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 2022, at 3,935. North Adams, MA had the lowest, at 3. The median was 37 and the figure for Massachusetts was 16,830. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

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Highest3,935Boston, MA
Lowest3North Adams, MA
Median3753 cities
Massachusetts16,830History

All cities, 2022

Boston, MA: 3,935 countBoston, MA3,935Weymouth Town, MA: 831 countWeymouth Town, MA831Worcester, MA: 812 countWorcester, MA812Cambridge, MA: 543 countCambridge, MA543Barnstable Town, MA: 317 countBarnstable Town, MA317Everett, MA: 276 countEverett, MA276Franklin Town, MA: 254 countFranklin Town, MA254Newton, MA: 246 countNewton, MA246Taunton, MA: 173 countTaunton, MA173Somerville, MA: 115 countSomerville, MA115Quincy, MA: 85 countQuincy, MA85Woburn, MA: 78 countWoburn, MA78Salem, MA: 75 countSalem, MA75Chelsea, MA: 63 countChelsea, MA63Lynn, MA: 62 countLynn, MA62Fall River, MA: 61 countFall River, MA61Revere, MA: 57 countRevere, MA57Gloucester, MA: 55 countGloucester, MA55Lowell, MA: 47 countLowell, MA47Westfield, MA: 46 countWestfield, MA46Fitchburg, MA: 43 countFitchburg, MA43Haverhill, MA: 43 countHaverhill, MA43Attleboro, MA: 41 countAttleboro, MA41Bridgewater Town, MA: 41 countBridgewater Town, MA41Medford, MA: 40 countMedford, MA40Waltham, MA: 40 countWaltham, MA40Northampton, MA: 37 countNorthampton, MA37Agawam Town, MA: 35 countAgawam Town, MA35Brockton, MA: 35 countBrockton, MA35Framingham, MA: 31 countFramingham, MA31Malden, MA: 30 countMalden, MA30Springfield, MA: 28 countSpringfield, MA28Peabody, MA: 27 countPeabody, MA27Gardner, MA: 18 countGardner, MA18New Bedford, MA: 17 countNew Bedford, MA17Southbridge Town, MA: 16 countSouthbridge Town, MA16Randolph Town, MA: 15 countRandolph Town, MA15Lawrence, MA: 14 countLawrence, MA14Melrose, MA: 14 countMelrose, MA14Winthrop Town, MA: 14 countWinthrop Town, MA14Leominster, MA: 12 countLeominster, MA12Newburyport, MA: 11 countNewburyport, MA11Chicopee, MA: 9 countChicopee, MA9North Attleborough Town, MA: 9 countNorth Attleborough Town, MA9Greenfield, MA: 8 countGreenfield, MA8Beverly, MA: 7 countBeverly, MA7Braintree Town, MA: 6 countBraintree Town, MA6Palmer Town, MA: 6 countPalmer Town, MA6Pittsfield, MA: 6 countPittsfield, MA6West Springfield Town, MA: 6 countWest Springfield Town, MA6Holyoke, MA: 5 countHolyoke, MA5Marlborough, MA: 5 countMarlborough, MA5North Adams, MA: 3 countNorth Adams, MA3Boston, MA: 3,935 countBoston, MA3,935Weymouth Town, MA: 831 countWeymouth Town, MA831Worcester, MA: 812 countWorcester, MA812Cambridge, MA: 543 countCambridge, MA543Barnstable Town, MA: 317 countBarnstable Town, MA317Everett, MA: 276 countEverett, MA276Franklin Town, MA: 254 countFranklin Town, MA254Newton, MA: 246 countNewton, MA246Taunton, MA: 173 countTaunton, MA173Somerville, MA: 115 countSomerville, MA115Quincy, MA: 85 countQuincy, MA85Woburn, MA: 78 countWoburn, MA78Salem, MA: 75 countSalem, MA75Chelsea, MA: 63 countChelsea, MA63Lynn, MA: 62 countLynn, MA62Fall River, MA: 61 countFall River, MA61Revere, MA: 57 countRevere, MA57Gloucester, MA: 55 countGloucester, MA55Lowell, MA: 47 countLowell, MA47Westfield, MA: 46 countWestfield, MA46Fitchburg, MA: 43 countFitchburg, MA43Haverhill, MA: 43 countHaverhill, MA43Attleboro, MA: 41 countAttleboro, MA41Bridgewater Town, MA: 41 countBridgewater Town, MA41Medford, MA: 40 countMedford, MA40Waltham, MA: 40 countWaltham, MA40Northampton, MA: 37 countNorthampton, MA37Agawam Town, MA: 35 countAgawam Town, MA35Brockton, MA: 35 countBrockton, MA35Framingham, MA: 31 countFramingham, MA31Malden, MA: 30 countMalden, MA30Springfield, MA: 28 countSpringfield, MA28Peabody, MA: 27 countPeabody, MA27Gardner, MA: 18 countGardner, MA18New Bedford, MA: 17 countNew Bedford, MA17Southbridge Town, MA: 16 countSouthbridge Town, MA16Randolph Town, MA: 15 countRandolph Town, MA15Lawrence, MA: 14 countLawrence, MA14Melrose, MA: 14 countMelrose, MA14Winthrop Town, MA: 14 countWinthrop Town, MA14Leominster, MA: 12 countLeominster, MA12Newburyport, MA: 11 countNewburyport, MA11Chicopee, MA: 9 countChicopee, MA9North Attleborough Town, MA: 9 countNorth Attleborough Town, MA9Greenfield, MA: 8 countGreenfield, MA8Beverly, MA: 7 countBeverly, MA7Braintree Town, MA: 6 countBraintree Town, MA6Palmer Town, MA: 6 countPalmer Town, MA6Pittsfield, MA: 6 countPittsfield, MA6West Springfield Town, MA: 6 countWest Springfield Town, MA6Holyoke, MA: 5 countHolyoke, MA5Marlborough, MA: 5 countMarlborough, MA5North Adams, MA: 3 countNorth Adams, MA3
count. Source: Invokely calculation with data from U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

