Cities in Montana by housing units authorized by building permits, 2025

Bozeman, MT had the highest housing units authorized by building permits of 8 cities in 2025, at 908. Great Falls, MT had the lowest, at 128. The median was 342 and the figure for Montana was 5,258. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

Highest908Bozeman, MT

Lowest128Great Falls, MT

Median3428 cities

Montana5,258History

All cities, 2025

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

Full ranking

Rank	Cities	2025 count	Change on 2024
1	Bozeman, MT Estimated	908	+4.7%
2	Missoula, MT Estimated	556	+2.2%
3	Billings, MT Estimated	468	-28.5%
4	Kalispell, MT Estimated	459	+97.8%
5	Belgrade, MT Estimated	224	-8.6%
6	Helena, MT Estimated	193	-50.4%
7	Butte, MT Estimated	130	+19.3%
8	Great Falls, MT Estimated	128	+29.3%

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/West%20Region/we2025a.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. (2026). Building Permits Survey: final annual estimates of new privately owned housing units authorized by permit-issuing place, including imputation (Cities in Montana by housing units authorized by building permits, 2025) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/West%20Region/we2025a.txt

MLA 9

Building Permits Survey: final annual estimates of new privately owned housing units authorized by permit-issuing place, including imputation, Cities in Montana by housing units authorized by building permits, 2025. U.S. Census Bureau, 14 May 2026, https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/West%20Region/we2025a.txt. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/montana-cities. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

U.S. Census Bureau. 2026. Building Permits Survey: final annual estimates of new privately owned housing units authorized by permit-issuing place, including imputation. Cities in Montana by housing units authorized by building permits, 2025. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/West%20Region/we2025a.txt. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/montana-cities.

Harvard

U.S. Census Bureau (2026) Building Permits Survey: final annual estimates of new privately owned housing units authorized by permit-issuing place, including imputation, Cities in Montana by housing units authorized by building permits, 2025 [Dataset]. Available at: https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/West%20Region/we2025a.txt, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/montana-cities (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX

@misc{census_cities_in_montana_by_2025,
  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 Montana by housing units authorized by building permits, 2025}},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/West%20Region/we2025a.txt},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/montana-cities. 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/West\%20Region/we2025a.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 Montana by housing units authorized by building permits, 2025
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/05/14
PB  - U.S. Census Bureau
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/West%20Region/we2025a.txt
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/montana-cities
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/montana-cities.
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/West%20Region/we2025a.txt. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
ER  -

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

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

Bozeman, MT, with 908 in 2025, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

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

Great Falls, MT, with 128 in 2025.

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.