Counties in Florida by housing units authorized by building permits
Lee County had the highest housing units authorized by building permits of 67 counties in 2024, at 15,411. Liberty County had the lowest, at 8. The median was 1,268. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.
Top 40 counties, 2024
Full ranking
| Rank | Counties | 2024 | Change on 2023 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lee County Estimated | 15,411 | +13.7% |
| 2 | Miami-Dade County Estimated | 10,608 | -17% |
| 3 | Polk County Estimated | 10,384 | -17% |
| 4 | Hillsborough County Estimated | 9,053 | -28.8% |
| 5 | Osceola County Estimated | 8,813 | +6.8% |
| 6 | Orange County Estimated | 8,052 | -7.3% |
| 7 | Manatee County Estimated | 7,472 | -7.8% |
| 8 | Sarasota County Estimated | 7,466 | -4.6% |
| 9 | Pasco County Estimated | 6,765 | -11.8% |
| 10 | Marion County Estimated | 6,729 | +29.5% |
| 11 | Duval County Estimated | 6,495 | -33.8% |
| 12 | St. Johns County Estimated | 5,575 | -13.6% |
| 13 | Lake County Estimated | 4,990 | -21% |
| 14 | St. Lucie County Estimated | 4,869 | -6.2% |
| 15 | Brevard County Estimated | 4,603 | -29.6% |
| 16 | Charlotte County Estimated | 4,585 | +3.5% |
| 17 | Palm Beach County Estimated | 4,089 | -25.5% |
| 18 | Sumter County Estimated | 3,961 | +18.6% |
| 19 | Collier County Estimated | 3,524 | -2.6% |
| 20 | Volusia County Estimated | 3,403 | -25.3% |
| 21 | Walton County Estimated | 2,883 | +3.2% |
| 22 | Pinellas County Estimated | 2,627 | -11.6% |
| 23 | Flagler County Estimated | 2,588 | +2.3% |
| 24 | Hernando County Estimated | 2,505 | +23.4% |
| 25 | Bay County Estimated | 2,473 | +6.5% |
| 26 | Citrus County Estimated | 2,443 | +10.9% |
| 27 | Seminole County Estimated | 2,280 | +5.8% |
| 28 | Santa Rosa County Estimated | 1,983 | +11.8% |
| 29 | Clay County Estimated | 1,880 | -23% |
| 30 | Leon County Estimated | 1,765 | -11.3% |
| 31 | Alachua County Estimated | 1,750 | +12.5% |
| 32 | Broward County Estimated | 1,655 | -45.7% |
| 33 | Escambia County Estimated | 1,462 | +39.4% |
| 34 | Okaloosa County Estimated | 1,268 | -54.7% |
| 35 | Highlands County Estimated | 980 | +37.6% |
| 36 | Nassau County Estimated | 953 | -38.4% |
| 37 | Martin County Estimated | 646 | -31.6% |
| 38 | Hendry County Estimated | 557 | +4.1% |
| 38 | Indian River County Estimated | 557 | -66.4% |
| 40 | Wakulla County Estimated | 468 | -12.4% |
| 41 | Monroe County Estimated | 334 | -48.8% |
| 42 | Gulf County Estimated | 302 | +8.6% |
| 43 | Washington County Estimated | 217 | +24% |
| 44 | Levy County Estimated | 199 | -26.3% |
| 45 | Columbia County Estimated | 178 | -2.2% |
| 46 | Jackson County Estimated | 145 | +1.4% |
| 47 | Suwannee County Estimated | 136 | -4.2% |
| 48 | Hardee County Estimated | 123 | +68.5% |
| 49 | Franklin County Estimated | 113 | +3.7% |
| 50 | Putnam County Estimated | 110 | -44.4% |
| 51 | Gadsden County Estimated | 109 | +12.4% |
| 52 | Baker County Estimated | 99 | +33.8% |
| 53 | Gilchrist County Estimated | 94 | -21% |
| 54 | Bradford County Estimated | 90 | +30.4% |
| 55 | DeSoto County Estimated | 71 | -53.6% |
| 56 | Glades County Estimated | 65 | +30% |
| 57 | Jefferson County Estimated | 64 | -7.2% |
| 58 | Dixie County Estimated | 49 | -2% |
| 58 | Taylor County Estimated | 49 | -14% |
| 60 | Union County Estimated | 45 | 0% |
| 61 | Lafayette County Estimated | 42 | +7.7% |
| 62 | Madison County Estimated | 30 | -3.2% |
| 63 | Calhoun County Estimated | 28 | +7.7% |
| 64 | Hamilton County Estimated | 26 | +52.9% |
| 65 | Okeechobee County Estimated | 18 | +100% |
| 66 | Holmes County Estimated | 12 | 0% |
| 67 | Liberty County Estimated | 8 | -42.9% |
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 Florida by housing units authorized by building permits using official data, and cite the source.
rank_places {"indicator":"building_permit_units","level":"province","within":"Florida","limit":10}
GET https://invokely.ai/api/v1/rank?indicator=building_permit_units&level=province&within=Florida&limit=10Questions
Which county has the highest housing units authorized by building permits?
Lee County, with 15,411 in 2024, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
Which county has the lowest housing units authorized by building permits?
Liberty County, with 8 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 Florida: 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