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

Cities in Michigan by housing units authorized by building permits

Detroit, MI had the highest housing units authorized by building permits of 85 cities in 2014, at 238. Ypsilanti, MI had the lowest, at 0. The median was 10 and the figure for Michigan was 15,933. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

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Highest238Detroit, MI
Lowest0Ypsilanti, MI
Median1085 cities
Michigan15,933History

Top 40 cities, 2014

Detroit, MI: 238 countDetroit, MI238Rochester Hills, MI: 217 countRochester Hills, MI217Grand Rapids, MI: 203 countGrand Rapids, MI203Novi, MI: 203 countNovi, MI203Midland, MI: 199 countMidland, MI199Troy, MI: 167 countTroy, MI167Kentwood, MI: 157 countKentwood, MI157Royal Oak, MI: 129 countRoyal Oak, MI129Sterling Heights, MI: 108 countSterling Heights, MI108Birmingham, MI: 105 countBirmingham, MI105Portage, MI: 95 countPortage, MI95Warren, MI: 69 countWarren, MI69Mount Pleasant, MI: 62 countMount Pleasant, MI62Wyoming, MI: 58 countWyoming, MI58Grand Haven, MI: 57 countGrand Haven, MI57Norton Shores, MI: 54 countNorton Shores, MI54Auburn Hills, MI: 45 countAuburn Hills, MI45Farmington Hills, MI: 43 countFarmington Hills, MI43Westland, MI: 43 countWestland, MI43Livonia, MI: 41 countLivonia, MI41Saginaw, MI: 39 countSaginaw, MI39Flat Rock, MI: 31 countFlat Rock, MI31Walker, MI: 31 countWalker, MI31New Baltimore, MI: 29 countNew Baltimore, MI29Fenton, MI: 28 countFenton, MI28Rochester, MI: 27 countRochester, MI27St. Clair Shores, MI: 27 countSt. Clair Shores, MI27Pontiac, MI: 26 countPontiac, MI26Ann Arbor, MI: 24 countAnn Arbor, MI24Berkley, MI: 24 countBerkley, MI24Dearborn, MI: 22 countDearborn, MI22Romulus, MI: 22 countRomulus, MI22Port Huron, MI: 19 countPort Huron, MI19South Lyon, MI: 15 countSouth Lyon, MI15Lansing, MI: 14 countLansing, MI14Holland, MI: 13 countHolland, MI13Kalamazoo, MI: 13 countKalamazoo, MI13Dearborn Heights, MI: 12 countDearborn Heights, MI12Grandville, MI: 12 countGrandville, MI12Wixom, MI: 12 countWixom, MI12Detroit, MI: 238 countDetroit, MI238Rochester Hills, MI: 217 countRochester Hills, MI217Grand Rapids, MI: 203 countGrand Rapids, MI203Novi, MI: 203 countNovi, MI203Midland, MI: 199 countMidland, MI199Troy, MI: 167 countTroy, MI167Kentwood, MI: 157 countKentwood, MI157Royal Oak, MI: 129 countRoyal Oak, MI129Sterling Heights, MI: 108 countSterling Heights, MI108Birmingham, MI: 105 countBirmingham, MI105Portage, MI: 95 countPortage, MI95Warren, MI: 69 countWarren, MI69Mount Pleasant, MI: 62 countMount Pleasant, MI62Wyoming, MI: 58 countWyoming, MI58Grand Haven, MI: 57 countGrand Haven, MI57Norton Shores, MI: 54 countNorton Shores, MI54Auburn Hills, MI: 45 countAuburn Hills, MI45Farmington Hills, MI: 43 countFarmington Hills, MI43Westland, MI: 43 countWestland, MI43Livonia, MI: 41 countLivonia, MI41Saginaw, MI: 39 countSaginaw, MI39Flat Rock, MI: 31 countFlat Rock, MI31Walker, MI: 31 countWalker, MI31New Baltimore, MI: 29 countNew Baltimore, MI29Fenton, MI: 28 countFenton, MI28Rochester, MI: 27 countRochester, MI27St. Clair Shores, MI: 27 countSt. Clair Shores, MI27Pontiac, MI: 26 countPontiac, MI26Ann Arbor, MI: 24 countAnn Arbor, MI24Berkley, MI: 24 countBerkley, MI24Dearborn, MI: 22 countDearborn, MI22Romulus, MI: 22 countRomulus, MI22Port Huron, MI: 19 countPort Huron, MI19South Lyon, MI: 15 countSouth Lyon, MI15Lansing, MI: 14 countLansing, MI14Holland, MI: 13 countHolland, MI13Kalamazoo, MI: 13 countKalamazoo, MI13Dearborn Heights, MI: 12 countDearborn Heights, MI12Grandville, MI: 12 countGrandville, MI12Wixom, MI: 12 countWixom, MI12
count. Source: Invokely calculation with data from U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

