Counties in Minnesota by housing units authorized by building permits

Name: Counties in Minnesota by housing units authorized by building permits, 2024
Creator: U.S. Census Bureau
License: Public domain (US federal government work, citation requested)

Hennepin County had the highest housing units authorized by building permits of 87 counties in 2024, at 3,919. Red Lake County had the lowest, at 0. The median was 55. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

Highest3,919Hennepin County

Lowest0Red Lake County

Median5587 counties

Top 40 counties, 2024

CSV Chart (SVG)

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

Full ranking

Rank	Counties	2024 count	Change on 2023
1	Hennepin County Estimated	3,919	-30.6%
2	Dakota County Estimated	2,146	-21%
3	Washington County Estimated	1,397	-38.3%
4	Wright County Estimated	1,264	+2.4%
5	Olmsted County Estimated	1,239	+23.7%
6	Ramsey County Estimated	1,084	-40%
7	Anoka County Estimated	1,062	+0.3%
8	Carver County Estimated	744	-31.3%
9	Scott County Estimated	699	-21.2%
10	St. Louis County Estimated	637	+11.8%
11	Stearns County Estimated	572	-7.4%
12	Crow Wing County Estimated	431	-46.7%
13	Chisago County Estimated	362	+91.5%
14	Sherburne County Estimated	334	-23%
15	Cass County Estimated	294	+6.1%
16	Douglas County Estimated	285	+59.2%
17	Blue Earth County Estimated	271	-42.6%
18	Clay County Estimated	269	-33.1%
19	Pine County Estimated	241	+26.8%
20	Morrison County Estimated	199	+6.4%
21	Kandiyohi County Estimated	194	-10.6%
22	Isanti County Estimated	192	-50.5%
23	Todd County Estimated	169	+55%
24	Mille Lacs County Estimated	162	+153.1%
25	Beltrami County Estimated	156	-25.7%
26	Becker County Estimated	151	+3.4%
27	Aitkin County Estimated	135	-6.9%
28	Carlton County Estimated	126	+40%
29	Itasca County Estimated	124	-12.7%
30	Dodge County Estimated	113	+156.8%
31	Nicollet County Estimated	106	+19.1%
32	Rice County Estimated	96	-17.2%
33	Lyon County Estimated	92	+187.5%
34	Otter Tail County Estimated	89	-45.7%
35	Goodhue County Estimated	86	+72%
36	Benton County Estimated	82	+30.2%
37	Lake County Estimated	75	+4.2%
38	Meeker County Estimated	71	+9.2%
39	Fillmore County Estimated	68	-8.1%
39	Rock County Estimated	68	+7.9%
41	Wabasha County Estimated	64	+18.5%
42	Cook County Estimated	62	+10.7%
43	Wadena County Estimated	57	+23.9%
44	Kanabec County Estimated	55	+17%
44	Le Sueur County Estimated	55	-28.6%
44	Mower County Estimated	55	+57.1%
47	Jackson County Estimated	51	+920%
48	McLeod County Estimated	50	-35.9%
49	Houston County Estimated	44	+18.9%
49	Polk County Estimated	44	-20%
51	Winona County Estimated	41	-61.7%
52	Yellow Medicine County Estimated	39	+333.3%
53	Pope County Estimated	37	-11.9%
54	Brown County Estimated	35	+59.1%
55	Steele County Estimated	28	-81.1%
56	Koochiching County Estimated	27	-6.9%
56	Martin County Estimated	27	+200%
58	Hubbard County Estimated	25	-72.2%
58	Waseca County Estimated	25	-24.2%
60	Sibley County Estimated	23	-20.7%
61	Murray County Estimated	22	0%
61	Roseau County Estimated	22	-35.3%
61	Swift County Estimated	22	+100%
64	Renville County Estimated	21	+90.9%
65	Nobles County Estimated	18	-5.3%
66	Freeborn County Estimated	16	+33.3%
66	Lincoln County Estimated	16	0%
68	Redwood County Estimated	15	-31.8%
69	Lake of the Woods County Estimated	13	-31.6%
70	Chippewa County Estimated	12	0%
71	Pennington County Estimated	10	+25%
72	Cottonwood County Estimated	8	-20%
72	Faribault County Estimated	8	+60%
72	Pipestone County Estimated	8	-11.1%
72	Stevens County Estimated	8	+166.7%
72	Wilkin County Estimated	8	-55.6%
77	Clearwater County Estimated	7	+600%
77	Watonwan County Estimated	7	-61.1%
79	Norman County Estimated	6	-25%
80	Kittson County Estimated	4	0%
80	Traverse County Estimated	4	-20%
82	Big Stone County Estimated	3	-57.1%
82	Lac qui Parle County Estimated	3	-70%
84	Grant County Estimated	2	+100%
84	Marshall County Estimated	2	-50%
86	Mahnomen County Estimated	0	n/a
86	Red Lake County Estimated	0	-100%

Other periods

2025
2024
2023

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/co2024a.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 Minnesota by housing units authorized by building permits using official data, and cite the source.

rank_places {"indicator":"building_permit_units","level":"province","within":"Minnesota","limit":10}
GET https://invokely.ai/api/v1/rank?indicator=building_permit_units&level=province&within=Minnesota&limit=10

Connect Claude, ChatGPT or Cursor in one step. The trial answers 25 calls a day without an account.

Questions

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

Hennepin County, with 3,919 in 2024, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

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

Red Lake County, 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 county estimates of new privately owned housing units authorized, including imputation. Retrieved 2026-10-10.