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 2019, at 1,498. St. Ann, MO had the lowest, at 0. The median was 40 and the figure for Missouri was 17,460. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

Highest1,498Kansas City, MO

Lowest0St. Ann, MO

Median4077 cities

Missouri17,460History

Top 40 cities, 2019

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

Full ranking

Rank	Cities	2019 count	Change on 2018
1	Kansas City, MO Estimated	1,498	-30.5%
2	Lee's Summit, MO Estimated	1,095	+99.8%
3	Cape Girardeau, MO Estimated	772	+2.8%
4	O'Fallon, MO Estimated	571	+80.1%
5	Wentzville, MO Estimated	558	+33.5%
6	St. Charles, MO Estimated	522	+67.3%
7	Columbia, MO Estimated	504	+91.6%
8	Blue Springs, MO Estimated	417	+4.5%
9	Independence, MO Estimated	384	+154.3%
10	St. Louis, MO Estimated	381	-42.4%
11	Nixa, MO Estimated	297	+18.3%
12	Joplin, MO Estimated	243	+0.8%
13	Republic, MO Estimated	228	+0.4%
14	Ozark, MO Estimated	193	+69.3%
15	Lake St. Louis, MO Estimated	177	-46.2%
16	Troy, MO Estimated	151	+132.3%
17	Eureka, MO Estimated	149	+84%
18	Grain Valley, MO Estimated	145	+16.9%
19	St. Joseph, MO Estimated	143	+186%
20	Raymore, MO Estimated	139	-29.8%
21	Webb City, MO Estimated	138	+0.7%
22	Springfield, MO Estimated	132	-69.2%
23	Washington, MO Estimated	109	+67.7%
24	Branson, MO Estimated	94	-16.1%
25	Warrensburg, MO Estimated	87	+190%
26	Belton, MO Estimated	84	+23.5%
26	Rolla, MO Estimated	84	-33.9%
28	Kirkwood, MO Estimated	73	-21.5%
29	Kearney, MO Estimated	71	-44.5%
30	Webster Groves, MO Estimated	69	+200%
31	Union, MO Estimated	66	-59.5%
32	Carthage, MO Estimated	62	+313.3%
33	Jennings, MO Estimated	59	n/a
34	Jefferson City, MO Estimated	55	+14.6%
35	Smithville, MO Estimated	51	-72.9%
36	St. Peters, MO Estimated	49	-92.1%
37	Festus, MO Estimated	47	+62.1%
38	Kirksville, MO Estimated	42	-31.1%
39	Liberty, MO Estimated	40	+2.6%
40	Dardenne Prairie, MO Estimated	38	+322.2%
41	Ballwin, MO Estimated	34	+100%
41	Farmington, MO Estimated	34	-75%
41	West Plains, MO Estimated	34	-10.5%
44	Clayton, MO Estimated	31	+416.7%
45	Arnold, MO Estimated	30	+11.1%
45	Moberly, MO Estimated	30	-46.4%
47	Maryville, MO Estimated	27	-6.9%
47	Mexico, MO Estimated	27	+68.8%
47	Neosho, MO Estimated	27	-10%
50	Lebanon, MO Estimated	25	+25%
50	Monett, MO Estimated	25	+78.6%
52	Town and Country, MO Estimated	24	+41.2%
53	Hannibal, MO Estimated	22	0%
53	Jackson, MO Estimated	22	-66.2%
55	Creve Coeur, MO Estimated	21	+10.5%
56	Kennett, MO Estimated	19	0%
56	Sedalia, MO Estimated	19	+35.7%
58	Bolivar, MO Estimated	17	-46.9%
59	Fulton, MO Estimated	16	-5.9%
60	Excelsior Springs, MO Estimated	14	-17.6%
60	Sikeston, MO Estimated	14	-57.6%
62	Harrisonville, MO Estimated	10	-16.7%
62	Poplar Bluff, MO Estimated	10	0%
64	Raytown, MO Estimated	7	+40%
65	Gladstone, MO Estimated	6	-64.7%
66	Grandview, MO Estimated	5	-37.5%
67	Ellisville, MO Estimated	4	-80%
67	University City, MO Estimated	4	-33.3%
69	Marshall, MO Estimated	3	0%
70	Maryland Heights, MO Estimated	2	-92%
71	Overland, MO Estimated	1	-50%
72	Bellefontaine Neighbors, MO Estimated	0	-100%
72	Bridgeton, MO Estimated	0	-100%
72	Ferguson, MO Estimated	0	n/a
72	Florissant, MO Estimated	0	n/a
72	Hazelwood, MO Estimated	0	n/a
72	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/mw2019a.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. (2020). 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, 2019) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/Midwest%20Region/mw2019a.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, 2019. U.S. Census Bureau, 1 May 2020, https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/Midwest%20Region/mw2019a.txt. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/missouri-cities?period=2019. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

U.S. Census Bureau. 2020. 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, 2019. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/Midwest%20Region/mw2019a.txt. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/missouri-cities?period=2019.

Harvard

U.S. Census Bureau (2020) 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, 2019 [Dataset]. Available at: https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/Midwest%20Region/mw2019a.txt, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/missouri-cities?period=2019 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX

@misc{census_cities_in_missouri_by_2019,
  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, 2019}},
  year = {2020},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/Midwest%20Region/mw2019a.txt},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/missouri-cities?period=2019. 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/mw2019a.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, 2019
PY  - 2020
DA  - 2020/05/01
PB  - U.S. Census Bureau
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/Midwest%20Region/mw2019a.txt
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/missouri-cities?period=2019
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/missouri-cities?period=2019.
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/mw2019a.txt. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
ER  -

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Questions

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

Kansas City, MO, with 1,498 in 2019, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

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

St. Ann, MO, with 0 in 2019.

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.