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

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

Detroit, MI had the highest housing units authorized by building permits of 85 cities in 2025, at 2,620. Wayne, MI had the lowest, at 0. The median was 20 and the figure for Michigan was 23,075. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

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Highest2,620Detroit, MI
Lowest0Wayne, MI
Median2085 cities
Michigan23,075History

Top 40 cities, 2025

Detroit, MI: 2,620 countDetroit, MI2,620Grand Rapids, MI: 801 countGrand Rapids, MI801Sterling Heights, MI: 672 countSterling Heights, MI672Ann Arbor, MI: 557 countAnn Arbor, MI557Wyoming, MI: 425 countWyoming, MI425Lansing, MI: 245 countLansing, MI245Portage, MI: 141 countPortage, MI141Royal Oak, MI: 140 countRoyal Oak, MI140Jackson, MI: 130 countJackson, MI130Troy, MI: 116 countTroy, MI116Kentwood, MI: 91 countKentwood, MI91Livonia, MI: 85 countLivonia, MI85Ferndale, MI: 83 countFerndale, MI83Novi, MI: 78 countNovi, MI78Muskegon, MI: 66 countMuskegon, MI66Pontiac, MI: 66 countPontiac, MI66Cadillac, MI: 64 countCadillac, MI64Midland, MI: 57 countMidland, MI57Birmingham, MI: 55 countBirmingham, MI55Walker, MI: 53 countWalker, MI53Clawson, MI: 44 countClawson, MI44Alpena, MI: 41 countAlpena, MI41Warren, MI: 40 countWarren, MI40Farmington, MI: 38 countFarmington, MI38Holland, MI: 33 countHolland, MI33New Baltimore, MI: 33 countNew Baltimore, MI33Allen Park, MI: 32 countAllen Park, MI32Harper Woods, MI: 31 countHarper Woods, MI31Romulus, MI: 31 countRomulus, MI31Southfield, MI: 31 countSouthfield, MI31Rochester Hills, MI: 30 countRochester Hills, MI30Woodhaven, MI: 30 countWoodhaven, MI30Adrian, MI: 29 countAdrian, MI29Westland, MI: 27 countWestland, MI27South Lyon, MI: 26 countSouth Lyon, MI26Burton, MI: 25 countBurton, MI25Grand Haven, MI: 25 countGrand Haven, MI25Norton Shores, MI: 23 countNorton Shores, MI23Dearborn, MI: 22 countDearborn, MI22Farmington Hills, MI: 22 countFarmington Hills, MI22Detroit, MI: 2,620 countDetroit, MI2,620Grand Rapids, MI: 801 countGrand Rapids, MI801Sterling Heights, MI: 672 countSterling Heights, MI672Ann Arbor, MI: 557 countAnn Arbor, MI557Wyoming, MI: 425 countWyoming, MI425Lansing, MI: 245 countLansing, MI245Portage, MI: 141 countPortage, MI141Royal Oak, MI: 140 countRoyal Oak, MI140Jackson, MI: 130 countJackson, MI130Troy, MI: 116 countTroy, MI116Kentwood, MI: 91 countKentwood, MI91Livonia, MI: 85 countLivonia, MI85Ferndale, MI: 83 countFerndale, MI83Novi, MI: 78 countNovi, MI78Muskegon, MI: 66 countMuskegon, MI66Pontiac, MI: 66 countPontiac, MI66Cadillac, MI: 64 countCadillac, MI64Midland, MI: 57 countMidland, MI57Birmingham, MI: 55 countBirmingham, MI55Walker, MI: 53 countWalker, MI53Clawson, MI: 44 countClawson, MI44Alpena, MI: 41 countAlpena, MI41Warren, MI: 40 countWarren, MI40Farmington, MI: 38 countFarmington, MI38Holland, MI: 33 countHolland, MI33New Baltimore, MI: 33 countNew Baltimore, MI33Allen Park, MI: 32 countAllen Park, MI32Harper Woods, MI: 31 countHarper Woods, MI31Romulus, MI: 31 countRomulus, MI31Southfield, MI: 31 countSouthfield, MI31Rochester Hills, MI: 30 countRochester Hills, MI30Woodhaven, MI: 30 countWoodhaven, MI30Adrian, MI: 29 countAdrian, MI29Westland, MI: 27 countWestland, MI27South Lyon, MI: 26 countSouth Lyon, MI26Burton, MI: 25 countBurton, MI25Grand Haven, MI: 25 countGrand Haven, MI25Norton Shores, MI: 23 countNorton Shores, MI23Dearborn, MI: 22 countDearborn, MI22Farmington Hills, MI: 22 countFarmington Hills, MI22
count. Source: Invokely calculation with data from U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

