Counties in Iowa by housing units authorized by building permits
Polk County had the highest housing units authorized by building permits of 99 counties in 2024, at 2,949. Keokuk County had the lowest, at 1. The median was 27. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.
Top 40 counties, 2024
Full ranking
| Rank | Counties | 2024 | Change on 2023 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Polk County Estimated | 2,949 | -4.7% |
| 2 | Dallas County Estimated | 1,513 | +6.5% |
| 3 | Linn County Estimated | 1,024 | +47.6% |
| 4 | Scott County Estimated | 785 | +60.9% |
| 5 | Johnson County Estimated | 714 | -42.2% |
| 6 | Pottawattamie County Estimated | 681 | +280.4% |
| 7 | Dubuque County Estimated | 474 | +143.1% |
| 8 | Warren County Estimated | 438 | +20.7% |
| 9 | Dickinson County Estimated | 292 | -17.5% |
| 10 | Black Hawk County Estimated | 289 | -31.2% |
| 11 | Sioux County Estimated | 251 | +87.3% |
| 12 | Story County Estimated | 198 | +20% |
| 13 | Buena Vista County Estimated | 172 | +760% |
| 13 | Woodbury County Estimated | 172 | +5.5% |
| 15 | Plymouth County Estimated | 146 | +239.5% |
| 16 | Clarke County Estimated | 125 | -3.1% |
| 17 | Madison County Estimated | 123 | +50% |
| 18 | Clinton County Estimated | 117 | +37.6% |
| 19 | Marion County Estimated | 107 | -10.1% |
| 20 | Allamakee County Estimated | 89 | +81.6% |
| 21 | Wayne County Estimated | 86 | +975% |
| 22 | Muscatine County Estimated | 77 | +220.8% |
| 23 | Boone County Estimated | 75 | -22.7% |
| 24 | Emmet County Estimated | 73 | +711.1% |
| 25 | Adair County Estimated | 72 | +700% |
| 26 | Cherokee County Estimated | 71 | +787.5% |
| 27 | Lyon County Estimated | 63 | +152% |
| 28 | Clayton County Estimated | 55 | +96.4% |
| 28 | Des Moines County Estimated | 55 | +7.8% |
| 30 | Lee County Estimated | 54 | +200% |
| 31 | Cerro Gordo County Estimated | 52 | +18.2% |
| 31 | Delaware County Estimated | 52 | +73.3% |
| 33 | Cedar County Estimated | 49 | -54.2% |
| 34 | Winneshiek County Estimated | 47 | -2.1% |
| 35 | Wapello County Estimated | 45 | -2.2% |
| 36 | Mitchell County Estimated | 44 | 0% |
| 37 | Benton County Estimated | 43 | +10.3% |
| 38 | Mills County Estimated | 40 | +37.9% |
| 39 | Bremer County Estimated | 37 | -7.5% |
| 39 | Harrison County Estimated | 37 | +48% |
| 39 | Marshall County Estimated | 37 | -60.6% |
| 42 | Henry County Estimated | 36 | -12.2% |
| 43 | Carroll County Estimated | 34 | -27.7% |
| 43 | Washington County Estimated | 34 | +13.3% |
| 45 | Buchanan County Estimated | 31 | -46.6% |
| 46 | Lucas County Estimated | 29 | |
| 46 | Poweshiek County Estimated | 29 | -62.3% |
| 48 | Hardin County Estimated | 28 | +460% |
| 48 | Webster County Estimated | 28 | -48.1% |
| 50 | Butler County Estimated | 27 | +3.8% |
| 51 | Guthrie County Estimated | 26 | +30% |
| 52 | Jackson County Estimated | 23 | +15% |
| 53 | Floyd County Estimated | 22 | +15.8% |
| 54 | Jones County Estimated | 20 | -42.9% |
| 55 | Page County Estimated | 19 | -9.5% |
| 56 | Wright County Estimated | 18 | -37.9% |
| 57 | Calhoun County Estimated | 16 | -33.3% |
| 57 | Crawford County Estimated | 16 | 0% |
| 57 | Mahaska County Estimated | 16 | +60% |
| 60 | Jasper County Estimated | 15 | -21.1% |
| 61 | Hancock County Estimated | 13 | -18.8% |
| 61 | Iowa County Estimated | 13 | +8.3% |
| 61 | Montgomery County Estimated | 13 | +44.4% |
| 61 | Sac County Estimated | 13 | +85.7% |
| 65 | Tama County Estimated | 12 | 0% |
| 66 | Fayette County Estimated | 11 | -8.3% |
| 66 | Grundy County Estimated | 11 | -47.6% |
| 68 | Cass County Estimated | 10 | -37.5% |
| 68 | Palo Alto County Estimated | 10 | -41.2% |
| 70 | Clay County Estimated | 9 | -35.7% |
| 70 | Hamilton County Estimated | 9 | -75% |
| 70 | Kossuth County Estimated | 9 | -35.7% |
| 70 | Louisa County Estimated | 9 | -43.8% |
| 70 | O'Brien County Estimated | 9 | -86.4% |
| 75 | Howard County Estimated | 8 | +33.3% |
| 75 | Monroe County Estimated | 8 | -42.9% |
| 77 | Appanoose County Estimated | 7 | 0% |
| 77 | Audubon County Estimated | 7 | +16.7% |
| 79 | Osceola County Estimated | 6 | -14.3% |
| 79 | Shelby County Estimated | 6 | 0% |
| 81 | Chickasaw County Estimated | 5 | +66.7% |
| 81 | Franklin County Estimated | 5 | +66.7% |
| 81 | Fremont County Estimated | 5 | -61.5% |
| 81 | Humboldt County Estimated | 5 | -68.8% |
| 81 | Pocahontas County Estimated | 5 | +150% |
| 81 | Taylor County Estimated | 5 | -28.6% |
| 87 | Winnebago County Estimated | 4 | +33.3% |
| 88 | Davis County Estimated | 3 | +50% |
| 88 | Greene County Estimated | 3 | -80% |
| 88 | Monona County Estimated | 3 | -78.6% |
| 88 | Ringgold County Estimated | 3 | -25% |
| 88 | Van Buren County Estimated | 3 | +50% |
| 93 | Adams County Estimated | 2 | -60% |
| 93 | Decatur County Estimated | 2 | +100% |
| 93 | Ida County Estimated | 2 | 0% |
| 93 | Union County Estimated | 2 | -60% |
| 93 | Worth County Estimated | 2 | +100% |
| 98 | Jefferson County Estimated | 1 | -88.9% |
| 98 | Keokuk County Estimated | 1 | 0% |
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 Iowa by housing units authorized by building permits using official data, and cite the source.
rank_places {"indicator":"building_permit_units","level":"province","within":"Iowa","limit":10}
GET https://invokely.ai/api/v1/rank?indicator=building_permit_units&level=province&within=Iowa&limit=10Questions
Which county has the highest housing units authorized by building permits?
Polk County, with 2,949 in 2024, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
Which county has the lowest housing units authorized by building permits?
Keokuk County, with 1 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 Illinois
- Counties in Kentucky
- Counties in Tennessee
- Counties in Indiana
- Counties in Nebraska
Counties in Iowa: 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