Data / Rankings / Housing units authorized by building permits / Cities in Iowa

Cities in Iowa by housing units authorized by building permits

Ankeny, IA had the highest housing units authorized by building permits of 40 cities in 2018, at 890. Ottumwa, IA had the lowest, at 3. The median was 81 and the figure for Iowa was 11,518. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

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Highest890Ankeny, IA
Lowest3Ottumwa, IA
Median8140 cities
Iowa11,518History

All cities, 2018

Ankeny, IA: 890 countAnkeny, IA890West Des Moines, IA: 645 countWest Des Moines, IA645Des Moines, IA: 571 countDes Moines, IA571Grimes, IA: 519 countGrimes, IA519Coralville, IA: 492 countCoralville, IA492Cedar Rapids, IA: 472 countCedar Rapids, IA472Ames, IA: 439 countAmes, IA439Iowa City, IA: 321 countIowa City, IA321Waukee, IA: 285 countWaukee, IA285Altoona, IA: 276 countAltoona, IA276Marion, IA: 246 countMarion, IA246Johnston, IA: 231 countJohnston, IA231Urbandale, IA: 213 countUrbandale, IA213Norwalk, IA: 204 countNorwalk, IA204Bettendorf, IA: 164 countBettendorf, IA164North Liberty, IA: 124 countNorth Liberty, IA124Council Bluffs, IA: 118 countCouncil Bluffs, IA118Cedar Falls, IA: 111 countCedar Falls, IA111Clive, IA: 89 countClive, IA89Marshalltown, IA: 89 countMarshalltown, IA89Le Mars, IA: 72 countLe Mars, IA72Davenport, IA: 68 countDavenport, IA68Dubuque, IA: 68 countDubuque, IA68Waterloo, IA: 63 countWaterloo, IA63Sioux City, IA: 55 countSioux City, IA55Fort Dodge, IA: 52 countFort Dodge, IA52Pleasant Hill, IA: 48 countPleasant Hill, IA48Pella, IA: 45 countPella, IA45Clinton, IA: 40 countClinton, IA40Indianola, IA: 40 countIndianola, IA40Burlington, IA: 29 countBurlington, IA29Oskaloosa, IA: 23 countOskaloosa, IA23Mason City, IA: 21 countMason City, IA21Newton, IA: 21 countNewton, IA21Carroll, IA: 19 countCarroll, IA19Boone, IA: 15 countBoone, IA15Storm Lake, IA: 14 countStorm Lake, IA14Spencer, IA: 11 countSpencer, IA11Muscatine, IA: 7 countMuscatine, IA7Ottumwa, IA: 3 countOttumwa, IA3Ankeny, IA: 890 countAnkeny, IA890West Des Moines, IA: 645 countWest Des Moines, IA645Des Moines, IA: 571 countDes Moines, IA571Grimes, IA: 519 countGrimes, IA519Coralville, IA: 492 countCoralville, IA492Cedar Rapids, IA: 472 countCedar Rapids, IA472Ames, IA: 439 countAmes, IA439Iowa City, IA: 321 countIowa City, IA321Waukee, IA: 285 countWaukee, IA285Altoona, IA: 276 countAltoona, IA276Marion, IA: 246 countMarion, IA246Johnston, IA: 231 countJohnston, IA231Urbandale, IA: 213 countUrbandale, IA213Norwalk, IA: 204 countNorwalk, IA204Bettendorf, IA: 164 countBettendorf, IA164North Liberty, IA: 124 countNorth Liberty, IA124Council Bluffs, IA: 118 countCouncil Bluffs, IA118Cedar Falls, IA: 111 countCedar Falls, IA111Clive, IA: 89 countClive, IA89Marshalltown, IA: 89 countMarshalltown, IA89Le Mars, IA: 72 countLe Mars, IA72Davenport, IA: 68 countDavenport, IA68Dubuque, IA: 68 countDubuque, IA68Waterloo, IA: 63 countWaterloo, IA63Sioux City, IA: 55 countSioux City, IA55Fort Dodge, IA: 52 countFort Dodge, IA52Pleasant Hill, IA: 48 countPleasant Hill, IA48Pella, IA: 45 countPella, IA45Clinton, IA: 40 countClinton, IA40Indianola, IA: 40 countIndianola, IA40Burlington, IA: 29 countBurlington, IA29Oskaloosa, IA: 23 countOskaloosa, IA23Mason City, IA: 21 countMason City, IA21Newton, IA: 21 countNewton, IA21Carroll, IA: 19 countCarroll, IA19Boone, IA: 15 countBoone, IA15Storm Lake, IA: 14 countStorm Lake, IA14Spencer, IA: 11 countSpencer, IA11Muscatine, IA: 7 countMuscatine, IA7Ottumwa, IA: 3 countOttumwa, IA3
count. Source: Invokely calculation with data from U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

