Cities in Missouri by housing units authorized by building permits

Kansas City, MO had the highest housing units authorized by building permits of 77 cities in 2017, at 2,366. St. Ann, MO had the lowest, at 0. The median was 60 and the figure for Missouri was 18,811. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

Highest2,366Kansas City, MO

Lowest0St. Ann, MO

Median6077 cities

Missouri18,811History

Top 40 cities, 2017

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

Full ranking

Rank	Cities	2017 count	Change on 2016
1	Kansas City, MO Estimated	2,366	-29.2%
2	Columbia, MO Estimated	1,264	+29.9%
3	St. Louis, MO Estimated	785	-26.6%
4	Lee's Summit, MO Estimated	775	+47.1%
5	Wentzville, MO Estimated	687	-11.4%
6	Springfield, MO Estimated	570	-8.1%
7	Cape Girardeau, MO Estimated	509	+459.3%
8	O'Fallon, MO Estimated	433	-14.9%
9	St. Charles, MO Estimated	322	-44.6%
10	Joplin, MO Estimated	289	+90.1%
11	Raymore, MO Estimated	281	+29.5%
12	Independence, MO Estimated	255	+207.2%
13	Farmington, MO Estimated	242	+84.7%
14	Blue Springs, MO Estimated	228	+2.2%
15	Nixa, MO Estimated	213	+66.4%
16	Webb City, MO Estimated	160	+233.3%
17	Smithville, MO Estimated	155	+20.2%
18	Lake St. Louis, MO Estimated	153	+37.8%
19	Grain Valley, MO Estimated	147	+32.4%
20	Kearney, MO Estimated	125	+25%
21	Union, MO Estimated	117	-4.9%
22	Ozark, MO Estimated	112	-58.7%
23	Republic, MO Estimated	104	-11.1%
24	Belton, MO Estimated	99	-3.9%
25	Rolla, MO Estimated	98	-56.3%
26	Kirkwood, MO Estimated	94	+19%
27	Eureka, MO Estimated	93	+257.7%
28	Jackson, MO Estimated	89	+9.9%
29	Kirksville, MO Estimated	87	+35.9%
30	Troy, MO Estimated	85	+19.7%
30	Washington, MO Estimated	85	+325%
32	Warrensburg, MO Estimated	84	+68%
33	Lebanon, MO Estimated	83	+453.3%
34	Carthage, MO Estimated	78	+200%
35	Branson, MO Estimated	72	+118.2%
36	St. Joseph, MO Estimated	70	+20.7%
37	St. Peters, MO Estimated	67	-24.7%
38	Monett, MO Estimated	64	+540%
39	Maryland Heights, MO Estimated	60	n/a
40	Jefferson City, MO Estimated	56	-39.8%
40	Liberty, MO Estimated	56	-82.4%
42	Mexico, MO Estimated	54	+58.8%
43	Ellisville, MO Estimated	50	-73.7%
44	Arnold, MO Estimated	37	-5.1%
44	Festus, MO Estimated	37	-14%
46	Gladstone, MO Estimated	32	-5.9%
46	Maryville, MO Estimated	32	+88.2%
46	Webster Groves, MO Estimated	32	+88.2%
49	Neosho, MO Estimated	31	+10.7%
50	Sikeston, MO Estimated	28	+21.7%
51	Ballwin, MO Estimated	25	+92.3%
52	Bolivar, MO Estimated	24	+14.3%
53	Creve Coeur, MO Estimated	23	-75%
53	Town and Country, MO Estimated	23	-4.2%
55	Hannibal, MO Estimated	22	+10%
55	Moberly, MO Estimated	22	+22.2%
57	Excelsior Springs, MO Estimated	20	+150%
58	Dardenne Prairie, MO Estimated	19	-13.6%
58	Kennett, MO Estimated	19	+11.8%
60	Fulton, MO Estimated	18	n/a
60	West Plains, MO Estimated	18	-25%
62	Sedalia, MO Estimated	15	+25%
63	Marshall, MO Estimated	13	-13.3%
64	Harrisonville, MO Estimated	12	-76.9%
65	Clayton, MO Estimated	9	-93.2%
66	Poplar Bluff, MO Estimated	8	+700%
67	Raytown, MO Estimated	6	+50%
67	University City, MO Estimated	6	-45.5%
69	Bellefontaine Neighbors, MO Estimated	5	+400%
70	Hazelwood, MO Estimated	4	0%
71	Bridgeton, MO Estimated	1	-75%
71	Overland, MO Estimated	1	n/a
73	Ferguson, MO Estimated	0	n/a
73	Florissant, MO Estimated	0	-100%
73	Grandview, MO Estimated	0	-100%
73	Jennings, MO Estimated	0	-100%
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. 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/mw2017a.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. (2018). 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, 2017) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/Midwest%20Region/mw2017a.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, 2017. U.S. Census Bureau, 1 May 2018, https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/Midwest%20Region/mw2017a.txt. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/missouri-cities?period=2017. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

U.S. Census Bureau. 2018. 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, 2017. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/Midwest%20Region/mw2017a.txt. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/missouri-cities?period=2017.

Harvard

U.S. Census Bureau (2018) 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, 2017 [Dataset]. Available at: https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/Midwest%20Region/mw2017a.txt, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/missouri-cities?period=2017 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX

@misc{census_cities_in_missouri_by_2017,
  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, 2017}},
  year = {2018},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/Midwest%20Region/mw2017a.txt},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/missouri-cities?period=2017. 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/mw2017a.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, 2017
PY  - 2018
DA  - 2018/05/01
PB  - U.S. Census Bureau
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/Midwest%20Region/mw2017a.txt
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/missouri-cities?period=2017
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/missouri-cities?period=2017.
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/mw2017a.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 2,366 in 2017, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

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

St. Ann, MO, with 0 in 2017.

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.