Cities in Minnesota by housing units authorized by building permits

Rochester, MN had the highest housing units authorized by building permits of 103 cities in 2024, at 1,118. South St. Paul, MN had the lowest, at 0. The median was 43 and the figure for Minnesota was 20,913. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

Highest1,118Rochester, MN

Lowest0South St. Paul, MN

Median43103 cities

Minnesota20,913History

Top 40 cities, 2024

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

Full ranking

Rank	Cities	2024 count	Change on 2023
1	Rochester, MN Estimated	1,118	+41.2%
2	Minnetonka, MN Estimated	611	+2,163%
3	Lakeville, MN Estimated	523	-26.5%
4	Rosemount, MN Estimated	522	-54.5%
5	Minneapolis, MN Estimated	452	-70.4%
6	Woodbury, MN Estimated	451	-3.8%
7	Maple Grove, MN Estimated	435	-18.7%
8	Rogers, MN Estimated	409	+29%
9	St. Paul, MN Estimated	404	-66.4%
10	Duluth, MN Estimated	402	+23.3%
11	Blaine, MN Estimated	399	+1.5%
12	Farmington, MN Estimated	372	+66.8%
13	Shakopee, MN Estimated	369	-35.5%
14	Bloomington, MN Estimated	342	-7.8%
14	Maplewood, MN Estimated	342	+11,300%
16	Cottage Grove, MN Estimated	334	+15.2%
17	Edina, MN Estimated	327	+436.1%
18	Inver Grove Heights, MN Estimated	315	+224.7%
19	St. Michael, MN Estimated	305	+39.9%
20	St. Cloud, MN Estimated	288	+21.5%
21	Otsego, MN Estimated	243	+11%
22	Dayton, MN Estimated	242	+12.6%
23	Moorhead, MN Estimated	227	-32.2%
24	Burnsville, MN Estimated	223	+78.4%
25	Mankato, MN Estimated	206	-48%
26	Victoria, MN Estimated	202	-4.3%
27	Brooklyn Park, MN Estimated	177	-28.9%
28	Hugo, MN Estimated	176	+55.8%
29	Ramsey, MN Estimated	175	+53.5%
30	Chaska, MN Estimated	174	-70.6%
31	Alexandria, MN Estimated	134	+282.9%
32	Willmar, MN Estimated	129	-16.8%
33	Waconia, MN Estimated	125	+34.4%
34	Lino Lakes, MN Estimated	122	+8.9%
35	Forest Lake, MN Estimated	121	+450%
36	North Branch, MN Estimated	115	+17.3%
37	Plymouth, MN Estimated	104	-66.8%
38	Andover, MN Estimated	100	+56.3%
39	East Bethel, MN Estimated	99	+607.1%
40	Elk River, MN Estimated	98	-30.5%
40	Oakdale, MN Estimated	98	-90%
42	Roseville, MN Estimated	94	+370%
43	Monticello, MN Estimated	87	-63.3%
44	Lake Elmo, MN Estimated	86	-49.7%
44	North St. Paul, MN Estimated	86	+681.8%
46	Marshall, MN Estimated	76	+261.9%
47	Buffalo, MN Estimated	71	+4.4%
48	Shoreview, MN Estimated	61	-70.5%
49	Prior Lake, MN Estimated	51	-25%
50	St. Peter, MN Estimated	49	-24.6%
51	Crystal, MN Estimated	47	-25.4%
52	Hastings, MN Estimated	43	-79.2%
53	Apple Valley, MN Estimated	39	+14.7%
54	Ham Lake, MN Estimated	38	+2.7%
54	North Mankato, MN Estimated	38	+153.3%
56	Eden Prairie, MN Estimated	36	-85.8%
57	Cambridge, MN Estimated	35	-85.8%
57	West St. Paul, MN Estimated	35	-74.6%
59	Detroit Lakes, MN Estimated	31	-3.1%
60	Sartell, MN Estimated	30	+50%
61	Brainerd, MN Estimated	29	+52.6%
62	Faribault, MN Estimated	28	+7.7%
63	Chanhassen, MN Estimated	27	-22.9%
63	Coon Rapids, MN Estimated	27	-55%
63	Hermantown, MN Estimated	27	-25%
63	Savage, MN Estimated	27	-30.8%
67	Sauk Rapids, MN Estimated	23	+43.8%
68	Big Lake, MN Estimated	21	-79.8%
68	Hutchinson, MN Estimated	21	-44.7%
70	New Ulm, MN Estimated	20	+100%
71	New Brighton, MN Estimated	18	+5.9%
72	Austin, MN Estimated	17	+70%
73	Champlin, MN Estimated	15	-72.7%
73	White Bear Lake, MN Estimated	15	+66.7%
75	Owatonna, MN Estimated	14	-90.2%
76	Little Canada, MN Estimated	13	-88.8%
76	Vadnais Heights, MN Estimated	13	-93.2%
78	Hopkins, MN Estimated	12	-97.4%
79	Cloquet, MN Estimated	11	+175%
80	Bemidji, MN Estimated	10	-84.4%
80	Hibbing, MN Estimated	10	-23.1%
80	Northfield, MN Estimated	10	-61.5%
80	Winona, MN Estimated	10	-86.8%
84	Mendota Heights, MN Estimated	9	+50%
84	Red Wing, MN Estimated	9	-35.7%
86	Worthington, MN Estimated	8	+14.3%
87	Eagan, MN Estimated	7	-46.2%
87	Fairmont, MN Estimated	7	n/a
89	Golden Valley, MN Estimated	5	0%
90	Albert Lea, MN Estimated	4	-20%
90	Fergus Falls, MN Estimated	4	-85.2%
90	New Hope, MN Estimated	4	n/a
90	Stillwater, MN Estimated	4	-95.2%
94	Anoka, MN Estimated	2	-75%
94	Columbia Heights, MN Estimated	2	+100%
94	Grand Rapids, MN Estimated	2	-80%
97	Brooklyn Center, MN Estimated	1	0%
97	Robbinsdale, MN Estimated	1	n/a
97	St. Louis Park, MN Estimated	1	-98.4%
100	Fridley, MN Estimated	0	-100%
100	Mounds View, MN Estimated	0	-100%
100	Richfield, MN Estimated	0	n/a
100	South St. Paul, MN Estimated	0	n/a

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/mw2024a.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. (2025). 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, 2024) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/Midwest%20Region/mw2024a.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, 2024. U.S. Census Bureau, 1 May 2025, https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/Midwest%20Region/mw2024a.txt. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/minnesota-cities?period=2024. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

U.S. Census Bureau. 2025. 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, 2024. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/Midwest%20Region/mw2024a.txt. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/minnesota-cities?period=2024.

Harvard

U.S. Census Bureau (2025) 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, 2024 [Dataset]. Available at: https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/Midwest%20Region/mw2024a.txt, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/minnesota-cities?period=2024 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX

@misc{census_cities_in_minnesota_by_2024,
  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, 2024}},
  year = {2025},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/Midwest%20Region/mw2024a.txt},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/minnesota-cities?period=2024. 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/mw2024a.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, 2024
PY  - 2025
DA  - 2025/05/01
PB  - U.S. Census Bureau
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/Midwest%20Region/mw2024a.txt
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/minnesota-cities?period=2024
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/minnesota-cities?period=2024.
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/mw2024a.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?

Rochester, MN, with 1,118 in 2024, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

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

South St. Paul, MN, with 0 in 2024.

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.