Cities in Iowa by housing units authorized by building permits, 2025

Des Moines, IA had the highest housing units authorized by building permits of 40 cities in 2025, at 1,676. Storm Lake, IA had the lowest, at 2. The median was 121 and the figure for Iowa was 13,664. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

Highest1,676Des Moines, IA

Lowest2Storm Lake, IA

Median12140 cities

Iowa13,664History

All cities, 2025

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

Full ranking

Rank	Cities	2025 count	Change on 2024
1	Des Moines, IA Estimated	1,676	+171.2%
2	Ankeny, IA Estimated	1,326	+78.7%
3	Waukee, IA Estimated	678	-48.3%
4	Urbandale, IA Estimated	646	+68.2%
5	North Liberty, IA Estimated	520	+288.1%
6	Cedar Rapids, IA Estimated	511	-16%
7	West Des Moines, IA Estimated	344	+34.9%
8	Waterloo, IA Estimated	337	+209.2%
9	Coralville, IA Estimated	260	+116.7%
10	Norwalk, IA Estimated	237	-22%
11	Dubuque, IA Estimated	216	-39.7%
12	Council Bluffs, IA Estimated	212	-66.5%
13	Marion, IA Estimated	211	+1.4%
14	Sioux City, IA Estimated	202	+44.3%
15	Altoona, IA Estimated	183	-0.5%
16	Boone, IA Estimated	170	+385.7%
17	Iowa City, IA Estimated	161	+21.1%
18	Grimes, IA Estimated	134	+13.6%
19	Bettendorf, IA Estimated	122	-68.5%
19	Johnston, IA Estimated	122	0%
21	Indianola, IA Estimated	120	+215.8%
22	Ames, IA Estimated	115	+18.6%
23	Cedar Falls, IA Estimated	112	+23.1%
24	Davenport, IA Estimated	107	-65.6%
25	Muscatine, IA Estimated	93	+69.1%
26	Newton, IA Estimated	75	+400%
27	Pella, IA Estimated	73	+37.7%
28	Oskaloosa, IA Estimated	58	+346.2%
29	Spencer, IA Estimated	54	+2,600%
30	Mason City, IA Estimated	41	+192.9%
31	Clive, IA Estimated	40	-66.4%
32	Ottumwa, IA Estimated	35	-7.9%
33	Pleasant Hill, IA Estimated	34	-74.4%
34	Burlington, IA Estimated	23	+130%
35	Marshalltown, IA Estimated	15	-46.4%
36	Le Mars, IA Estimated	13	-89.7%
37	Clinton, IA Estimated	12	-66.7%
38	Carroll, IA Estimated	9	-40%
39	Fort Dodge, IA Estimated	4	0%
40	Storm Lake, IA Estimated	2	-98.7%

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/Midwest%20Region/mw2025a.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. (2026). Building Permits Survey: final annual estimates of new privately owned housing units authorized by permit-issuing place, including imputation (Cities in Iowa by housing units authorized by building permits, 2025) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/Midwest%20Region/mw2025a.txt

MLA 9

Building Permits Survey: final annual estimates of new privately owned housing units authorized by permit-issuing place, including imputation, Cities in Iowa by housing units authorized by building permits, 2025. U.S. Census Bureau, 14 May 2026, https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/Midwest%20Region/mw2025a.txt. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/iowa-cities. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

U.S. Census Bureau. 2026. Building Permits Survey: final annual estimates of new privately owned housing units authorized by permit-issuing place, including imputation. Cities in Iowa by housing units authorized by building permits, 2025. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/Midwest%20Region/mw2025a.txt. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/iowa-cities.

Harvard

U.S. Census Bureau (2026) Building Permits Survey: final annual estimates of new privately owned housing units authorized by permit-issuing place, including imputation, Cities in Iowa by housing units authorized by building permits, 2025 [Dataset]. Available at: https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/Midwest%20Region/mw2025a.txt, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/iowa-cities (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX

@misc{census_cities_in_iowa_by_2025,
  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 Iowa by housing units authorized by building permits, 2025}},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/Midwest%20Region/mw2025a.txt},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/iowa-cities. 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/Midwest\%20Region/mw2025a.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 Iowa by housing units authorized by building permits, 2025
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/05/14
PB  - U.S. Census Bureau
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/Midwest%20Region/mw2025a.txt
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/iowa-cities
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/iowa-cities.
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/Midwest%20Region/mw2025a.txt. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
ER  -

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Questions

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

Des Moines, IA, with 1,676 in 2025, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

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

Storm Lake, IA, with 2 in 2025.

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.