RankCities2014
count		Change on 2013
1Detroit, MI Estimated238+110.6%
2Rochester Hills, MI Estimated217+164.6%
3Grand Rapids, MI Estimated203+31%
3Novi, MI Estimated203+3%
5Midland, MI Estimated199+60.5%
6Troy, MI Estimated167+3.7%
7Kentwood, MI Estimated157+91.5%
8Royal Oak, MI Estimated129-3%
9Sterling Heights, MI Estimated108-23.4%
10Birmingham, MI Estimated105-49.5%
11Portage, MI Estimated95+66.7%
12Warren, MI Estimated69+25.5%
13Mount Pleasant, MI Estimated62+121.4%
14Wyoming, MI Estimated58-38.3%
15Grand Haven, MI Estimated57+533.3%
16Norton Shores, MI Estimated540%
17Auburn Hills, MI Estimated45+28.6%
18Farmington Hills, MI Estimated43-41.1%
18Westland, MI Estimated43+16.2%
20Livonia, MI Estimated41-8.9%
21Saginaw, MI Estimated39+5.4%
22Flat Rock, MI Estimated31+55%
22Walker, MI Estimated31+47.6%
24New Baltimore, MI Estimated29+20.8%
25Fenton, MI Estimated28+1,300%
26Rochester, MI Estimated27+35%
26St. Clair Shores, MI Estimated27+237.5%
28Pontiac, MI Estimated26-72%
29Ann Arbor, MI Estimated24-89.3%
29Berkley, MI Estimated24-7.7%
31Dearborn, MI Estimated22-12%
31Romulus, MI Estimated22-15.4%
33Port Huron, MI Estimated19+375%
34South Lyon, MI Estimated15-61.5%
35Lansing, MI Estimated14-92.3%
36Holland, MI Estimated13+8.3%
36Kalamazoo, MI Estimated13-23.5%
38Dearborn Heights, MI Estimated12+33.3%
38Grandville, MI Estimated12+100%
38Wixom, MI Estimated12+500%
41Madison Heights, MI Estimated11+10%
42Battle Creek, MI Estimated10-9.1%
42Trenton, MI Estimated10n/a
44Southgate, MI Estimated9+12.5%
45Burton, MI Estimated8n/a
46East Lansing, MI Estimated70%
46Taylor, MI Estimated7+133.3%
48Alpena, MI Estimated6+20%
48Ferndale, MI Estimated6+500%
48Flint, MI Estimated6+20%
48Hamtramck, MI Estimated6-79.3%
48Wyandotte, MI Estimated6-68.4%
53Southfield, MI Estimated5+25%
54Fraser, MI Estimated4+33.3%
54Grosse Pointe Woods, MI Estimated4-71.4%
54Melvindale, MI Estimated4n/a
54Monroe, MI Estimated4+300%
54Muskegon, MI Estimated4-20%
59Riverview, MI Estimated3-40%
60Clawson, MI Estimated20%
60Niles, MI Estimated20%
60Roseville, MI Estimated2n/a
63Bay City, MI Estimated10%
63Beverly Hills, MI Estimated1-75%
63Eastpointe, MI Estimated1n/a
63Garden City, MI Estimated1n/a
63Grosse Pointe Park, MI Estimated1n/a
63Harper Woods, MI Estimated1n/a
63Jackson, MI Estimated1n/a
63Oak Park, MI Estimated1n/a
63Sault Ste. Marie, MI Estimated1-66.7%
63Woodhaven, MI Estimated10%
73Adrian, MI Estimated0n/a
73Allen Park, MI Estimated0n/a
73Coldwater, MI Estimated0-100%
73Farmington, MI Estimated0n/a
73Hazel Park, MI Estimated0n/a
73Inkster, MI Estimated0-100%
73Lincoln Park, MI Estimated0-100%
73Mount Clemens, MI Estimated0n/a
73Owosso, MI Estimated0-100%
73Sturgis, MI Estimated0n/a
73Traverse City, MI Estimated0-100%
73Wayne, MI Estimated0n/a
73Ypsilanti, MI 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. 2 cities with data in other periods have no value for 2014 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/mw2014a.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. (2016). 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, 2014) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/Midwest%20Region/mw2014a.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, 2014. U.S. Census Bureau, 30 Sept. 2016, https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/Midwest%20Region/mw2014a.txt. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/michigan-cities?period=2014. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

U.S. Census Bureau. 2016. 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, 2014. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/Midwest%20Region/mw2014a.txt. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/michigan-cities?period=2014.

Harvard

U.S. Census Bureau (2016) 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, 2014 [Dataset]. Available at: https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/Midwest%20Region/mw2014a.txt, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/michigan-cities?period=2014 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{census_cities_in_michigan_by_2014,
  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, 2014}},
  year = {2016},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/Midwest%20Region/mw2014a.txt},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/michigan-cities?period=2014. 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/mw2014a.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, 2014
PY  - 2016
DA  - 2016/09/30
PB  - U.S. Census Bureau
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/Midwest%20Region/mw2014a.txt
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/michigan-cities?period=2014
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/michigan-cities?period=2014.
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/mw2014a.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 238 in 2014, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

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

Ypsilanti, MI, with 0 in 2014.

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 2014 and are not ranked.

Housing units authorized by building permits: other rankings

Cities in Michigan: more rankings