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

Cities in Massachusetts by housing units authorized by building permits

Boston, MA had the highest housing units authorized by building permits of 53 cities in 2021, at 3,512. Holyoke, MA had the lowest, at 0. The median was 52 and the figure for Massachusetts was 19,853. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

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Highest3,512Boston, MA
Lowest0Holyoke, MA
Median5253 cities
Massachusetts19,853History

All cities, 2021

Boston, MA: 3,512 countBoston, MA3,512Medford, MA: 1,667 countMedford, MA1,667Cambridge, MA: 661 countCambridge, MA661Quincy, MA: 621 countQuincy, MA621Everett, MA: 415 countEverett, MA415Franklin Town, MA: 300 countFranklin Town, MA300Newburyport, MA: 232 countNewburyport, MA232Lynn, MA: 209 countLynn, MA209Woburn, MA: 203 countWoburn, MA203Worcester, MA: 178 countWorcester, MA178Brockton, MA: 143 countBrockton, MA143Somerville, MA: 140 countSomerville, MA140Taunton, MA: 135 countTaunton, MA135Bridgewater Town, MA: 99 countBridgewater Town, MA99Winthrop Town, MA: 95 countWinthrop Town, MA95Leominster, MA: 80 countLeominster, MA80Chelsea, MA: 77 countChelsea, MA77Salem, MA: 77 countSalem, MA77Fall River, MA: 72 countFall River, MA72Weymouth Town, MA: 67 countWeymouth Town, MA67Newton, MA: 62 countNewton, MA62Attleboro, MA: 58 countAttleboro, MA58Barnstable Town, MA: 58 countBarnstable Town, MA58North Attleborough Town, MA: 58 countNorth Attleborough Town, MA58Waltham, MA: 57 countWaltham, MA57Revere, MA: 54 countRevere, MA54Westfield, MA: 52 countWestfield, MA52Gloucester, MA: 46 countGloucester, MA46Haverhill, MA: 38 countHaverhill, MA38Lowell, MA: 37 countLowell, MA37Northampton, MA: 34 countNorthampton, MA34Framingham, MA: 33 countFramingham, MA33Peabody, MA: 31 countPeabody, MA31New Bedford, MA: 30 countNew Bedford, MA30Marlborough, MA: 29 countMarlborough, MA29Fitchburg, MA: 26 countFitchburg, MA26Beverly, MA: 25 countBeverly, MA25Pittsfield, MA: 25 countPittsfield, MA25Chicopee, MA: 24 countChicopee, MA24Agawam Town, MA: 20 countAgawam Town, MA20Gardner, MA: 20 countGardner, MA20Lawrence, MA: 19 countLawrence, MA19Melrose, MA: 14 countMelrose, MA14Palmer Town, MA: 13 countPalmer Town, MA13Braintree Town, MA: 12 countBraintree Town, MA12Greenfield, MA: 12 countGreenfield, MA12Randolph Town, MA: 12 countRandolph Town, MA12West Springfield Town, MA: 8 countWest Springfield Town, MA8Springfield, MA: 3 countSpringfield, MA3North Adams, MA: 2 countNorth Adams, MA2Southbridge Town, MA: 2 countSouthbridge Town, MA2Malden, MA: 1 countMalden, MA1Holyoke, MA: 0 countHolyoke, MA0Boston, MA: 3,512 countBoston, MA3,512Medford, MA: 1,667 countMedford, MA1,667Cambridge, MA: 661 countCambridge, MA661Quincy, MA: 621 countQuincy, MA621Everett, MA: 415 countEverett, MA415Franklin Town, MA: 300 countFranklin Town, MA300Newburyport, MA: 232 countNewburyport, MA232Lynn, MA: 209 countLynn, MA209Woburn, MA: 203 countWoburn, MA203Worcester, MA: 178 countWorcester, MA178Brockton, MA: 143 countBrockton, MA143Somerville, MA: 140 countSomerville, MA140Taunton, MA: 135 countTaunton, MA135Bridgewater Town, MA: 99 countBridgewater Town, MA99Winthrop Town, MA: 95 countWinthrop Town, MA95Leominster, MA: 80 countLeominster, MA80Chelsea, MA: 77 countChelsea, MA77Salem, MA: 77 countSalem, MA77Fall River, MA: 72 countFall River, MA72Weymouth Town, MA: 67 countWeymouth Town, MA67Newton, MA: 62 countNewton, MA62Attleboro, MA: 58 countAttleboro, MA58Barnstable Town, MA: 58 countBarnstable Town, MA58North Attleborough Town, MA: 58 countNorth Attleborough Town, MA58Waltham, MA: 57 countWaltham, MA57Revere, MA: 54 countRevere, MA54Westfield, MA: 52 countWestfield, MA52Gloucester, MA: 46 countGloucester, MA46Haverhill, MA: 38 countHaverhill, MA38Lowell, MA: 37 countLowell, MA37Northampton, MA: 34 countNorthampton, MA34Framingham, MA: 33 countFramingham, MA33Peabody, MA: 31 countPeabody, MA31New Bedford, MA: 30 countNew Bedford, MA30Marlborough, MA: 29 countMarlborough, MA29Fitchburg, MA: 26 countFitchburg, MA26Beverly, MA: 25 countBeverly, MA25Pittsfield, MA: 25 countPittsfield, MA25Chicopee, MA: 24 countChicopee, MA24Agawam Town, MA: 20 countAgawam Town, MA20Gardner, MA: 20 countGardner, MA20Lawrence, MA: 19 countLawrence, MA19Melrose, MA: 14 countMelrose, MA14Palmer Town, MA: 13 countPalmer Town, MA13Braintree Town, MA: 12 countBraintree Town, MA12Greenfield, MA: 12 countGreenfield, MA12Randolph Town, MA: 12 countRandolph Town, MA12West Springfield Town, MA: 8 countWest Springfield Town, MA8Springfield, MA: 3 countSpringfield, MA3North Adams, MA: 2 countNorth Adams, MA2Southbridge Town, MA: 2 countSouthbridge Town, MA2Malden, MA: 1 countMalden, MA1Holyoke, MA: 0 countHolyoke, MA0
count. Source: Invokely calculation with data from U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

