Estimated	682	-67.1%
13	Johnstown, CO Estimated	440	0%
14	Arvada, CO Estimated	410	+13.6%
15	Brighton, CO Estimated	398	-40%
16	Northglenn, CO Estimated	395	+117%
16	Windsor, CO Estimated	395	-69.9%
18	Timnath, CO Estimated	335	+25%
19	Englewood, CO Estimated	302	-44.6%
20	Firestone, CO Estimated	284	+43.4%
21	Fort Lupton, CO Estimated	259	-4.4%
22	Boulder, CO Estimated	255	-16.1%
23	Severance, CO Estimated	251	+87.3%
24	Louisville, CO Estimated	233	+41.2%
24	Montrose, CO Estimated	233	-16.2%
26	Lone Tree, CO Estimated	226	+3,128.6%
27	Berthoud, CO Estimated	221	-0.9%
28	Durango, CO Estimated	196	+16.7%
29	Lakewood, CO Estimated	153	-71.8%
30	Castle Pines, CO Estimated	152	-70.9%
31	Fruita, CO Estimated	133	n/a
31	Superior, CO Estimated	133	-21.8%
33	Wheat Ridge, CO Estimated	104	-75.8%
34	Frederick, CO Estimated	96	-65%
35	Lafayette, CO Estimated	70	-44.4%
35	Wellington, CO Estimated	70	-14.6%
37	Fort Morgan, CO Estimated	65	+30%
38	Westminster, CO Estimated	48	+128.6%
39	Glenwood Springs, CO Estimated	25	+177.8%
40	Cañon City, CO Estimated	24	-38.5%
40	Rifle, CO Estimated	24	+84.6%
42	Evans, CO Estimated	19	+26.7%
43	Golden, CO Estimated	5	+66.7%
44	Centennial, CO Estimated	4	+33.3%
45	Greenwood Village, CO Estimated	3	-72.7%
45	Littleton, CO Estimated	3	-95.2%
47	Sterling, CO Estimated	1	-50%
48	Federal Heights, 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. 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/we2023a.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. (2024). 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, 2023) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/West%20Region/we2023a.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, 2023. U.S. Census Bureau, 24 Apr. 2024, https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/West%20Region/we2023a.txt. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/colorado-cities?period=2023. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

U.S. Census Bureau. 2024. 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, 2023. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/West%20Region/we2023a.txt. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/colorado-cities?period=2023.

Harvard

U.S. Census Bureau (2024) 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, 2023 [Dataset]. Available at: https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/West%20Region/we2023a.txt, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/colorado-cities?period=2023 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX

@misc{census_cities_in_colorado_by_2023,
  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, 2023}},
  year = {2024},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/West%20Region/we2023a.txt},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/colorado-cities?period=2023. 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/we2023a.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, 2023
PY  - 2024
DA  - 2024/04/24
PB  - U.S. Census Bureau
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/West%20Region/we2023a.txt
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/colorado-cities?period=2023
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/colorado-cities?period=2023.
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/we2023a.txt. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
ER  -

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Questions

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

Denver, CO, with 5,725 in 2023, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

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

Federal Heights, CO, with 0 in 2023.

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.