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 2017, at 1,604. Woodland Park, NJ had the lowest, at 0. The median was 27 and the figure for New Jersey was 28,501. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

Highest1,604Jersey City, NJ

Lowest0Woodland Park, NJ

Median27117 cities

New Jersey28,501History

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	Jersey City, NJ Estimated	1,604	+7.4%
2	Harrison, NJ Estimated	1,339	+81.2%
3	Newark, NJ Estimated	760	+145.2%
4	Hackensack, NJ Estimated	726	+1,810.5%
5	Hoboken, NJ Estimated	679	+517.3%
6	Bayonne, NJ Estimated	558	+785.7%
7	West New York, NJ Estimated	453	+76.3%
8	Atlantic City, NJ Estimated	392	+312.6%
9	Highland Park, NJ Estimated	375	+413.7%
10	Edgewater, NJ Estimated	312	+280.5%
11	Morristown, NJ Estimated	274	+4.6%
12	Elizabeth, NJ Estimated	227	-63.9%
13	Ocean City, NJ Estimated	222	+13.8%
14	Plainfield, NJ Estimated	212	+161.7%
15	Metuchen, NJ Estimated	210	+62.8%
16	Camden, NJ Estimated	193	+105.3%
17	Cliffside Park, NJ Estimated	192	-61.7%
18	Pleasantville, NJ Estimated	186	-36.5%
19	Madison, NJ Estimated	171	+35.7%
20	Fairview, NJ Estimated	169	+252.1%
21	Long Branch, NJ Estimated	159	+59%
22	Sayreville, NJ Estimated	149	+5.7%
23	Waldwick, NJ Estimated	147	+3.5%
24	Bound Brook, NJ Estimated	145	+8.2%
25	Perth Amboy, NJ Estimated	141	-53.3%
26	Fort Lee, NJ Estimated	139	-73.3%
27	Franklin Lakes, NJ Estimated	136	+1,136.4%
28	Lindenwold, NJ Estimated	123	+16%
29	Rahway, NJ Estimated	122	+306.7%
30	Wood-Ridge, NJ Estimated	121	-26.2%
31	Hawthorne, NJ Estimated	118	+5,800%
32	South Plainfield, NJ Estimated	113	+34.5%
33	Asbury Park, NJ Estimated	110	+1,733.3%
34	Guttenberg, NJ Estimated	109	+5,350%
35	Palisades Park, NJ Estimated	99	+15.1%
36	Roselle, NJ Estimated	97	-34%
37	Glassboro, NJ Estimated	93	+45.3%
38	River Edge, NJ Estimated	82	+645.5%
39	South Amboy, NJ Estimated	77	-21.4%
40	Westfield, NJ Estimated	71	-17.4%
41	New Brunswick, NJ Estimated	65	-70.2%
42	Linden, NJ Estimated	61	-37.1%
43	Somerville, NJ Estimated	52	-3.7%
44	New Milford, NJ Estimated	50	+316.7%
45	Clifton, NJ Estimated	49	-55%
45	Passaic, NJ Estimated	49	+44.1%
47	Red Bank, NJ Estimated	44	+175%
48	Princeton, NJ Estimated	43	+53.6%
49	Ridgefield Park, NJ Estimated	41	+17.1%
50	Union City, NJ Estimated	40	-50.6%
50	Vineland, NJ Estimated	40	-21.6%
52	Hopatcong, NJ Estimated	38	+375%
53	Wanaque, NJ Estimated	37	-43.9%
54	South River, NJ Estimated	35	+400%
55	Point Pleasant, NJ Estimated	34	-15%
56	Bergenfield, NJ Estimated	33	-32.7%
57	Trenton, NJ Estimated	30	-82.1%
58	Paterson, NJ Estimated	29	-59.2%
59	Collingswood, NJ Estimated	27	-34.1%
59	Tenafly, NJ Estimated	27	-32.5%
61	Elmwood Park, NJ Estimated	26	-3.7%
62	Chatham, NJ Estimated	23	+21.1%
63	Haddonfield, NJ Estimated	21	+23.5%
64	Montvale, NJ Estimated	20	-9.1%
64	Paramus, NJ Estimated	20	-31%
66	East Orange, NJ Estimated	19	-90.6%
66	Summit, NJ Estimated	19	-62%
68	Freehold, NJ Estimated	18	+5.9%
68	Little Ferry, NJ Estimated	18	+350%
68	Ridgewood, NJ Estimated	18	-10%
71	Tinton Falls, NJ Estimated	17	+142.9%
72	East Rutherford, NJ Estimated	16	-73.8%
72	Florham Park, NJ Estimated	16	-11.1%
72	Millville, NJ Estimated	16	+6.7%
72	Ringwood, NJ Estimated	16	-5.9%
76	Fair Lawn, NJ Estimated	15	+7.1%
77	Secaucus, NJ Estimated	14	-98.2%
78	Ridgefield, NJ Estimated	13	-31.6%
79	Burlington, NJ Estimated	11	n/a
80	Glen Rock, NJ Estimated	10	-33.3%
80	Lodi, NJ Estimated	10	0%
80	Pompton Lakes, NJ Estimated	10	-28.6%
