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 2020, at 3,340. Vadnais Heights, MN had the lowest, at 0. The median was 82 and the figure for Minnesota was 28,148. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

Highest3,340Minneapolis, MN

Lowest0Vadnais Heights, MN

Median82103 cities

Minnesota28,148History

Top 40 cities, 2020

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

Full ranking

Rank	Cities	2020 count	Change on 2019
1	Minneapolis, MN Estimated	3,340	-30.6%
2	St. Paul, MN Estimated	2,077	+31.9%
3	Lakeville, MN Estimated	1,154	+20.8%
4	Woodbury, MN Estimated	891	+28.2%
5	Maple Grove, MN Estimated	764	+65.7%
6	Bloomington, MN Estimated	739	+95.5%
7	Lake Elmo, MN Estimated	651	+1,450%
8	Edina, MN Estimated	551	+240.1%
9	Cottage Grove, MN Estimated	505	+72.4%
10	Otsego, MN Estimated	473	+41.2%
11	Rochester, MN Estimated	425	-45.1%
12	Rosemount, MN Estimated	389	+42%
13	Fridley, MN Estimated	381	+876.9%
14	Dayton, MN Estimated	354	+22.1%
15	Roseville, MN Estimated	310	+79.2%
16	Mankato, MN Estimated	304	+126.9%
17	Plymouth, MN Estimated	280	-28.4%
18	St. Michael, MN Estimated	273	+131.4%
19	Blaine, MN Estimated	265	-39.9%
20	North St. Paul, MN Estimated	251	+470.5%
21	West St. Paul, MN Estimated	233	+4,560%
22	Moorhead, MN Estimated	231	+12.1%
23	Eagan, MN Estimated	219	+525.7%
24	Richfield, MN Estimated	213	+77.5%
25	Shoreview, MN Estimated	208	+28.4%
26	Duluth, MN Estimated	195	-55.7%
27	Hugo, MN Estimated	182	+75%
28	St. Louis Park, MN Estimated	180	-59.3%
29	Ramsey, MN Estimated	175	-39.7%
30	Alexandria, MN Estimated	173	+220.4%
31	Lino Lakes, MN Estimated	170	+49.1%
32	Shakopee, MN Estimated	165	-78.9%
33	Minnetonka, MN Estimated	159	-83.3%
34	Prior Lake, MN Estimated	157	-20.3%
35	Victoria, MN Estimated	154	-5.5%
36	Big Lake, MN Estimated	149	+29.6%
37	Eden Prairie, MN Estimated	145	-58.8%
38	St. Cloud, MN Estimated	141	+60.2%
39	Andover, MN Estimated	138	+19%
40	Rogers, MN Estimated	128	+20.8%
41	Grand Rapids, MN Estimated	126	+1,475%
42	Elk River, MN Estimated	120	-4%
43	Cambridge, MN Estimated	119	+70%
44	Chaska, MN Estimated	114	+0.9%
44	Owatonna, MN Estimated	114	+81%
46	North Branch, MN Estimated	113	+130.6%
47	East Bethel, MN Estimated	108	+300%
48	Savage, MN Estimated	106	-70.7%
49	Stillwater, MN Estimated	94	+20.5%
50	Red Wing, MN Estimated	86	-32.3%
51	Willmar, MN Estimated	84	-2.3%
52	Buffalo, MN Estimated	82	-59%
52	Farmington, MN Estimated	82	+115.8%
54	Bemidji, MN Estimated	69	+228.6%
55	Chanhassen, MN Estimated	67	+13.6%
56	Ham Lake, MN Estimated	64	-1.5%
57	Brooklyn Park, MN Estimated	62	-37.4%
57	Monticello, MN Estimated	62	+8.8%
59	Forest Lake, MN Estimated	53	-72.4%
59	North Mankato, MN Estimated	53	+65.6%
61	Sartell, MN Estimated	51	-5.6%
62	Anoka, MN Estimated	48	+4,700%
62	Hutchinson, MN Estimated	48	-21.3%
64	Champlin, MN Estimated	47	+9.3%
65	Brainerd, MN Estimated	43	+16.2%
66	Waconia, MN Estimated	42	+110%
67	Coon Rapids, MN Estimated	34	+100%
68	Detroit Lakes, MN Estimated	31	-32.6%
69	Inver Grove Heights, MN Estimated	30	-79.5%
70	Hermantown, MN Estimated	29	-9.4%
70	Winona, MN Estimated	29	-34.1%
72	New Ulm, MN Estimated	27	-15.6%
73	Fergus Falls, MN Estimated	26	+52.9%
73	New Brighton, MN Estimated	26	-84.9%
75	Cloquet, MN Estimated	23	-70.1%
76	Hastings, MN Estimated	21	-71.6%
77	Sauk Rapids, MN Estimated	18	-88.8%
77	St. Peter, MN Estimated	18	+200%
79	Maplewood, MN Estimated	13	-91.8%
79	Northfield, MN Estimated	13	-66.7%
81	Hibbing, MN Estimated	12	+9.1%
81	New Hope, MN Estimated	12	+71.4%
83	Marshall, MN Estimated	10	-85.5%
84	Worthington, MN Estimated	9	-10%
85	Austin, MN Estimated	7	-92.7%
86	Crystal, MN Estimated	6	0%
86	Mendota Heights, MN Estimated	6	-92%
88	Apple Valley, MN Estimated	5	-82.8%
89	Burnsville, MN Estimated	4	-99.3%
89	Fairmont, MN Estimated	4	+33.3%
89	Golden Valley, MN Estimated	4	-69.2%
89	Robbinsdale, MN Estimated	4	+33.3%
89	South St. Paul, MN Estimated	4	-50%
89	White Bear Lake, MN Estimated	4	-69.2%
95	Albert Lea, MN Estimated	3	-40%
95	Oakdale, MN Estimated	3	n/a
97	Brooklyn Center, MN Estimated	2	-33.3%
97	Columbia Heights, MN Estimated	2	-33.3%
97	Mounds View, MN Estimated	2	-98.5%
100	Faribault, MN Estimated	1	-98.4%
101	Hopkins, MN Estimated	0	-100%
101	Little Canada, MN Estimated	0	-100%
101	Vadnais Heights, 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/mw2020a.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. (2021). 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, 2020) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/Midwest%20Region/mw2020a.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, 2020. U.S. Census Bureau, 3 May 2021, https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/Midwest%20Region/mw2020a.txt. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/minnesota-cities?period=2020. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

U.S. Census Bureau. 2021. 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, 2020. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/Midwest%20Region/mw2020a.txt. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/minnesota-cities?period=2020.

Harvard

U.S. Census Bureau (2021) 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, 2020 [Dataset]. Available at: https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/Midwest%20Region/mw2020a.txt, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/minnesota-cities?period=2020 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX

@misc{census_cities_in_minnesota_by_2020,
  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, 2020}},
  year = {2021},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/Midwest%20Region/mw2020a.txt},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/minnesota-cities?period=2020. 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/mw2020a.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, 2020
PY  - 2021
DA  - 2021/05/03
PB  - U.S. Census Bureau
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/Midwest%20Region/mw2020a.txt
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/minnesota-cities?period=2020
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/minnesota-cities?period=2020.
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/mw2020a.txt. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
ER  -

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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 3,340 in 2020, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

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

Vadnais Heights, MN, with 0 in 2020.

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.