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 2017, at 1,029. Ypsilanti, MI had the lowest, at 0. The median was 16 and the figure for Michigan was 23,623. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

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Highest1,029Detroit, MI
Lowest0Ypsilanti, MI
Median1684 cities
Michigan23,623History

Top 40 cities, 2017

Detroit, MI: 1,029 countDetroit, MI1,029Grand Rapids, MI: 878 countGrand Rapids, MI878Novi, MI: 516 countNovi, MI516Auburn Hills, MI: 404 countAuburn Hills, MI404Sterling Heights, MI: 310 countSterling Heights, MI310Kalamazoo, MI: 285 countKalamazoo, MI285Portage, MI: 215 countPortage, MI215Lansing, MI: 210 countLansing, MI210Rochester Hills, MI: 198 countRochester Hills, MI198Troy, MI: 191 countTroy, MI191Royal Oak, MI: 150 countRoyal Oak, MI150Rochester, MI: 149 countRochester, MI149Ann Arbor, MI: 112 countAnn Arbor, MI112Grand Haven, MI: 110 countGrand Haven, MI110Birmingham, MI: 99 countBirmingham, MI99Kentwood, MI: 98 countKentwood, MI98Wixom, MI: 91 countWixom, MI91Southfield, MI: 79 countSouthfield, MI79Livonia, MI: 75 countLivonia, MI75Westland, MI: 75 countWestland, MI75Midland, MI: 72 countMidland, MI72Dearborn, MI: 64 countDearborn, MI64Romulus, MI: 54 countRomulus, MI54Berkley, MI: 53 countBerkley, MI53Burton, MI: 53 countBurton, MI53Saginaw, MI: 48 countSaginaw, MI48Wyoming, MI: 46 countWyoming, MI46Fenton, MI: 44 countFenton, MI44Walker, MI: 44 countWalker, MI44Southgate, MI: 42 countSouthgate, MI42Norton Shores, MI: 38 countNorton Shores, MI38Roseville, MI: 36 countRoseville, MI36South Lyon, MI: 35 countSouth Lyon, MI35Warren, MI: 35 countWarren, MI35Mount Pleasant, MI: 29 countMount Pleasant, MI29New Baltimore, MI: 26 countNew Baltimore, MI26Beverly Hills, MI: 22 countBeverly Hills, MI22Flat Rock, MI: 22 countFlat Rock, MI22St. Clair Shores, MI: 21 countSt. Clair Shores, MI21Wyandotte, MI: 20 countWyandotte, MI20Detroit, MI: 1,029 countDetroit, MI1,029Grand Rapids, MI: 878 countGrand Rapids, MI878Novi, MI: 516 countNovi, MI516Auburn Hills, MI: 404 countAuburn Hills, MI404Sterling Heights, MI: 310 countSterling Heights, MI310Kalamazoo, MI: 285 countKalamazoo, MI285Portage, MI: 215 countPortage, MI215Lansing, MI: 210 countLansing, MI210Rochester Hills, MI: 198 countRochester Hills, MI198Troy, MI: 191 countTroy, MI191Royal Oak, MI: 150 countRoyal Oak, MI150Rochester, MI: 149 countRochester, MI149Ann Arbor, MI: 112 countAnn Arbor, MI112Grand Haven, MI: 110 countGrand Haven, MI110Birmingham, MI: 99 countBirmingham, MI99Kentwood, MI: 98 countKentwood, MI98Wixom, MI: 91 countWixom, MI91Southfield, MI: 79 countSouthfield, MI79Livonia, MI: 75 countLivonia, MI75Westland, MI: 75 countWestland, MI75Midland, MI: 72 countMidland, MI72Dearborn, MI: 64 countDearborn, MI64Romulus, MI: 54 countRomulus, MI54Berkley, MI: 53 countBerkley, MI53Burton, MI: 53 countBurton, MI53Saginaw, MI: 48 countSaginaw, MI48Wyoming, MI: 46 countWyoming, MI46Fenton, MI: 44 countFenton, MI44Walker, MI: 44 countWalker, MI44Southgate, MI: 42 countSouthgate, MI42Norton Shores, MI: 38 countNorton Shores, MI38Roseville, MI: 36 countRoseville, MI36South Lyon, MI: 35 countSouth Lyon, MI35Warren, MI: 35 countWarren, MI35Mount Pleasant, MI: 29 countMount Pleasant, MI29New Baltimore, MI: 26 countNew Baltimore, MI26Beverly Hills, MI: 22 countBeverly Hills, MI22Flat Rock, MI: 22 countFlat Rock, MI22St. Clair Shores, MI: 21 countSt. Clair Shores, MI21Wyandotte, MI: 20 countWyandotte, MI20
count. Source: Invokely calculation with data from U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

