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

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

Boston, MA had the highest housing units authorized by building permits of 57 cities in 2025, at 2,107. North Adams, MA had the lowest, at 1. The median was 33 and the figure for Massachusetts was 12,477. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

Highest2,107Boston, MA
Lowest1North Adams, MA
Median3357 cities
Massachusetts12,477History

All cities, 2025

Boston, MA: 2,107 countBoston, MA2,107Worcester, MA: 470 countWorcester, MA470North Attleborough Town, MA: 406 countNorth Attleborough Town, MA406Taunton, MA: 329 countTaunton, MA329Barnstable Town, MA: 217 countBarnstable Town, MA217Everett, MA: 197 countEverett, MA197Lowell, MA: 188 countLowell, MA188Weymouth Town, MA: 157 countWeymouth Town, MA157Watertown, MA: 153 countWatertown, MA153Lynn, MA: 152 countLynn, MA152Newton, MA: 152 countNewton, MA152Quincy, MA: 132 countQuincy, MA132Revere, MA: 131 countRevere, MA131Holyoke, MA: 102 countHolyoke, MA102Somerville, MA: 90 countSomerville, MA90Franklin Town, MA: 89 countFranklin Town, MA89Salem, MA: 82 countSalem, MA82Gloucester, MA: 77 countGloucester, MA77Chelsea, MA: 71 countChelsea, MA71Cambridge, MA: 59 countCambridge, MA59Fall River, MA: 58 countFall River, MA58Methuen, MA: 58 countMethuen, MA58Easthampton, MA: 57 countEasthampton, MA57Malden, MA: 52 countMalden, MA52Melrose, MA: 52 countMelrose, MA52Brockton, MA: 48 countBrockton, MA48Haverhill, MA: 46 countHaverhill, MA46Braintree Town, MA: 37 countBraintree Town, MA37Westfield, MA: 33 countWestfield, MA33Woburn, MA: 31 countWoburn, MA31Fitchburg, MA: 30 countFitchburg, MA30Framingham, MA: 29 countFramingham, MA29Waltham, MA: 29 countWaltham, MA29Winthrop Town, MA: 29 countWinthrop Town, MA29Leominster, MA: 25 countLeominster, MA25Attleboro, MA: 22 countAttleboro, MA22Northampton, MA: 22 countNorthampton, MA22Peabody, MA: 20 countPeabody, MA20Springfield, MA: 19 countSpringfield, MA19Bridgewater Town, MA: 15 countBridgewater Town, MA15Chicopee, MA: 15 countChicopee, MA15Pittsfield, MA: 12 countPittsfield, MA12Newburyport, MA: 11 countNewburyport, MA11Southbridge Town, MA: 11 countSouthbridge Town, MA11Lawrence, MA: 10 countLawrence, MA10Randolph Town, MA: 10 countRandolph Town, MA10Gardner, MA: 9 countGardner, MA9Greenfield, MA: 9 countGreenfield, MA9Palmer Town, MA: 9 countPalmer Town, MA9Medford, MA: 8 countMedford, MA8Beverly, MA: 6 countBeverly, MA6West Springfield Town, MA: 6 countWest Springfield Town, MA6Amesbury, MA: 5 countAmesbury, MA5Marlborough, MA: 4 countMarlborough, MA4New Bedford, MA: 4 countNew Bedford, MA4Agawam Town, MA: 2 countAgawam Town, MA2North Adams, MA: 1 countNorth Adams, MA1
count. Source: Invokely calculation with data from U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

RankCities2025
count		Change on 2024
1Boston, MA Estimated2,107+17.8%
2Worcester, MA Estimated470-50.3%
3North Attleborough Town, MA Estimated406+745.8%
4Taunton, MA Estimated329+222.5%
5Barnstable Town, MA Estimated217+12.4%
6Everett, MA Estimated197-4.4%
7Lowell, MA Estimated188+67.9%
8Weymouth Town, MA Estimated157+256.8%
9Watertown, MA Estimated153+800%
10Lynn, MA Estimated152-42.6%
10Newton, MA Estimated152-62.7%
12Quincy, MA Estimated132-57.6%
13Revere, MA Estimated131+42.4%
14Holyoke, MA Estimated102+920%
15Somerville, MA Estimated90+8.4%
16Franklin Town, MA Estimated89+12.7%
17Salem, MA Estimated82+134.3%
18Gloucester, MA Estimated77-2.5%
19Chelsea, MA Estimated71+1.4%
20Cambridge, MA Estimated59-87.9%
21Fall River, MA Estimated58-7.9%
21Methuen, MA Estimated58+286.7%
23Easthampton, MA Estimated57+16.3%
24Malden, MA Estimated52-35%
24Melrose, MA Estimated52+2,500%
26Brockton, MA Estimated48+6.7%
27Haverhill, MA Estimated46+12.2%
28Braintree Town, MA Estimated37-43.1%
29Westfield, MA Estimated33-23.3%
30Woburn, MA Estimated31-76.2%
31Fitchburg, MA Estimated30+36.4%
32Framingham, MA Estimated29-6.5%
32Waltham, MA Estimated29-9.4%
32Winthrop Town, MA Estimated29-48.2%
35Leominster, MA Estimated25+177.8%
36Attleboro, MA Estimated22-48.8%
36Northampton, MA Estimated22-62.1%
38Peabody, MA Estimated20-31%
39Springfield, MA Estimated19-88.3%
40Bridgewater Town, MA Estimated15-60.5%
40Chicopee, MA Estimated15+36.4%
42Pittsfield, MA Estimated12-20%
43Newburyport, MA Estimated11+57.1%
43Southbridge Town, MA Estimated11+266.7%
45Lawrence, MA Estimated10-9.1%
45Randolph Town, MA Estimated10-77.3%
47Gardner, MA Estimated9+28.6%
47Greenfield, MA Estimated9-47.1%
47Palmer Town, MA Estimated9+80%
50Medford, MA Estimated8-27.3%
51Beverly, MA Estimated6-91.9%
51West Springfield Town, MA Estimated6-14.3%
53Amesbury, MA Estimated50%
54Marlborough, MA Estimated4-98.8%
54New Bedford, MA Estimated4-42.9%
56Agawam Town, MA Estimated2-92.6%
57North Adams, MA Estimated1-50%

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/Northeast%20Region/ne2025a.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 Massachusetts by housing units authorized by building permits, 2025) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/Northeast%20Region/ne2025a.txt

MLA 9

Building Permits Survey: final annual estimates of new privately owned housing units authorized by permit-issuing place, including imputation, Cities in Massachusetts by housing units authorized by building permits, 2025. U.S. Census Bureau, 14 May 2026, https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/Northeast%20Region/ne2025a.txt. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/massachusetts-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 Massachusetts by housing units authorized by building permits, 2025. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/Northeast%20Region/ne2025a.txt. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/massachusetts-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 Massachusetts by housing units authorized by building permits, 2025 [Dataset]. Available at: https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/Northeast%20Region/ne2025a.txt, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/massachusetts-cities (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{census_cities_in_massachusetts_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 Massachusetts by housing units authorized by building permits, 2025}},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/Northeast%20Region/ne2025a.txt},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/massachusetts-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/Northeast\%20Region/ne2025a.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 Massachusetts 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/Northeast%20Region/ne2025a.txt
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/massachusetts-cities
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/massachusetts-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/Northeast%20Region/ne2025a.txt. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
ER  -
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Questions

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

Boston, MA, with 2,107 in 2025, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

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

North Adams, MA, with 1 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.

Housing units authorized by building permits: other rankings

Cities in Massachusetts: more rankings