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 84 cities in 2015, at 631. Mount Clemens, MI had the lowest, at 0. The median was 11 and the figure for Michigan was 18,226. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

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Highest631Detroit, MI
Lowest0Mount Clemens, MI
Median1184 cities
Michigan18,226History

Top 40 cities, 2015

Detroit, MI: 631 countDetroit, MI631Lansing, MI: 461 countLansing, MI461Grand Rapids, MI: 455 countGrand Rapids, MI455Novi, MI: 289 countNovi, MI289Sterling Heights, MI: 268 countSterling Heights, MI268Troy, MI: 254 countTroy, MI254Royal Oak, MI: 160 countRoyal Oak, MI160Birmingham, MI: 117 countBirmingham, MI117Portage, MI: 96 countPortage, MI96Kentwood, MI: 93 countKentwood, MI93Rochester Hills, MI: 90 countRochester Hills, MI90Westland, MI: 65 countWestland, MI65Mount Pleasant, MI: 62 countMount Pleasant, MI62Wyoming, MI: 62 countWyoming, MI62Midland, MI: 60 countMidland, MI60Saginaw, MI: 55 countSaginaw, MI55Norton Shores, MI: 51 countNorton Shores, MI51Eastpointe, MI: 49 countEastpointe, MI49Warren, MI: 49 countWarren, MI49Auburn Hills, MI: 42 countAuburn Hills, MI42Roseville, MI: 41 countRoseville, MI41Livonia, MI: 37 countLivonia, MI37Burton, MI: 34 countBurton, MI34Walker, MI: 34 countWalker, MI34Muskegon, MI: 33 countMuskegon, MI33Berkley, MI: 32 countBerkley, MI32Kalamazoo, MI: 32 countKalamazoo, MI32Rochester, MI: 32 countRochester, MI32Taylor, MI: 29 countTaylor, MI29Wixom, MI: 25 countWixom, MI25Farmington Hills, MI: 21 countFarmington Hills, MI21Ann Arbor, MI: 17 countAnn Arbor, MI17Dearborn Heights, MI: 17 countDearborn Heights, MI17Dearborn, MI: 16 countDearborn, MI16St. Clair Shores, MI: 16 countSt. Clair Shores, MI16Flat Rock, MI: 15 countFlat Rock, MI15Romulus, MI: 15 countRomulus, MI15Holland, MI: 14 countHolland, MI14Southgate, MI: 14 countSouthgate, MI14Sturgis, MI: 14 countSturgis, MI14Detroit, MI: 631 countDetroit, MI631Lansing, MI: 461 countLansing, MI461Grand Rapids, MI: 455 countGrand Rapids, MI455Novi, MI: 289 countNovi, MI289Sterling Heights, MI: 268 countSterling Heights, MI268Troy, MI: 254 countTroy, MI254Royal Oak, MI: 160 countRoyal Oak, MI160Birmingham, MI: 117 countBirmingham, MI117Portage, MI: 96 countPortage, MI96Kentwood, MI: 93 countKentwood, MI93Rochester Hills, MI: 90 countRochester Hills, MI90Westland, MI: 65 countWestland, MI65Mount Pleasant, MI: 62 countMount Pleasant, MI62Wyoming, MI: 62 countWyoming, MI62Midland, MI: 60 countMidland, MI60Saginaw, MI: 55 countSaginaw, MI55Norton Shores, MI: 51 countNorton Shores, MI51Eastpointe, MI: 49 countEastpointe, MI49Warren, MI: 49 countWarren, MI49Auburn Hills, MI: 42 countAuburn Hills, MI42Roseville, MI: 41 countRoseville, MI41Livonia, MI: 37 countLivonia, MI37Burton, MI: 34 countBurton, MI34Walker, MI: 34 countWalker, MI34Muskegon, MI: 33 countMuskegon, MI33Berkley, MI: 32 countBerkley, MI32Kalamazoo, MI: 32 countKalamazoo, MI32Rochester, MI: 32 countRochester, MI32Taylor, MI: 29 countTaylor, MI29Wixom, MI: 25 countWixom, MI25Farmington Hills, MI: 21 countFarmington Hills, MI21Ann Arbor, MI: 17 countAnn Arbor, MI17Dearborn Heights, MI: 17 countDearborn Heights, MI17Dearborn, MI: 16 countDearborn, MI16St. Clair Shores, MI: 16 countSt. Clair Shores, MI16Flat Rock, MI: 15 countFlat Rock, MI15Romulus, MI: 15 countRomulus, MI15Holland, MI: 14 countHolland, MI14Southgate, MI: 14 countSouthgate, MI14Sturgis, MI: 14 countSturgis, MI14
count. Source: Invokely calculation with data from U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

