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 2021, at 1,023. Ypsilanti, MI had the lowest, at 0. The median was 13 and the figure for Michigan was 21,732. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

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Highest1,023Detroit, MI
Lowest0Ypsilanti, MI
Median1385 cities
Michigan21,732History

Top 40 cities, 2021

Detroit, MI: 1,023 countDetroit, MI1,023Lansing, MI: 362 countLansing, MI362Auburn Hills, MI: 314 countAuburn Hills, MI314Grand Rapids, MI: 286 countGrand Rapids, MI286Ann Arbor, MI: 227 countAnn Arbor, MI227Rochester Hills, MI: 191 countRochester Hills, MI191Wyoming, MI: 185 countWyoming, MI185Royal Oak, MI: 169 countRoyal Oak, MI169Sterling Heights, MI: 144 countSterling Heights, MI144Madison Heights, MI: 141 countMadison Heights, MI141Portage, MI: 127 countPortage, MI127Troy, MI: 125 countTroy, MI125Novi, MI: 114 countNovi, MI114Kentwood, MI: 110 countKentwood, MI110Burton, MI: 81 countBurton, MI81Midland, MI: 79 countMidland, MI79Westland, MI: 74 countWestland, MI74Taylor, MI: 69 countTaylor, MI69Wixom, MI: 60 countWixom, MI60Birmingham, MI: 59 countBirmingham, MI59Romulus, MI: 55 countRomulus, MI55South Lyon, MI: 52 countSouth Lyon, MI52Southfield, MI: 43 countSouthfield, MI43Muskegon, MI: 34 countMuskegon, MI34Grand Haven, MI: 32 countGrand Haven, MI32Mount Clemens, MI: 31 countMount Clemens, MI31New Baltimore, MI: 31 countNew Baltimore, MI31Livonia, MI: 30 countLivonia, MI30Walker, MI: 30 countWalker, MI30Hazel Park, MI: 29 countHazel Park, MI29East Lansing, MI: 26 countEast Lansing, MI26Dearborn, MI: 23 countDearborn, MI23Norton Shores, MI: 23 countNorton Shores, MI23Melvindale, MI: 19 countMelvindale, MI19Fenton, MI: 18 countFenton, MI18Trenton, MI: 18 countTrenton, MI18Wyandotte, MI: 18 countWyandotte, MI18Kalamazoo, MI: 17 countKalamazoo, MI17Woodhaven, MI: 17 countWoodhaven, MI17Dearborn Heights, MI: 14 countDearborn Heights, MI14Detroit, MI: 1,023 countDetroit, MI1,023Lansing, MI: 362 countLansing, MI362Auburn Hills, MI: 314 countAuburn Hills, MI314Grand Rapids, MI: 286 countGrand Rapids, MI286Ann Arbor, MI: 227 countAnn Arbor, MI227Rochester Hills, MI: 191 countRochester Hills, MI191Wyoming, MI: 185 countWyoming, MI185Royal Oak, MI: 169 countRoyal Oak, MI169Sterling Heights, MI: 144 countSterling Heights, MI144Madison Heights, MI: 141 countMadison Heights, MI141Portage, MI: 127 countPortage, MI127Troy, MI: 125 countTroy, MI125Novi, MI: 114 countNovi, MI114Kentwood, MI: 110 countKentwood, MI110Burton, MI: 81 countBurton, MI81Midland, MI: 79 countMidland, MI79Westland, MI: 74 countWestland, MI74Taylor, MI: 69 countTaylor, MI69Wixom, MI: 60 countWixom, MI60Birmingham, MI: 59 countBirmingham, MI59Romulus, MI: 55 countRomulus, MI55South Lyon, MI: 52 countSouth Lyon, MI52Southfield, MI: 43 countSouthfield, MI43Muskegon, MI: 34 countMuskegon, MI34Grand Haven, MI: 32 countGrand Haven, MI32Mount Clemens, MI: 31 countMount Clemens, MI31New Baltimore, MI: 31 countNew Baltimore, MI31Livonia, MI: 30 countLivonia, MI30Walker, MI: 30 countWalker, MI30Hazel Park, MI: 29 countHazel Park, MI29East Lansing, MI: 26 countEast Lansing, MI26Dearborn, MI: 23 countDearborn, MI23Norton Shores, MI: 23 countNorton Shores, MI23Melvindale, MI: 19 countMelvindale, MI19Fenton, MI: 18 countFenton, MI18Trenton, MI: 18 countTrenton, MI18Wyandotte, MI: 18 countWyandotte, MI18Kalamazoo, MI: 17 countKalamazoo, MI17Woodhaven, MI: 17 countWoodhaven, MI17Dearborn Heights, MI: 14 countDearborn Heights, MI14
count. Source: Invokely calculation with data from U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

