Cities in Minnesota by housing units authorized by building permits

Minneapolis, MN had the highest housing units authorized by building permits of 103 cities in 2017, at 2,254. Fridley, MN had the lowest, at 0. The median was 55 and the figure for Minnesota was 21,953. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

Highest2,254Minneapolis, MN

Lowest0Fridley, MN

Median55103 cities

Minnesota21,953History

Top 40 cities, 2017

count. Source: Invokely calculation with data from U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

Rank	Cities	2017 count	Change on 2016
1	Minneapolis, MN Estimated	2,254	-22.5%
2	Rochester, MN Estimated	1,054	-24.5%
3	Lakeville, MN Estimated	845	+50.1%
4	Apple Valley, MN Estimated	784	+387%
5	Woodbury, MN Estimated	648	+64.9%
6	Plymouth, MN Estimated	559	+84.5%
7	Minnetonka, MN Estimated	494	+147%
8	Maple Grove, MN Estimated	371	-7%
9	Edina, MN Estimated	349	+120.9%
10	Mankato, MN Estimated	338	+52.9%
11	Blaine, MN Estimated	327	-16.2%
12	St. Paul, MN Estimated	309	-66.8%
13	Shakopee, MN Estimated	288	+476%
14	Prior Lake, MN Estimated	253	+50.6%
14	Sartell, MN Estimated	253	+21.6%
16	Otsego, MN Estimated	212	-3.6%
17	Savage, MN Estimated	204	+23.6%
18	Duluth, MN Estimated	199	+95.1%
19	Victoria, MN Estimated	191	+38.4%
20	Dayton, MN Estimated	189	+54.9%
21	Cottage Grove, MN Estimated	177	-37.2%
22	Moorhead, MN Estimated	163	-66.5%
23	Forest Lake, MN Estimated	159	+44.5%
24	Columbia Heights, MN Estimated	154	-24.5%
25	Golden Valley, MN Estimated	152	+794.1%
26	Ramsey, MN Estimated	151	+75.6%
27	Shoreview, MN Estimated	150	+900%
28	Champlin, MN Estimated	149	-36.3%
29	Lino Lakes, MN Estimated	133	+33%
29	Rosemount, MN Estimated	133	-3.6%
31	Brooklyn Park, MN Estimated	116	-16.5%
32	Elk River, MN Estimated	112	+49.3%
32	St. Cloud, MN Estimated	112	-61.8%
32	St. Louis Park, MN Estimated	112	+1,766.7%
35	Inver Grove Heights, MN Estimated	110	+15.8%
36	St. Michael, MN Estimated	106	-13.8%
37	Owatonna, MN Estimated	105	+183.8%
38	Chaska, MN Estimated	103	-44.3%
39	Andover, MN Estimated	94	-8.7%
40	Alexandria, MN Estimated	92	+15%
41	Eagan, MN Estimated	91	+3.4%
42	Hutchinson, MN Estimated	85	+183.3%
43	Hugo, MN Estimated	79	-20.2%
44	Cambridge, MN Estimated	75	+53.1%
45	Rogers, MN Estimated	72	+44%
46	Chanhassen, MN Estimated	67	+39.6%
47	Waconia, MN Estimated	66	-38.3%
48	New Ulm, MN Estimated	64	+236.8%
49	Ham Lake, MN Estimated	61	-9%
50	Eden Prairie, MN Estimated	60	+20%
51	North Mankato, MN Estimated	56	+166.7%
52	Detroit Lakes, MN Estimated	55	+37.5%
53	Big Lake, MN Estimated	53	-43.6%
54	Monticello, MN Estimated	52	-13.3%
55	Willmar, MN Estimated	50	+35.1%
56	Lake Elmo, MN Estimated	47	+6.8%
57	Farmington, MN Estimated	44	-67.6%
58	Buffalo, MN Estimated	42	+2.4%
58	North Branch, MN Estimated	42	-14.3%
58	Worthington, MN Estimated	42	-25%
61	Anoka, MN Estimated	40	+33.3%
61	Bemidji, MN Estimated	40	-85.5%
61	Coon Rapids, MN Estimated	40	+90.5%
61	Stillwater, MN Estimated	40	+25%
65	Roseville, MN Estimated	39	-81.4%
66	East Bethel, MN Estimated	37	0%
67	Northfield, MN Estimated	35	+9.4%
68	Hermantown, MN Estimated	34	-26.1%
69	Brainerd, MN Estimated	33	+120%
69	Faribault, MN Estimated	33	+13.8%
71	Hastings, MN Estimated	30	+36.4%
72	New Brighton, MN Estimated	29	-34.1%
72	New Hope, MN Estimated	29	-14.7%
72	Sauk Rapids, MN Estimated	29	-81.6%
75	Mounds View, MN Estimated	25	+525%
76	Marshall, MN Estimated	24	+41.2%
76	Mendota Heights, MN Estimated	24	-14.3%
78	Red Wing, MN Estimated	23	-69.3%
79	St. Peter, MN Estimated	22	-68.6%
79	Winona, MN Estimated	22	+69.2%
81	Crystal, MN Estimated	19	+26.7%
82	Burnsville, MN Estimated	18	-30.8%
83	Cloquet, MN Estimated	15	+400%
84	Austin, MN Estimated	14	+27.3%
85	Albert Lea, MN Estimated	13	+44.4%
86	Hibbing, MN Estimated	11	+10%
86	White Bear Lake, MN Estimated	11	+22.2%
88	Grand Rapids, MN Estimated	10	-88.6%
88	West St. Paul, MN Estimated	10	-16.7%
90	Fairmont, MN Estimated	9	+350%
90	Little Canada, MN Estimated	9	+12.5%
92	Fergus Falls, MN Estimated	8	-89.5%
93	Bloomington, MN Estimated	5	-64.3%
93	North St. Paul, MN Estimated	5	-50%
93	Oakdale, MN Estimated	5	-16.7%
93	South St. Paul, MN Estimated	5	+25%
97	Maplewood, MN Estimated	4	-97.6%
97	Robbinsdale, MN Estimated	4	+300%
99	Brooklyn Center, MN Estimated	3	+200%
99	Hopkins, MN Estimated	3	-98.8%
101	Richfield, MN Estimated	1	-83.3%
101	Vadnais Heights, MN Estimated	1	-98%
103	Fridley, MN Estimated	0	-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. 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 Minnesota 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 Minnesota 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/minnesota-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 Minnesota 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/minnesota-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 Minnesota 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/minnesota-cities?period=2017 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX

@misc{census_cities_in_minnesota_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 Minnesota 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/minnesota-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 Minnesota 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/minnesota-cities?period=2017
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/minnesota-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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Rank Cities in Minnesota by housing units authorized by building permits using official data, and cite the source.

rank_places {"indicator":"building_permit_units","level":"municipality","within":"Minnesota","limit":10}
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Questions

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

Minneapolis, MN, with 2,254 in 2017, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

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

Fridley, MN, 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.