RankCities2017
count		Change on 2016
1Detroit, MI Estimated1,029+151.6%
2Grand Rapids, MI Estimated878-37.2%
3Novi, MI Estimated516+180.4%
4Auburn Hills, MI Estimated404+63.6%
5Sterling Heights, MI Estimated310+98.7%
6Kalamazoo, MI Estimated285+996.2%
7Portage, MI Estimated215+25.7%
8Lansing, MI Estimated210-58.6%
9Rochester Hills, MI Estimated198-40.7%
10Troy, MI Estimated191+67.5%
11Royal Oak, MI Estimated150+11.9%
12Rochester, MI Estimated149+1,141.7%
13Ann Arbor, MI Estimated112+348%
14Grand Haven, MI Estimated110+816.7%
15Birmingham, MI Estimated99+15.1%
16Kentwood, MI Estimated98+53.1%
17Wixom, MI Estimated91+152.8%
18Southfield, MI Estimated79+27.4%
19Livonia, MI Estimated75+108.3%
19Westland, MI Estimated75+29.3%
21Midland, MI Estimated72-51.4%
22Dearborn, MI Estimated64+77.8%
23Romulus, MI Estimated54+38.5%
24Berkley, MI Estimated53+15.2%
24Burton, MI Estimated53-14.5%
26Saginaw, MI Estimated48-4%
27Wyoming, MI Estimated46-79.7%
28Fenton, MI Estimated44+131.6%
28Walker, MI Estimated44+41.9%
30Southgate, MI Estimated42+950%
31Norton Shores, MI Estimated38-30.9%
32Roseville, MI Estimated36+1,100%
33South Lyon, MI Estimated35+59.1%
33Warren, MI Estimated35-51.4%
35Mount Pleasant, MI Estimated29+11.5%
36New Baltimore, MI Estimated26+62.5%
37Beverly Hills, MI Estimated22+1,000%
37Flat Rock, MI Estimated22-12%
39St. Clair Shores, MI Estimated21-30%
40Wyandotte, MI Estimated20+42.9%
41Farmington Hills, MI Estimated17-10.5%
42Ferndale, MI Estimated16+45.5%
43Holland, MI Estimated15+7.1%
44Muskegon, MI Estimated13-31.6%
45Coldwater, MI Estimated12+300%
45Pontiac, MI Estimated12-60%
47Dearborn Heights, MI Estimated11+37.5%
47Taylor, MI Estimated11-54.2%
49Battle Creek, MI Estimated10+11.1%
50Fraser, MI Estimated9-25%
51Bay City, MI Estimated8n/a
52East Lansing, MI Estimated70%
53Grandville, MI Estimated60%
53Port Huron, MI Estimated6+100%
53Woodhaven, MI Estimated6+200%
56Oak Park, MI Estimated5+25%
56Trenton, MI Estimated5+400%
58Alpena, MI Estimated3-70%
58Madison Heights, MI Estimated3-40%
58Niles, MI Estimated3+50%
58Riverview, MI Estimated30%
62Monroe, MI Estimated2-33.3%
62Mount Clemens, MI Estimated2n/a
62Owosso, MI Estimated2n/a
65Grosse Pointe Park, MI Estimated10%
65Jackson, MI Estimated10%
65Sault Ste. Marie, MI Estimated1-50%
68Adrian, MI Estimated0n/a
68Allen Park, MI Estimated0n/a
68Clawson, MI Estimated0n/a
68Eastpointe, MI Estimated0n/a
68Farmington, MI Estimated0-100%
68Flint, MI Estimated0n/a
68Garden City, MI Estimated0-100%
68Grosse Pointe Woods, MI Estimated0-100%
68Hamtramck, MI Estimated0n/a
68Harper Woods, MI Estimated0n/a
68Hazel Park, MI Estimated0n/a
68Inkster, MI Estimated0n/a
68Lincoln Park, MI Estimated0-100%
68Melvindale, MI Estimated0n/a
68Sturgis, MI Estimated0-100%
68Wayne, MI Estimated0n/a
68Ypsilanti, 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 2017 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/mw2017a.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. (2018). 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, 2017) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/Midwest%20Region/mw2017a.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, 2017. U.S. Census Bureau, 1 May 2018, https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/Midwest%20Region/mw2017a.txt. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/michigan-cities?period=2017. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

U.S. Census Bureau. 2018. 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, 2017. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/Midwest%20Region/mw2017a.txt. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/michigan-cities?period=2017.

Harvard

U.S. Census Bureau (2018) 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, 2017 [Dataset]. Available at: https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/Midwest%20Region/mw2017a.txt, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/michigan-cities?period=2017 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{census_cities_in_michigan_by_2017,
  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, 2017}},
  year = {2018},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/Midwest%20Region/mw2017a.txt},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/michigan-cities?period=2017. 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/mw2017a.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, 2017
PY  - 2018
DA  - 2018/05/01
PB  - U.S. Census Bureau
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/Midwest%20Region/mw2017a.txt
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/michigan-cities?period=2017
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/michigan-cities?period=2017.
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/mw2017a.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 1,029 in 2017, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

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

Ypsilanti, MI, with 0 in 2017.

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 2017 and are not ranked.

Housing units authorized by building permits: other rankings

Cities in Michigan: more rankings