RankCities2025
count		Change on 2024
1Detroit, MI Estimated2,620+36.5%
2Grand Rapids, MI Estimated801-6.8%
3Sterling Heights, MI Estimated672+860%
4Ann Arbor, MI Estimated557+89.5%
5Wyoming, MI Estimated425+174.2%
6Lansing, MI Estimated245+15.6%
7Portage, MI Estimated141+76.3%
8Royal Oak, MI Estimated140+1.4%
9Jackson, MI Estimated130-14.5%
10Troy, MI Estimated116-51.9%
11Kentwood, MI Estimated91-9%
12Livonia, MI Estimated85+269.6%
13Ferndale, MI Estimated83+822.2%
14Novi, MI Estimated78-37.1%
15Muskegon, MI Estimated66+50%
15Pontiac, MI Estimated66-41.1%
17Cadillac, MI Estimated64+6,300%
18Midland, MI Estimated57-76.9%
19Birmingham, MI Estimated55-50.9%
20Walker, MI Estimated53+32.5%
21Clawson, MI Estimated44+4,300%
22Alpena, MI Estimated41n/a
23Warren, MI Estimated40+100%
24Farmington, MI Estimated38n/a
25Holland, MI Estimated33-85.3%
25New Baltimore, MI Estimated33+73.7%
27Allen Park, MI Estimated32+1,500%
28Harper Woods, MI Estimated31n/a
28Romulus, MI Estimated31+24%
28Southfield, MI Estimated31+138.5%
31Rochester Hills, MI Estimated30-11.8%
31Woodhaven, MI Estimated30+1,400%
33Adrian, MI Estimated29+7.4%
34Westland, MI Estimated27-53.4%
35South Lyon, MI Estimated26+85.7%
36Burton, MI Estimated25-3.8%
36Grand Haven, MI Estimated250%
38Norton Shores, MI Estimated23-36.1%
39Dearborn, MI Estimated22-15.4%
39Farmington Hills, MI Estimated22+4.8%
41Auburn Hills, MI Estimated21+425%
42Rochester, MI Estimated20+53.8%
42Sault Ste. Marie, MI Estimated20+400%
42Taylor, MI Estimated20-55.6%
45Owosso, MI Estimated18+260%
45Southgate, MI Estimated18+28.6%
47Fenton, MI Estimated17+70%
47Ypsilanti, MI Estimated17-92.6%
49Berkley, MI Estimated13+30%
49Dearborn Heights, MI Estimated13+62.5%
49Monroe, MI Estimated13+30%
52Roseville, MI Estimated110%
52Sturgis, MI Estimated11+175%
54Battle Creek, MI Estimated9+12.5%
54Garden City, MI Estimated9-52.6%
54Grandville, MI Estimated9+12.5%
54Hazel Park, MI Estimated9-35.7%
54Wyandotte, MI Estimated9+80%
59Coldwater, MI Estimated8+100%
59Eastpointe, MI Estimated8+700%
61Beverly Hills, MI Estimated70%
62Flat Rock, MI Estimated6-33.3%
62Madison Heights, MI Estimated6+200%
64East Lansing, MI Estimated5n/a
64Mount Pleasant, MI Estimated5+66.7%
64Port Huron, MI Estimated50%
67Flint, MI Estimated4+300%
67Hamtramck, MI Estimated4-42.9%
67St. Clair Shores, MI Estimated4-77.8%
67Wixom, MI Estimated4-78.9%
71Grosse Pointe Woods, MI Estimated30%
71Kalamazoo, MI Estimated3-57.1%
71Niles, MI Estimated30%
74Inkster, MI Estimated2n/a
75Fraser, MI Estimated10%
75Oak Park, MI Estimated10%
77Bay City, MI Estimated0n/a
77Grosse Pointe Park, MI Estimated0-100%
77Lincoln Park, MI Estimated0n/a
77Melvindale, MI Estimated0n/a
77Mount Clemens, MI Estimated0n/a
77Riverview, MI Estimated0-100%
77Saginaw, MI Estimated0n/a
77Trenton, MI Estimated0-100%
77Wayne, MI Estimated0n/a

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. 2 cities with data in other periods have no value for 2025 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/Midwest%20Region/mw2025a.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 Michigan by housing units authorized by building permits, 2025) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/Midwest%20Region/mw2025a.txt

MLA 9

Building Permits Survey: final annual estimates of new privately owned housing units authorized by permit-issuing place, including imputation, Cities in Michigan by housing units authorized by building permits, 2025. U.S. Census Bureau, 14 May 2026, https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/Midwest%20Region/mw2025a.txt. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/michigan-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 Michigan by housing units authorized by building permits, 2025. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/Midwest%20Region/mw2025a.txt. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/michigan-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 Michigan by housing units authorized by building permits, 2025 [Dataset]. Available at: https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/Midwest%20Region/mw2025a.txt, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/michigan-cities (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{census_cities_in_michigan_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 Michigan by housing units authorized by building permits, 2025}},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/Midwest%20Region/mw2025a.txt},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/michigan-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/Midwest\%20Region/mw2025a.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 Michigan 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/Midwest%20Region/mw2025a.txt
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/michigan-cities
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/michigan-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/Midwest%20Region/mw2025a.txt. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
ER  -
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Questions

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

Detroit, MI, with 2,620 in 2025, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

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

Wayne, MI, with 0 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. 2 cities have no value for 2025 and are not ranked.

Housing units authorized by building permits: other rankings

Cities in Michigan: more rankings