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 2021, at 3,182. Mounds View, MN had the lowest, at 0. The median was 131 and the figure for Minnesota was 33,652. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

Highest3,182Minneapolis, MN

Lowest0Mounds View, MN

Median131103 cities

Minnesota33,652History

Top 40 cities, 2021

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

Full ranking

Rank	Cities	2021 count	Change on 2020
1	Minneapolis, MN Estimated	3,182	-4.7%
2	St. Paul, MN Estimated	2,120	+2.1%
3	Lakeville, MN Estimated	1,119	-3%
4	Woodbury, MN Estimated	927	+4%
5	West St. Paul, MN Estimated	629	+170%
6	Rochester, MN Estimated	625	+47.1%
7	Blaine, MN Estimated	610	+130.2%
8	Shakopee, MN Estimated	593	+259.4%
9	Cottage Grove, MN Estimated	590	+16.8%
9	Maple Grove, MN Estimated	590	-22.8%
11	Richfield, MN Estimated	466	+118.8%
12	Burnsville, MN Estimated	464	+11,500%
13	Dayton, MN Estimated	455	+28.5%
14	Otsego, MN Estimated	431	-8.9%
15	St. Michael, MN Estimated	395	+44.7%
16	Rosemount, MN Estimated	340	-12.6%
17	St. Louis Park, MN Estimated	332	+84.4%
18	Roseville, MN Estimated	315	+1.6%
19	Inver Grove Heights, MN Estimated	311	+936.7%
20	Columbia Heights, MN Estimated	297	+14,750%
21	Moorhead, MN Estimated	284	+22.9%
22	Eden Prairie, MN Estimated	283	+95.2%
23	Cambridge, MN Estimated	281	+136.1%
24	Shoreview, MN Estimated	278	+33.7%
25	Lake Elmo, MN Estimated	273	-58.1%
26	Mankato, MN Estimated	264	-13.2%
27	Lino Lakes, MN Estimated	262	+54.1%
28	Apple Valley, MN Estimated	235	+4,600%
29	Chaska, MN Estimated	227	+99.1%
30	Minnetonka, MN Estimated	226	+42.1%
31	Willmar, MN Estimated	225	+167.9%
32	Brooklyn Park, MN Estimated	220	+254.8%
33	Plymouth, MN Estimated	217	-22.5%
34	Alexandria, MN Estimated	210	+21.4%
35	Chanhassen, MN Estimated	208	+210.4%
36	North Branch, MN Estimated	205	+81.4%
37	Forest Lake, MN Estimated	202	+281.1%
38	Elk River, MN Estimated	199	+65.8%
39	Hugo, MN Estimated	192	+5.5%
40	Ramsey, MN Estimated	183	+4.6%
41	Vadnais Heights, MN Estimated	182	n/a
42	Waconia, MN Estimated	177	+321.4%
43	Bemidji, MN Estimated	163	+136.2%
44	North St. Paul, MN Estimated	158	-37.1%
45	South St. Paul, MN Estimated	156	+3,800%
46	Rogers, MN Estimated	146	+14.1%
47	Victoria, MN Estimated	143	-7.1%
48	Duluth, MN Estimated	141	-27.7%
49	Andover, MN Estimated	140	+1.4%
50	Fridley, MN Estimated	136	-64.3%
51	Prior Lake, MN Estimated	132	-15.9%
52	Monticello, MN Estimated	131	+111.3%
53	St. Cloud, MN Estimated	128	-9.2%
54	Anoka, MN Estimated	127	+164.6%
55	Owatonna, MN Estimated	121	+6.1%
56	Robbinsdale, MN Estimated	120	+2,900%
57	Farmington, MN Estimated	118	+43.9%
58	East Bethel, MN Estimated	113	+4.6%
59	Edina, MN Estimated	102	-81.5%
60	Sartell, MN Estimated	95	+86.3%
61	Savage, MN Estimated	93	-12.3%
62	Big Lake, MN Estimated	86	-42.3%
63	Northfield, MN Estimated	85	+553.8%
64	St. Peter, MN Estimated	84	+366.7%
65	Buffalo, MN Estimated	80	-2.4%
66	Bloomington, MN Estimated	74	-90%
67	Hutchinson, MN Estimated	71	+47.9%
68	Ham Lake, MN Estimated	67	+4.7%
69	Coon Rapids, MN Estimated	61	+79.4%
70	Champlin, MN Estimated	60	+27.7%
71	Marshall, MN Estimated	59	+490%
71	North Mankato, MN Estimated	59	+11.3%
73	Albert Lea, MN Estimated	55	+1,733.3%
74	Oakdale, MN Estimated	50	+1,566.7%
75	Detroit Lakes, MN Estimated	49	+58.1%
75	Winona, MN Estimated	49	+69%
77	Hopkins, MN Estimated	43	n/a
78	Stillwater, MN Estimated	39	-58.5%
79	Brainerd, MN Estimated	34	-20.9%
79	Hastings, MN Estimated	34	+61.9%
81	Eagan, MN Estimated	33	-84.9%
81	Hermantown, MN Estimated	33	+13.8%
83	Faribault, MN Estimated	30	+2,900%
84	New Brighton, MN Estimated	28	+7.7%
85	Sauk Rapids, MN Estimated	20	+11.1%
86	Red Wing, MN Estimated	17	-80.2%
87	New Ulm, MN Estimated	16	-40.7%
88	Fergus Falls, MN Estimated	15	-42.3%
88	Mendota Heights, MN Estimated	15	+150%
90	Austin, MN Estimated	14	+100%
90	Cloquet, MN Estimated	14	-39.1%
92	White Bear Lake, MN Estimated	10	+150%
93	New Hope, MN Estimated	9	-25%
94	Golden Valley, MN Estimated	8	+100%
95	Hibbing, MN Estimated	7	-41.7%
96	Grand Rapids, MN Estimated	6	-95.2%
96	Worthington, MN Estimated	6	-33.3%
98	Fairmont, MN Estimated	5	+25%
99	Crystal, MN Estimated	4	-33.3%
99	Maplewood, MN Estimated	4	-69.2%
101	Brooklyn Center, MN Estimated	2	0%
102	Little Canada, MN Estimated	0	n/a
102	Mounds View, 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/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 Minnesota 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 Minnesota 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/minnesota-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 Minnesota 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/minnesota-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 Minnesota 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/minnesota-cities?period=2021 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX

@misc{census_cities_in_minnesota_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 Minnesota 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/minnesota-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 Minnesota 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/minnesota-cities?period=2021
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/minnesota-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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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 3,182 in 2021, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

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

Mounds View, MN, 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.