Cities in Missouri by housing units authorized by building permits

Kansas City, MO had the highest housing units authorized by building permits of 76 cities in 2014, at 2,734. St. Ann, MO had the lowest, at 0. The median was 41 and the figure for Missouri was 16,003. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

Highest2,734Kansas City, MO

Lowest0St. Ann, MO

Median4176 cities

Missouri16,003History

Top 40 cities, 2014

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

Full ranking

Rank	Cities	2014 count	Change on 2013
1	Kansas City, MO Estimated	2,734	+78.7%
2	Columbia, MO Estimated	1,183	+17.2%
3	Springfield, MO Estimated	1,116	+15.3%
4	St. Louis, MO Estimated	758	+215.8%
5	Wentzville, MO Estimated	626	+27.2%
6	Lee's Summit, MO Estimated	571	+71%
7	O'Fallon, MO Estimated	442	+12.8%
8	St. Peters, MO Estimated	405	-17.8%
9	St. Charles, MO Estimated	395	+99.5%
10	Blue Springs, MO Estimated	273	+96.4%
11	Joplin, MO Estimated	263	-10.8%
12	Creve Coeur, MO Estimated	206	+1,484.6%
13	Lake St. Louis, MO Estimated	165	+123%
14	Raymore, MO Estimated	159	+44.5%
15	Nixa, MO Estimated	141	+2.9%
16	Cape Girardeau, MO Estimated	115	+17.3%
17	Rolla, MO Estimated	105	+12.9%
18	Farmington, MO Estimated	98	+5.4%
19	Republic, MO Estimated	83	+22.1%
20	Jefferson City, MO Estimated	79	-12.2%
21	Ozark, MO Estimated	78	-14.3%
22	Festus, MO Estimated	72	+125%
22	Jackson, MO Estimated	72	-36.3%
22	Warrensburg, MO Estimated	72	-25.8%
25	Grain Valley, MO Estimated	65	+32.7%
26	Independence, MO Estimated	64	-63.4%
27	Kirkwood, MO Estimated	61	+24.5%
28	St. Joseph, MO Estimated	60	-16.7%
29	Bolivar, MO Estimated	59	+1.7%
30	Smithville, MO Estimated	57	+46.2%
31	Town and Country, MO Estimated	55	+120%
32	Kearney, MO Estimated	54	-12.9%
32	Kirksville, MO Estimated	54	-14.3%
32	Union, MO Estimated	54	-61.4%
35	Jennings, MO Estimated	49	n/a
36	Webb City, MO Estimated	43	+13.2%
37	Troy, MO Estimated	42	-12.5%
38	Marshall, MO Estimated	41	+412.5%
38	Sikeston, MO Estimated	41	-28.1%
40	Dardenne Prairie, MO Estimated	39	-73.6%
41	Ballwin, MO Estimated	37	+94.7%
42	Arnold, MO Estimated	36	-30.8%
43	Branson, MO Estimated	33	-83.9%
44	Liberty, MO Estimated	30	-23.1%
45	Washington, MO Estimated	29	+3.6%
46	Maryville, MO Estimated	27	-46%
47	Poplar Bluff, MO Estimated	25	+8.7%
48	Carthage, MO Estimated	24	+41.2%
49	Ellisville, MO Estimated	23	-39.5%
49	Eureka, MO Estimated	23	-28.1%
51	Neosho, MO Estimated	21	-52.3%
52	West Plains, MO Estimated	19	-70.8%
53	Hannibal, MO Estimated	18	+5.9%
54	Lebanon, MO Estimated	17	+41.7%
54	Sedalia, MO Estimated	17	-5.6%
56	Kennett, MO Estimated	14	0%
56	Moberly, MO Estimated	14	0%
56	Webster Groves, MO Estimated	14	+133.3%
59	Belton, MO Estimated	13	-18.8%
59	Clayton, MO Estimated	13	+62.5%
61	Monett, MO Estimated	9	+50%
62	Fulton, MO Estimated	8	0%
63	Bridgeton, MO Estimated	6	-88%
63	Gladstone, MO Estimated	6	-97.3%
63	Hazelwood, MO Estimated	6	-45.5%
63	Raytown, MO Estimated	6	+50%
67	Harrisonville, MO Estimated	5	+25%
68	University City, MO Estimated	3	-57.1%
69	Excelsior Springs, MO Estimated	2	n/a
69	Mexico, MO Estimated	2	-86.7%
71	Bellefontaine Neighbors, MO Estimated	1	-50%
71	Florissant, MO Estimated	1	0%
73	Ferguson, MO Estimated	0	-100%
73	Maryland Heights, MO Estimated	0	-100%
73	Overland, MO Estimated	0	n/a
73	St. Ann, MO 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. 1 cities with data in other periods have no value for 2014 and are left out rather than filled from another source. 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/mw2014a.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. (2016). Building Permits Survey: final annual estimates of new privately owned housing units authorized by permit-issuing place, including imputation (Cities in Missouri by housing units authorized by building permits, 2014) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/Midwest%20Region/mw2014a.txt

MLA 9

Building Permits Survey: final annual estimates of new privately owned housing units authorized by permit-issuing place, including imputation, Cities in Missouri by housing units authorized by building permits, 2014. U.S. Census Bureau, 30 Sept. 2016, https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/Midwest%20Region/mw2014a.txt. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/missouri-cities?period=2014. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

U.S. Census Bureau. 2016. Building Permits Survey: final annual estimates of new privately owned housing units authorized by permit-issuing place, including imputation. Cities in Missouri by housing units authorized by building permits, 2014. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/Midwest%20Region/mw2014a.txt. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/missouri-cities?period=2014.

Harvard

U.S. Census Bureau (2016) Building Permits Survey: final annual estimates of new privately owned housing units authorized by permit-issuing place, including imputation, Cities in Missouri by housing units authorized by building permits, 2014 [Dataset]. Available at: https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/Midwest%20Region/mw2014a.txt, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/missouri-cities?period=2014 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX

@misc{census_cities_in_missouri_by_2014,
  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 Missouri by housing units authorized by building permits, 2014}},
  year = {2016},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/Midwest%20Region/mw2014a.txt},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/missouri-cities?period=2014. 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/mw2014a.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 Missouri by housing units authorized by building permits, 2014
PY  - 2016
DA  - 2016/09/30
PB  - U.S. Census Bureau
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/Midwest%20Region/mw2014a.txt
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/missouri-cities?period=2014
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/missouri-cities?period=2014.
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/mw2014a.txt. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
ER  -

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Rank Cities in Missouri by housing units authorized by building permits using official data, and cite the source.

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

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

Kansas City, MO, with 2,734 in 2014, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

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

St. Ann, MO, with 0 in 2014.

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. 1 cities have no value for 2014 and are not ranked.