RankCities2018
count		Change on 2017
1Ankeny, IA Estimated890-26.3%
2West Des Moines, IA Estimated645+20.1%
3Des Moines, IA Estimated571-56%
4Grimes, IA Estimated519+56.3%
5Coralville, IA Estimated492+39.4%
6Cedar Rapids, IA Estimated472-11.3%
7Ames, IA Estimated439-41.5%
8Iowa City, IA Estimated321-38%
9Waukee, IA Estimated285-70.3%
10Altoona, IA Estimated276+71.4%
11Marion, IA Estimated246-8.6%
12Johnston, IA Estimated231+13.2%
13Urbandale, IA Estimated213+23.8%
14Norwalk, IA Estimated204-15%
15Bettendorf, IA Estimated164-50.3%
16North Liberty, IA Estimated124-30.3%
17Council Bluffs, IA Estimated118+42.2%
18Cedar Falls, IA Estimated111-13.3%
19Clive, IA Estimated89+48.3%
19Marshalltown, IA Estimated89+122.5%
21Le Mars, IA Estimated72-11.1%
22Davenport, IA Estimated68-34.6%
22Dubuque, IA Estimated68+1.5%
24Waterloo, IA Estimated63-81.5%
25Sioux City, IA Estimated55-40.2%
26Fort Dodge, IA Estimated52+550%
27Pleasant Hill, IA Estimated48-65.5%
28Pella, IA Estimated45+50%
29Clinton, IA Estimated40-65.2%
29Indianola, IA Estimated40-35.5%
31Burlington, IA Estimated29-12.1%
32Oskaloosa, IA Estimated23+187.5%
33Mason City, IA Estimated21+110%
33Newton, IA Estimated21-8.7%
35Carroll, IA Estimated19-5%
36Boone, IA Estimated15-77.6%
37Storm Lake, IA Estimated14+100%
38Spencer, IA Estimated11-63.3%
39Muscatine, IA Estimated7-89.2%
40Ottumwa, IA Estimated3-94.7%

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/mw2018a.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. (2019). 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, 2018) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/Midwest%20Region/mw2018a.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, 2018. U.S. Census Bureau, 20 June 2019, https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/Midwest%20Region/mw2018a.txt. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/iowa-cities?period=2018. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

U.S. Census Bureau. 2019. 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, 2018. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/Midwest%20Region/mw2018a.txt. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/iowa-cities?period=2018.

Harvard

U.S. Census Bureau (2019) 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, 2018 [Dataset]. Available at: https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/Midwest%20Region/mw2018a.txt, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/iowa-cities?period=2018 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{census_cities_in_iowa_by_2018,
  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, 2018}},
  year = {2019},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/Midwest%20Region/mw2018a.txt},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/iowa-cities?period=2018. 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/mw2018a.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, 2018
PY  - 2019
DA  - 2019/06/20
PB  - U.S. Census Bureau
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/Midwest%20Region/mw2018a.txt
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/iowa-cities?period=2018
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/iowa-cities?period=2018.
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/mw2018a.txt. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
ER  -
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Questions

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

Ankeny, IA, with 890 in 2018, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

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

Ottumwa, IA, with 3 in 2018.

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.

Housing units authorized by building permits: other rankings

Cities in Iowa: more rankings