RankCities2015
count		Change on 2014
1Detroit, MI Estimated631+165.1%
2Lansing, MI Estimated461+3,192.9%
3Grand Rapids, MI Estimated455+124.1%
4Novi, MI Estimated289+42.4%
5Sterling Heights, MI Estimated268+148.1%
6Troy, MI Estimated254+52.1%
7Royal Oak, MI Estimated160+24%
8Birmingham, MI Estimated117+11.4%
9Portage, MI Estimated96+1.1%
10Kentwood, MI Estimated93-40.8%
11Rochester Hills, MI Estimated90-58.5%
12Westland, MI Estimated65+51.2%
13Mount Pleasant, MI Estimated620%
13Wyoming, MI Estimated62+6.9%
15Midland, MI Estimated60-69.8%
16Saginaw, MI Estimated55+41%
17Norton Shores, MI Estimated51-5.6%
18Eastpointe, MI Estimated49+4,800%
18Warren, MI Estimated49-29%
20Auburn Hills, MI Estimated42-6.7%
21Roseville, MI Estimated41+1,950%
22Livonia, MI Estimated37-9.8%
23Burton, MI Estimated34+325%
23Walker, MI Estimated34+9.7%
25Muskegon, MI Estimated33+725%
26Berkley, MI Estimated32+33.3%
26Kalamazoo, MI Estimated32+146.2%
26Rochester, MI Estimated32+18.5%
29Taylor, MI Estimated29+314.3%
30Wixom, MI Estimated25+108.3%
31Farmington Hills, MI Estimated21-51.2%
32Ann Arbor, MI Estimated17-29.2%
32Dearborn Heights, MI Estimated17+41.7%
34Dearborn, MI Estimated16-27.3%
34St. Clair Shores, MI Estimated16-40.7%
36Flat Rock, MI Estimated15-51.6%
36Romulus, MI Estimated15-31.8%
38Holland, MI Estimated14+7.7%
38Southgate, MI Estimated14+55.6%
38Sturgis, MI Estimated14n/a
41Farmington, MI Estimated13n/a
42Battle Creek, MI Estimated11+10%
42New Baltimore, MI Estimated11-62.1%
42South Lyon, MI Estimated11-26.7%
45Fraser, MI Estimated9+125%
45Southfield, MI Estimated9+80%
47Ferndale, MI Estimated8+33.3%
47Madison Heights, MI Estimated8-27.3%
47Pontiac, MI Estimated8-69.2%
50East Lansing, MI Estimated70%
50Grandville, MI Estimated7-41.7%
50Ypsilanti, MI Estimated7n/a
53Port Huron, MI Estimated6-68.4%
54Monroe, MI Estimated5+25%
55Fenton, MI Estimated4-85.7%
55Trenton, MI Estimated4-60%
57Coldwater, MI Estimated3n/a
57Grand Haven, MI Estimated3-94.7%
57Riverview, MI Estimated30%
57Woodhaven, MI Estimated3+200%
57Wyandotte, MI Estimated3-50%
62Niles, MI Estimated20%
62Owosso, MI Estimated2n/a
64Bay City, MI Estimated10%
64Garden City, MI Estimated10%
64Grosse Pointe Park, MI Estimated10%
64Grosse Pointe Woods, MI Estimated1-75%
64Oak Park, MI Estimated10%
64Sault Ste. Marie, MI Estimated10%
64Wayne, MI Estimated1n/a
71Adrian, MI Estimated0n/a
71Allen Park, MI Estimated0n/a
71Alpena, MI Estimated0-100%
71Beverly Hills, MI Estimated0-100%
71Clawson, MI Estimated0-100%
71Flint, MI Estimated0-100%
71Hamtramck, MI Estimated0-100%
71Harper Woods, MI Estimated0-100%
71Hazel Park, MI Estimated0n/a
71Inkster, MI Estimated0n/a
71Jackson, MI Estimated0-100%
71Lincoln Park, MI Estimated0n/a
71Melvindale, MI Estimated0-100%
71Mount Clemens, 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. 3 cities with data in other periods have no value for 2015 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/mw2015a.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, 2015) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/Midwest%20Region/mw2015a.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, 2015. U.S. Census Bureau, 30 Sept. 2016, https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/Midwest%20Region/mw2015a.txt. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/michigan-cities?period=2015. 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, 2015. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/Midwest%20Region/mw2015a.txt. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/michigan-cities?period=2015.

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, 2015 [Dataset]. Available at: https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/Midwest%20Region/mw2015a.txt, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/michigan-cities?period=2015 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{census_cities_in_michigan_by_2015,
  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, 2015}},
  year = {2016},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/Midwest%20Region/mw2015a.txt},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/michigan-cities?period=2015. 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/mw2015a.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, 2015
PY  - 2016
DA  - 2016/09/30
PB  - U.S. Census Bureau
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/Midwest%20Region/mw2015a.txt
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/michigan-cities?period=2015
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/michigan-cities?period=2015.
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/mw2015a.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 631 in 2015, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

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

Mount Clemens, MI, with 0 in 2015.

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. 3 cities have no value for 2015 and are not ranked.

Housing units authorized by building permits: other rankings

Cities in Michigan: more rankings