RankCities2022
count		Change on 2021
1Boston, MA Estimated3,935+12%
2Weymouth Town, MA Estimated831+1,140.3%
3Worcester, MA Estimated812+356.2%
4Cambridge, MA Estimated543-17.9%
5Barnstable Town, MA Estimated317+446.6%
6Everett, MA Estimated276-33.5%
7Franklin Town, MA Estimated254-15.3%
8Newton, MA Estimated246+296.8%
9Taunton, MA Estimated173+28.1%
10Somerville, MA Estimated115-17.9%
11Quincy, MA Estimated85-86.3%
12Woburn, MA Estimated78-61.6%
13Salem, MA Estimated75-2.6%
14Chelsea, MA Estimated63-18.2%
15Lynn, MA Estimated62-70.3%
16Fall River, MA Estimated61-15.3%
17Revere, MA Estimated57+5.6%
18Gloucester, MA Estimated55+19.6%
19Lowell, MA Estimated47+27%
20Westfield, MA Estimated46-11.5%
21Fitchburg, MA Estimated43+65.4%
21Haverhill, MA Estimated43+13.2%
23Attleboro, MA Estimated41-29.3%
23Bridgewater Town, MA Estimated41-58.6%
25Medford, MA Estimated40-97.6%
25Waltham, MA Estimated40-29.8%
27Northampton, MA Estimated37+8.8%
28Agawam Town, MA Estimated35+75%
28Brockton, MA Estimated35-75.5%
30Framingham, MA Estimated31-6.1%
31Malden, MA Estimated30+2,900%
32Springfield, MA Estimated28+833.3%
33Peabody, MA Estimated27-12.9%
34Gardner, MA Estimated18-10%
35New Bedford, MA Estimated17-43.3%
36Southbridge Town, MA Estimated16+700%
37Randolph Town, MA Estimated15+25%
38Lawrence, MA Estimated14-26.3%
38Melrose, MA Estimated140%
38Winthrop Town, MA Estimated14-85.3%
41Leominster, MA Estimated12-85%
42Newburyport, MA Estimated11-95.3%
43Chicopee, MA Estimated9-62.5%
43North Attleborough Town, MA Estimated9-84.5%
45Greenfield, MA Estimated8-33.3%
46Beverly, MA Estimated7-72%
47Braintree Town, MA Estimated6-50%
47Palmer Town, MA Estimated6-53.8%
47Pittsfield, MA Estimated6-76%
47West Springfield Town, MA Estimated6-25%
51Holyoke, MA Estimated5n/a
51Marlborough, MA Estimated5-82.8%
53North Adams, MA Estimated3+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. 4 cities with data in other periods have no value for 2022 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/ne2022a.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. (2024). 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, 2022) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/Northeast%20Region/ne2022a.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, 2022. U.S. Census Bureau, 2 Apr. 2024, https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/Northeast%20Region/ne2022a.txt. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/massachusetts-cities?period=2022. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

U.S. Census Bureau. 2024. 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, 2022. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/Northeast%20Region/ne2022a.txt. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/massachusetts-cities?period=2022.

Harvard

U.S. Census Bureau (2024) 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, 2022 [Dataset]. Available at: https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/Northeast%20Region/ne2022a.txt, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/massachusetts-cities?period=2022 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{census_cities_in_massachusetts_by_2022,
  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, 2022}},
  year = {2024},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/Northeast%20Region/ne2022a.txt},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/massachusetts-cities?period=2022. 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/ne2022a.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, 2022
PY  - 2024
DA  - 2024/04/02
PB  - U.S. Census Bureau
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/Northeast%20Region/ne2022a.txt
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/massachusetts-cities?period=2022
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/massachusetts-cities?period=2022.
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/ne2022a.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 3,935 in 2022, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

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

North Adams, MA, with 3 in 2022.

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 2022 and are not ranked.

Housing units authorized by building permits: other rankings

Cities in Massachusetts: more rankings