RankCities2021
count		Change on 2020
1Detroit, MI Estimated1,023+20.4%
2Lansing, MI Estimated362+14.9%
3Auburn Hills, MI Estimated314+18.5%
4Grand Rapids, MI Estimated286-6.2%
5Ann Arbor, MI Estimated227-10.6%
6Rochester Hills, MI Estimated191+31.7%
7Wyoming, MI Estimated185-5.1%
8Royal Oak, MI Estimated169+10.5%
9Sterling Heights, MI Estimated144+32.1%
10Madison Heights, MI Estimated141+840%
11Portage, MI Estimated127-5.9%
12Troy, MI Estimated125+10.6%
13Novi, MI Estimated114-64.5%
14Kentwood, MI Estimated110+50.7%
15Burton, MI Estimated81+189.3%
16Midland, MI Estimated79+51.9%
17Westland, MI Estimated74+8.8%
18Taylor, MI Estimated69n/a
19Wixom, MI Estimated60+1.7%
20Birmingham, MI Estimated59+1.7%
21Romulus, MI Estimated55-40.2%
22South Lyon, MI Estimated52-11.9%
23Southfield, MI Estimated43+115%
24Muskegon, MI Estimated34-20.9%
25Grand Haven, MI Estimated32+10.3%
26Mount Clemens, MI Estimated31n/a
26New Baltimore, MI Estimated31+34.8%
28Livonia, MI Estimated30-46.4%
28Walker, MI Estimated30-3.2%
30Hazel Park, MI Estimated29+3.6%
31East Lansing, MI Estimated26+333.3%
32Dearborn, MI Estimated23+155.6%
32Norton Shores, MI Estimated23+109.1%
34Melvindale, MI Estimated19+1,800%
35Fenton, MI Estimated180%
35Trenton, MI Estimated18+157.1%
35Wyandotte, MI Estimated18+125%
38Kalamazoo, MI Estimated17-26.1%
38Woodhaven, MI Estimated17-10.5%
40Dearborn Heights, MI Estimated14+40%
40Eastpointe, MI Estimated14-73.1%
42Farmington Hills, MI Estimated13-35%
42St. Clair Shores, MI Estimated13+116.7%
44Berkley, MI Estimated12-29.4%
45Battle Creek, MI Estimated11+10%
45Cadillac, MI Estimated11n/a
45Holland, MI Estimated11+10%
45Rochester, MI Estimated11+37.5%
45Southgate, MI Estimated11-88.5%
50Beverly Hills, MI Estimated10+25%
50Flat Rock, MI Estimated10+42.9%
52Riverview, MI Estimated8+14.3%
52Sturgis, MI Estimated8+33.3%
52Warren, MI Estimated8-92.7%
52Wayne, MI Estimated8n/a
56Fraser, MI Estimated7-12.5%
56Mount Pleasant, MI Estimated7-87.5%
58Ferndale, MI Estimated6-75%
58Saginaw, MI Estimated6-14.3%
60Grandville, MI Estimated5+400%
60Pontiac, MI Estimated5-16.7%
62Garden City, MI Estimated4+100%
62Port Huron, MI Estimated4+100%
64Clawson, MI Estimated3n/a
64Farmington, MI Estimated3n/a
64Sault Ste. Marie, MI Estimated3n/a
67Alpena, MI Estimated2-75%
67Coldwater, MI Estimated2-60%
67Jackson, MI Estimated2+100%
67Owosso, MI Estimated2-75%
71Adrian, MI Estimated1-85.7%
71Harper Woods, MI Estimated1n/a
71Niles, MI Estimated1-50%
71Roseville, MI Estimated1-50%
75Allen Park, MI Estimated0n/a
75Bay City, MI Estimated0-100%
75Flint, MI Estimated0n/a
75Grosse Pointe Park, MI Estimated0-100%
75Grosse Pointe Woods, MI Estimated0n/a
75Hamtramck, MI Estimated0-100%
75Inkster, MI Estimated0n/a
75Lincoln Park, MI Estimated0n/a
75Monroe, MI Estimated0-100%
75Oak Park, MI Estimated0-100%
75Ypsilanti, 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 2021 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/mw2021a.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. (2022). 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, 2021) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/Midwest%20Region/mw2021a.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, 2021. U.S. Census Bureau, 27 Apr. 2022, https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/Midwest%20Region/mw2021a.txt. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/michigan-cities?period=2021. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

U.S. Census Bureau. 2022. 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, 2021. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/Midwest%20Region/mw2021a.txt. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/michigan-cities?period=2021.

Harvard

U.S. Census Bureau (2022) 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, 2021 [Dataset]. Available at: https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/Midwest%20Region/mw2021a.txt, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/michigan-cities?period=2021 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{census_cities_in_michigan_by_2021,
  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, 2021}},
  year = {2022},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/Midwest%20Region/mw2021a.txt},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/michigan-cities?period=2021. 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/mw2021a.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, 2021
PY  - 2022
DA  - 2022/04/27
PB  - U.S. Census Bureau
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/Midwest%20Region/mw2021a.txt
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/michigan-cities?period=2021
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/michigan-cities?period=2021.
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/mw2021a.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 1,023 in 2021, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

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

Ypsilanti, MI, with 0 in 2021.

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 2021 and are not ranked.

Housing units authorized by building permits: other rankings

Cities in Michigan: more rankings