RankCities2021
count		Change on 2020
1Boston, MA Estimated3,512-0.6%
2Medford, MA Estimated1,667+39%
3Cambridge, MA Estimated661+21.1%
4Quincy, MA Estimated621+305.9%
5Everett, MA Estimated415+234.7%
6Franklin Town, MA Estimated300+21%
7Newburyport, MA Estimated232+393.6%
8Lynn, MA Estimated209+49.3%
9Woburn, MA Estimated203-46%
10Worcester, MA Estimated178+154.3%
11Brockton, MA Estimated143+361.3%
12Somerville, MA Estimated140+35.9%
13Taunton, MA Estimated135+50%
14Bridgewater Town, MA Estimated99-31.3%
15Winthrop Town, MA Estimated95+35.7%
16Leominster, MA Estimated80+70.2%
17Chelsea, MA Estimated77+42.6%
17Salem, MA Estimated77-72.8%
19Fall River, MA Estimated72+24.1%
20Weymouth Town, MA Estimated67-73.8%
21Newton, MA Estimated62+8.8%
22Attleboro, MA Estimated58-30.1%
22Barnstable Town, MA Estimated58+1.8%
22North Attleborough Town, MA Estimated58+28.9%
25Waltham, MA Estimated570%
26Revere, MA Estimated54+35%
27Westfield, MA Estimated52+15.6%
28Gloucester, MA Estimated46-82.2%
29Haverhill, MA Estimated38-9.5%
30Lowell, MA Estimated37-80.4%
31Northampton, MA Estimated34+17.2%
32Framingham, MA Estimated33-60.7%
33Peabody, MA Estimated31+29.2%
34New Bedford, MA Estimated30-9.1%
35Marlborough, MA Estimated29+16%
36Fitchburg, MA Estimated26-7.1%
37Beverly, MA Estimated25+25%
37Pittsfield, MA Estimated25+400%
39Chicopee, MA Estimated24+14.3%
40Agawam Town, MA Estimated20+25%
40Gardner, MA Estimated20+53.8%
42Lawrence, MA Estimated19+18.8%
43Melrose, MA Estimated14+40%
44Palmer Town, MA Estimated13+62.5%
45Braintree Town, MA Estimated12+140%
45Greenfield, MA Estimated12n/a
45Randolph Town, MA Estimated12-14.3%
48West Springfield Town, MA Estimated8-27.3%
49Springfield, MA Estimated3-96.8%
50North Adams, MA Estimated2n/a
50Southbridge Town, MA Estimated2-85.7%
52Malden, MA Estimated1n/a
53Holyoke, MA Estimated0-100%

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. 4 cities with data in other periods have no value for 2021 and are left out rather than filled from another source. 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/ne2021a.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. (2022). 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, 2021) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/Northeast%20Region/ne2021a.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, 2021. U.S. Census Bureau, 27 Apr. 2022, https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/Northeast%20Region/ne2021a.txt. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/massachusetts-cities?period=2021. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

U.S. Census Bureau. 2022. 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, 2021. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/Northeast%20Region/ne2021a.txt. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/massachusetts-cities?period=2021.

Harvard

U.S. Census Bureau (2022) 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, 2021 [Dataset]. Available at: https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/Northeast%20Region/ne2021a.txt, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/massachusetts-cities?period=2021 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{census_cities_in_massachusetts_by_2021,
  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, 2021}},
  year = {2022},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/Northeast%20Region/ne2021a.txt},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/massachusetts-cities?period=2021. 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/ne2021a.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, 2021
PY  - 2022
DA  - 2022/04/27
PB  - U.S. Census Bureau
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/Northeast%20Region/ne2021a.txt
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/massachusetts-cities?period=2021
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/massachusetts-cities?period=2021.
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/ne2021a.txt. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
ER  -
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Rank Cities in Massachusetts by housing units authorized by building permits using official data, and cite the source.
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Questions

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

Boston, MA, with 3,512 in 2021, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

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

Holyoke, MA, with 0 in 2021.

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. 4 cities have no value for 2021 and are not ranked.

Housing units authorized by building permits: other rankings

Cities in Massachusetts: more rankings