Counties in Michigan by housing units authorized by building permits, 2025
Wayne County had the highest housing units authorized by building permits of 83 counties in 2025, at 3,922. Osceola County had the lowest, at 0. The median was 100. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.
Top 40 counties, 2025
Full ranking
| Rank | Counties | 2025 | Change on 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wayne County Estimated | 3,922 | +49.2% |
| 2 | Kent County Estimated | 2,398 | +14.7% |
| 3 | Oakland County Estimated | 2,023 | -29.9% |
| 4 | Macomb County Estimated | 1,931 | +46.6% |
| 5 | Ottawa County Estimated | 1,411 | +14.3% |
| 6 | Washtenaw County Estimated | 1,088 | -8.8% |
| 7 | Ingham County Estimated | 558 | +48% |
| 8 | Livingston County Estimated | 531 | +8.8% |
| 9 | Kalamazoo County Estimated | 487 | +61.8% |
| 10 | Grand Traverse County Estimated | 475 | -46.2% |
| 11 | Muskegon County Estimated | 451 | +6.6% |
| 12 | Genesee County Estimated | 444 | +5.7% |
| 13 | Allegan County Estimated | 399 | -5.7% |
| 14 | Berrien County Estimated | 372 | +5.1% |
| 15 | Jackson County Estimated | 303 | -9.3% |
| 16 | St. Joseph County Estimated | 240 | +33.3% |
| 17 | St. Clair County Estimated | 219 | -6.8% |
| 18 | Saginaw County Estimated | 210 | +48.9% |
| 18 | Van Buren County Estimated | 210 | -0.9% |
| 20 | Montcalm County Estimated | 201 | -25.8% |
| 21 | Clinton County Estimated | 197 | +27.9% |
| 22 | Monroe County Estimated | 191 | -19.4% |
| 22 | Wexford County Estimated | 191 | +75.2% |
| 24 | Lenawee County Estimated | 184 | +9.5% |
| 25 | Lapeer County Estimated | 179 | +20.1% |
| 26 | Houghton County Estimated | 170 | +53.2% |
| 27 | Iron County Estimated | 161 | +3.2% |
| 28 | Leelanau County Estimated | 159 | -20.9% |
| 29 | Barry County Estimated | 157 | -8.2% |
| 30 | Cass County Estimated | 140 | 0% |
| 31 | Benzie County Estimated | 136 | +23.6% |
| 31 | Oceana County Estimated | 136 | -7.5% |
| 33 | Emmet County Estimated | 135 | -16.1% |
| 34 | Manistee County Estimated | 132 | -46.8% |
| 35 | Midland County Estimated | 128 | -59.2% |
| 36 | Calhoun County Estimated | 120 | +31.9% |
| 37 | Charlevoix County Estimated | 111 | -1.8% |
| 37 | Newaygo County Estimated | 111 | -27% |
| 39 | Eaton County Estimated | 106 | -10.2% |
| 39 | Marquette County Estimated | 106 | +16.5% |
| 41 | Antrim County Estimated | 105 | +4% |
| 42 | Ionia County Estimated | 100 | +6.4% |
| 43 | Hillsdale County Estimated | 99 | +37.5% |
| 43 | Mecosta County Estimated | 99 | -14.7% |
| 45 | Gladwin County Estimated | 93 | +3.3% |
| 46 | Isabella County Estimated | 90 | +20% |
| 47 | Chippewa County Estimated | 86 | +56.4% |
| 48 | Roscommon County Estimated | 75 | +33.9% |
| 49 | Cheboygan County Estimated | 74 | -5.1% |
| 49 | Sanilac County Estimated | 74 | +17.5% |
| 51 | Alpena County Estimated | 72 | +94.6% |
| 52 | Shiawassee County Estimated | 71 | +6% |
| 53 | Huron County Estimated | 69 | +7.8% |
| 54 | Bay County Estimated | 67 | +91.4% |
| 55 | Mason County Estimated | 66 | -62.7% |
| 56 | Ogemaw County Estimated | 62 | +10.7% |
| 57 | Tuscola County Estimated | 61 | +10.9% |
| 58 | Delta County Estimated | 58 | +52.6% |
| 59 | Presque Isle County Estimated | 50 | +8.7% |
| 60 | Alcona County Estimated | 48 | +26.3% |
| 60 | Gratiot County Estimated | 48 | +29.7% |
| 62 | Iosco County Estimated | 47 | -19% |
| 63 | Dickinson County Estimated | 46 | +9.5% |
| 64 | Mackinac County Estimated | 45 | +7.1% |
| 65 | Branch County Estimated | 44 | +2.3% |
| 66 | Arenac County Estimated | 43 | +53.6% |
