Cities in New Jersey by housing units authorized by building permits

Jersey City, NJ had the highest housing units authorized by building permits of 117 cities in 2016, at 1,494. Pine Hill, NJ had the lowest, at 0. The median was 40 and the figure for New Jersey was 26,793. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

Highest1,494Jersey City, NJ

Lowest0Pine Hill, NJ

Median40117 cities

New Jersey26,793History

Top 40 cities, 2016

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

Full ranking

Rank	Cities	2016 count	Change on 2015
1	Jersey City, NJ Estimated	1,494	-43.8%
2	Secaucus, NJ Estimated	766	+16.6%
3	Harrison, NJ Estimated	739	+139.2%
4	Elizabeth, NJ Estimated	629	+234.6%
5	Fort Lee, NJ Estimated	521	+349.1%
6	Cliffside Park, NJ Estimated	501	+396%
7	Newark, NJ Estimated	310	+12.7%
8	Perth Amboy, NJ Estimated	302	+164.9%
9	Pleasantville, NJ Estimated	293	-18.6%
10	Morristown, NJ Estimated	262	+25.4%
11	West New York, NJ Estimated	257	-33.2%
12	New Brunswick, NJ Estimated	218	-78.9%
13	East Orange, NJ Estimated	202	+445.9%
14	Ocean City, NJ Estimated	195	-9.7%
15	Englewood, NJ Estimated	194	+351.2%
16	Trenton, NJ Estimated	168	+320%
17	Wood-Ridge, NJ Estimated	164	+15.5%
18	Roselle, NJ Estimated	147	+7,250%
19	Waldwick, NJ Estimated	142	+330.3%
20	Sayreville, NJ Estimated	141	-5.4%
21	Bound Brook, NJ Estimated	134	-58.6%
22	Metuchen, NJ Estimated	129	-43.2%
23	Madison, NJ Estimated	126	+186.4%
24	Hoboken, NJ Estimated	110	-85.2%
25	Clifton, NJ Estimated	109	+38%
26	Lindenwold, NJ Estimated	106	-57.3%
27	Long Branch, NJ Estimated	100	+6.4%
27	New Providence, NJ Estimated	100	-73.7%
29	Carteret, NJ Estimated	99	-72.7%
30	South Amboy, NJ Estimated	98	+390%
31	Linden, NJ Estimated	97	-71.6%
32	Atlantic City, NJ Estimated	95	+72.7%
33	Camden, NJ Estimated	94	-62.2%
34	Palisades Park, NJ Estimated	86	0%
34	Westfield, NJ Estimated	86	-4.4%
36	Wallington, NJ Estimated	85	+150%
37	Kearny, NJ Estimated	84	n/a
37	South Plainfield, NJ Estimated	84	-31.7%
39	Edgewater, NJ Estimated	82	-49.1%
40	Plainfield, NJ Estimated	81	+1,250%
40	Union City, NJ Estimated	81	-13.8%
42	Highland Park, NJ Estimated	73	-12%
43	Paterson, NJ Estimated	71	+208.7%
44	Wanaque, NJ Estimated	66	+53.5%
45	Glassboro, NJ Estimated	64	-81.3%
46	Bayonne, NJ Estimated	63	-66.5%
47	Garfield, NJ Estimated	62	+24%
48	East Rutherford, NJ Estimated	61	-72.9%
49	Somerville, NJ Estimated	54	-54.6%
50	Vineland, NJ Estimated	51	-32%
51	Summit, NJ Estimated	50	+177.8%
52	Bergenfield, NJ Estimated	49	+113%
53	Fairview, NJ Estimated	48	-48.9%
53	Hackettstown, NJ Estimated	48	-68.4%
55	Woodland Park, NJ Estimated	46	-76%
56	Collingswood, NJ Estimated	41	-56.8%
56	Middlesex, NJ Estimated	41	-4.7%
58	Point Pleasant, NJ Estimated	40	+8.1%
58	Tenafly, NJ Estimated	40	+344.4%
60	Hackensack, NJ Estimated	38	-75.3%
61	Eatontown, NJ Estimated	35	-44.4%
61	Ridgefield Park, NJ Estimated	35	+1,066.7%
63	Passaic, NJ Estimated	34	-55.8%
64	North Arlington, NJ Estimated	30	+275%
64	Rahway, NJ Estimated	30	-74.4%
64	Westwood, NJ Estimated	30	+233.3%
67	Paramus, NJ Estimated	29	+3.6%
68	Princeton, NJ Estimated	28	-92.6%
69	Elmwood Park, NJ Estimated	27	-54.2%
70	Montvale, NJ Estimated	22	+120%
71	Ridgewood, NJ Estimated	20	-9.1%
71	Roselle Park, NJ Estimated	20	-4.8%
73	Chatham, NJ Estimated	19	+11.8%
73	Ridgefield, NJ Estimated	19	-5%
75	Florham Park, NJ Estimated	18	-21.7%
76	Freehold, NJ Estimated	17	-37%
76	Haddonfield, NJ Estimated	17	0%
76	Ringwood, NJ Estimated	17	+13.3%
79	Red Bank, NJ Estimated	16	+77.8%
80	Glen Rock, NJ Estimated	15	-25%
80	Millville, NJ Estimated	15	-44.4%
82	Fair Lawn, NJ Estimated	14	-80.3%
82	Pompton Lakes, NJ Estimated	14	-6.7%
82	Ramsey, NJ Estimated	14	-17.6%
85	New Milford, NJ Estimated	12	0%
86	Franklin Lakes, NJ Estimated	11	-50%
86	River Edge, NJ Estimated	11	+10%
88	Lodi, NJ Estimated	10	-23.1%
89	Bridgeton, NJ Estimated	9	-35.7%
89	Dover, NJ Estimated	9	+28.6%
89	Kinnelon, NJ Estimated	9	-50%
92	Hopatcong, NJ Estimated	8	-38.5%
92	Phillipsburg, NJ Estimated	8	-33.3%
92	Somers Point, NJ Estimated	8	0%
95	Rutherford, NJ Estimated	7	+250%
95	South River, NJ Estimated	7	+40%
95	Tinton Falls, NJ Estimated	7	+600%
98	Asbury Park, NJ Estimated	6	-25%
98	Hammonton, NJ Estimated	6	-66.7%
98	Woodbury, NJ Estimated	6	n/a
101	Beachwood, NJ Estimated	5	0%
101	Manville, NJ Estimated	5	+150%
101	Totowa, NJ Estimated	5	-84.8%
104	Little Ferry, NJ Estimated	4	n/a
104	Oakland, NJ Estimated	4	0%
106	Hasbrouck Heights, NJ Estimated	3	0%
107	Guttenberg, NJ Estimated	2	-90.5%
107	Hawthorne, NJ Estimated	2	n/a
107	North Plainfield, NJ Estimated	2	-87.5%
110	Hillsdale, NJ Estimated	1	-66.7%
111	Bellmawr, NJ Estimated	0	-100%
111	Burlington, NJ Estimated	0	-100%
111	Dumont, NJ Estimated	0	n/a
111	Gloucester City, NJ Estimated	0	n/a
111	Lincoln Park, NJ Estimated	0	n/a
111	Maywood, NJ Estimated	0	-100%
111	Pine Hill, NJ Estimated	0	-100%

