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 2020, at 1,181. Ottumwa, IA had the lowest, at 3. The median was 124 and the figure for Iowa was 12,623. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.
All cities, 2020
Full ranking
| Rank | Cities | 2020 | Change on 2019 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ankeny, IA Estimated | 1,181 | +4.9% |
| 2 | Waukee, IA Estimated | 906 | +40.5% |
| 3 | West Des Moines, IA Estimated | 718 | +26.2% |
| 4 | Altoona, IA Estimated | 546 | +135.3% |
| 5 | Sioux City, IA Estimated | 521 | +52.8% |
| 6 | Des Moines, IA Estimated | 441 | -34.2% |
| 7 | Pleasant Hill, IA Estimated | 341 | +367.1% |
| 8 | Urbandale, IA Estimated | 325 | +150% |
| 9 | Coralville, IA Estimated | 315 | +171.6% |
| 10 | Norwalk, IA Estimated | 308 | +52.5% |
| 11 | Marion, IA Estimated | 248 | +17% |
| 12 | Cedar Rapids, IA Estimated | 236 | -36.2% |
| 13 | Bettendorf, IA Estimated | 223 | +8.8% |
| 14 | Grimes, IA Estimated | 220 | -46.2% |
| 15 | Johnston, IA Estimated | 161 | -24.4% |
| 16 | Iowa City, IA Estimated | 159 | -72.1% |
| 17 | Pella, IA Estimated | 149 | +161.4% |
| 18 | Mason City, IA Estimated | 141 | +1,181.8% |
| 19 | Fort Dodge, IA Estimated | 131 | +835.7% |
| 20 | Clive, IA Estimated | 127 | +14.4% |
| 21 | Dubuque, IA Estimated | 120 | +53.8% |
| 22 | Council Bluffs, IA Estimated | 119 | +12.3% |
| 23 | North Liberty, IA Estimated | 117 | +25.8% |
| 24 | Cedar Falls, IA Estimated | 114 | +15.2% |
| 25 | Ames, IA Estimated | 99 | -70.7% |
| 26 | Davenport, IA Estimated | 95 | -70.1% |
| 27 | Waterloo, IA Estimated | 94 | -60.3% |
| 28 | Indianola, IA Estimated | 89 | +53.4% |
| 29 | Burlington, IA Estimated | 33 | +13.8% |
| 30 | Oskaloosa, IA Estimated | 32 | +18.5% |
| 31 | Boone, IA Estimated | 31 | +19.2% |
| 32 | Clinton, IA Estimated | 28 | -31.7% |
| 33 | Le Mars, IA Estimated | 21 | -76.7% |
| 34 | Spencer, IA Estimated | 20 | -79.8% |
| 34 | Storm Lake, IA Estimated | 20 | +150% |
| 36 | Marshalltown, IA Estimated | 17 | +13.3% |
| 37 | Newton, IA Estimated | 11 | -42.1% |
| 38 | Muscatine, IA Estimated | 9 | -83% |
| 39 | Carroll, IA Estimated | 5 | -28.6% |
| 40 | Ottumwa, IA Estimated | 3 | 0% |
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/mw2020a.txt. Retrieved 2026-10-12.Citation styles
APA 7
U.S. Census Bureau. (2021). 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, 2020) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/Midwest%20Region/mw2020a.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, 2020. U.S. Census Bureau, 3 May 2021, https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/Midwest%20Region/mw2020a.txt. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/iowa-cities?period=2020. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.
Chicago (author-date)
U.S. Census Bureau. 2021. 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, 2020. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/Midwest%20Region/mw2020a.txt. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/iowa-cities?period=2020.
Harvard
U.S. Census Bureau (2021) 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, 2020 [Dataset]. Available at: https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/Midwest%20Region/mw2020a.txt, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/iowa-cities?period=2020 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).
BibTeX
@misc{census_cities_in_iowa_by_2020,
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, 2020}},
year = {2021},
howpublished = {Data set},
url = {https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/Midwest%20Region/mw2020a.txt},
urldate = {2026-10-12},
note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/iowa-cities?period=2020. 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/mw2020a.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, 2020
PY - 2021
DA - 2021/05/03
PB - U.S. Census Bureau
DB - Invokely
UR - https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/Midwest%20Region/mw2020a.txt
L2 - https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/iowa-cities?period=2020
Y2 - 2026/10/12
N1 - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/iowa-cities?period=2020.
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/mw2020a.txt. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
ER -
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 Cities in Iowa by housing units authorized by building permits using official data, and cite the source.
rank_places {"indicator":"building_permit_units","level":"municipality","within":"Iowa","limit":10}
GET https://invokely.ai/api/v1/rank?indicator=building_permit_units&level=municipality&within=Iowa&limit=10Questions
Which city has the highest housing units authorized by building permits?
Ankeny, IA, with 1,181 in 2020, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
Which city has the lowest housing units authorized by building permits?
Ottumwa, IA, with 3 in 2020.
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 Washington
- Cities in Oregon
- Cities in New Hampshire
- Counties in North Dakota
- Counties in Alaska
- Counties in Oregon