| 67 | Kalkaska County Estimated | 38 | 0% |
| 68 | Missaukee County Estimated | 35 | 0% |
| 69 | Alger County Estimated | 32 | -3% |
| 70 | Lake County Estimated | 30 | 0% |
| 71 | Menominee County Estimated | 28 | +7.7% |
| 72 | Crawford County Estimated | 27 | -64% |
| 73 | Otsego County Estimated | 25 | +4.2% |
| 74 | Oscoda County Estimated | 24 | -17.2% |
| 75 | Clare County Estimated | 23 | -23.3% |
| 75 | Gogebic County Estimated | 23 | -23.3% |
| 77 | Baraga County Estimated | 12 | -7.7% |
| 77 | Schoolcraft County Estimated | 12 | -14.3% |
| 79 | Ontonagon County Estimated | 10 | -37.5% |
| 80 | Keweenaw County Estimated | 6 | -76% |
| 81 | Luce County Estimated | 0 | -100% |
| 81 | Montmorency County Estimated | 0 | |
| 81 | Osceola County Estimated | 0 | -100% |
Other periods
About this ranking
Annual number of new privately owned housing units authorized by building permits, from the US Census Bureau Building Permits Survey.
Final annual county estimates include imputation for missing reports. Counts housing units, not buildings, starts, completions or sales. Covers permit-issuing areas; areas where permits are not required are outside the survey. Not seasonally adjusted or expressed as an annualized monthly rate. The total is the sum of units in the four published structure categories; inputs are retained.
Every value in the ranking comes from the same publisher and the same period, so the counties are compared on one definition. Equal values share a rank.
How to cite
U.S. Census Bureau. Building Permits Survey: final annual county estimates of new privately owned housing units authorized, including imputation. https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/County/co2025a.txt. Retrieved 2026-10-10.Use this data in your AI agent
Invokely serves this figure to AI assistants through MCP and to code through a REST API, with the source and citation attached. Ask your assistant:
Rank Counties in Michigan by housing units authorized by building permits using official data, and cite the source.
rank_places {"indicator":"building_permit_units","level":"province","within":"Michigan","limit":10}
GET https://invokely.ai/api/v1/rank?indicator=building_permit_units&level=province&within=Michigan&limit=10Questions
Which county has the highest housing units authorized by building permits?
Wayne County, with 3,922 in 2025, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
Which county has the lowest housing units authorized by building permits?
Osceola County, 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 county estimates of new privately owned housing units authorized, including imputation. Retrieved 2026-10-10.
Housing units authorized by building permits: other rankings
- US counties
- Counties in Texas
- Counties in Georgia
- Counties in Virginia
- Counties in Missouri
- Counties in Kansas
- Counties in North Carolina
- Counties in Iowa
- Counties in Illinois
- Counties in Kentucky
- Counties in Tennessee
- Counties in Indiana
Counties in Michigan: more rankings
- Asian population share
- Bachelor's degree or higher, population 25 and over
- Live births, July to June
- Black or African American population share
- Crude birth rate, July to June
- Crude death rate, July to June
- Deaths, July to June
- Foreign-born population share
- Real GDP growth
- GDP per capita, US dollars
- Gross domestic product (GDP), US dollars
- Gini index
- Hispanic or Latino population share
- Homeownership rate (US, housing units)
- County house price annual change, sales and refinances
- County house price index, 1990 = 100