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/Northeast%20Region/ne2016a.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. (2017). Building Permits Survey: final annual estimates of new privately owned housing units authorized by permit-issuing place, including imputation (Cities in New Jersey by housing units authorized by building permits, 2016) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/Northeast%20Region/ne2016a.txt

MLA 9

Building Permits Survey: final annual estimates of new privately owned housing units authorized by permit-issuing place, including imputation, Cities in New Jersey by housing units authorized by building permits, 2016. U.S. Census Bureau, 1 May 2017, https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/Northeast%20Region/ne2016a.txt. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/new-jersey-cities?period=2016. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

U.S. Census Bureau. 2017. Building Permits Survey: final annual estimates of new privately owned housing units authorized by permit-issuing place, including imputation. Cities in New Jersey by housing units authorized by building permits, 2016. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/Northeast%20Region/ne2016a.txt. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/new-jersey-cities?period=2016.

Harvard

U.S. Census Bureau (2017) Building Permits Survey: final annual estimates of new privately owned housing units authorized by permit-issuing place, including imputation, Cities in New Jersey by housing units authorized by building permits, 2016 [Dataset]. Available at: https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/Northeast%20Region/ne2016a.txt, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/new-jersey-cities?period=2016 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX

@misc{census_cities_in_new_jersey_2016,
  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 New Jersey by housing units authorized by building permits, 2016}},
  year = {2017},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/Northeast%20Region/ne2016a.txt},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/new-jersey-cities?period=2016. 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/Northeast\%20Region/ne2016a.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 New Jersey by housing units authorized by building permits, 2016
PY  - 2017
DA  - 2017/05/01
PB  - U.S. Census Bureau
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/Northeast%20Region/ne2016a.txt
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/new-jersey-cities?period=2016
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/new-jersey-cities?period=2016.
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/Northeast%20Region/ne2016a.txt. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
ER  -

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Questions

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

Jersey City, NJ, with 1,494 in 2016, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

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

Pine Hill, NJ, with 0 in 2016.

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.