83	Garfield, NJ Estimated	9	-85.5%
84	Carteret, NJ Estimated	8	-91.9%
85	Bridgeton, NJ Estimated	7	-22.2%
85	Eatontown, NJ Estimated	7	-80%
85	Englewood, NJ Estimated	7	-96.4%
88	Beachwood, NJ Estimated	6	+20%
88	Hasbrouck Heights, NJ Estimated	6	+100%
88	Somers Point, NJ Estimated	6	-25%
91	Bellmawr, NJ Estimated	5	n/a
91	Dumont, NJ Estimated	5	n/a
91	Kinnelon, NJ Estimated	5	-44.4%
91	Ramsey, NJ Estimated	5	-64.3%
91	Roselle Park, NJ Estimated	5	-75%
91	Westwood, NJ Estimated	5	-83.3%
97	Hammonton, NJ Estimated	4	-33.3%
97	Hillsdale, NJ Estimated	4	+300%
97	Maywood, NJ Estimated	4	n/a
97	Middlesex, NJ Estimated	4	-90.2%
97	New Providence, NJ Estimated	4	-96%
102	Manville, NJ Estimated	3	-40%
102	Totowa, NJ Estimated	3	-40%
104	Dover, NJ Estimated	2	-77.8%
104	Oakland, NJ Estimated	2	-50%
104	Rutherford, NJ Estimated	2	-71.4%
107	North Plainfield, NJ Estimated	1	-50%
107	Pine Hill, NJ Estimated	1	n/a
107	Woodbury, NJ Estimated	1	-83.3%
110	Gloucester City, NJ Estimated	0	n/a
110	Hackettstown, NJ Estimated	0	-100%
110	Kearny, NJ Estimated	0	-100%
110	Lincoln Park, NJ Estimated	0	n/a
110	North Arlington, NJ Estimated	0	-100%
110	Phillipsburg, NJ Estimated	0	-100%
110	Wallington, NJ Estimated	0	-100%
110	Woodland Park, 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/ne2017a.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 New Jersey by housing units authorized by building permits, 2017) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/Northeast%20Region/ne2017a.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, 2017. U.S. Census Bureau, 1 May 2018, https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/Northeast%20Region/ne2017a.txt. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/new-jersey-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 New Jersey by housing units authorized by building permits, 2017. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/Northeast%20Region/ne2017a.txt. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/new-jersey-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 New Jersey by housing units authorized by building permits, 2017 [Dataset]. Available at: https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/Northeast%20Region/ne2017a.txt, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/new-jersey-cities?period=2017 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX

@misc{census_cities_in_new_jersey_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 New Jersey by housing units authorized by building permits, 2017}},
  year = {2018},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/Northeast%20Region/ne2017a.txt},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/new-jersey-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/Northeast\%20Region/ne2017a.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, 2017
PY  - 2018
DA  - 2018/05/01
PB  - U.S. Census Bureau
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/Northeast%20Region/ne2017a.txt
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/new-jersey-cities?period=2017
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/new-jersey-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/Northeast%20Region/ne2017a.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 1,604 in 2017, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

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

Woodland Park, NJ, 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.