Cities in New York by housing units authorized by building permits

New York, NY had the highest housing units authorized by building permits of 88 cities in 2015, at 56,183. West Haverstraw, NY had the lowest, at 0. The median was 7 and the figure for New York was 74,611. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

Highest56,183New York, NY

Lowest0West Haverstraw, NY

Median788 cities

New York74,611History

Top 40 cities, 2015

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

Full ranking

Rank	Cities	2015 count	Change on 2014
1	New York, NY Estimated	56,183	+175%
2	Rochester, NY Estimated	413	+85.2%
3	Syracuse, NY Estimated	303	+40.3%
4	Cohoes, NY Estimated	262	+40.1%
5	Albany, NY Estimated	242	+206.3%
6	Kiryas Joel, NY Estimated	228	+71.4%
7	Yonkers, NY Estimated	222	+174.1%
8	Saratoga Springs, NY Estimated	198	0%
9	Rockville Centre, NY Estimated	170	+4,150%
10	Oneonta, NY Estimated	122	-14.1%
11	Buffalo, NY Estimated	105	-11%
12	Glens Falls, NY Estimated	96	+300%
13	Ithaca, NY Estimated	68	-13.9%
14	Middletown, NY Estimated	62	-10.1%
15	Endicott, NY Estimated	56	n/a
15	New Square, NY Estimated	56	-12.5%
17	Oneida, NY Estimated	44	+780%
17	Plattsburgh, NY Estimated	44	+528.6%
19	Cortland, NY Estimated	41	+1,950%
20	Rome, NY Estimated	39	+77.3%
21	Mineola, NY Estimated	38	-11.6%
21	Schenectady, NY Estimated	38	+1,800%
23	Patchogue, NY Estimated	35	-38.6%
24	Harrison, NY Estimated	33	+6.5%
25	Auburn, NY Estimated	29	-74.6%
26	Mamaroneck, NY Estimated	25	+150%
27	Niagara Falls, NY Estimated	23	+283.3%
28	Spring Valley, NY Estimated	18	+5.9%
29	New Rochelle, NY Estimated	17	+240%
30	Long Beach, NY Estimated	16	+6.7%
31	Port Chester, NY Estimated	15	+25%
32	Freeport, NY Estimated	14	+75%
33	Beacon, NY Estimated	13	-84.5%
33	Troy, NY Estimated	13	+8.3%
33	Westbury, NY Estimated	13	-13.3%
33	Woodbury, NY Estimated	13	-59.4%
37	Garden City, NY Estimated	11	-8.3%
38	Babylon, NY Estimated	10	+11.1%
38	Binghamton, NY Estimated	10	+233.3%
40	Newburgh, NY Estimated	9	-10%
40	Oswego, NY Estimated	9	-18.2%
40	Tarrytown, NY Estimated	9	-10%
43	North Tonawanda, NY Estimated	8	-33.3%
44	Mount Vernon, NY Estimated	7	+16.7%
44	Peekskill, NY Estimated	7	n/a
44	White Plains, NY Estimated	7	-93.7%
47	Canandaigua, NY Estimated	6	-33.3%
47	Great Neck, NY Estimated	6	+50%
49	Hempstead, NY Estimated	5	n/a
49	Lake Grove, NY Estimated	5	-16.7%
51	New Hyde Park, NY Estimated	4	+33.3%
52	Airmont, NY Estimated	3	n/a
52	Chestnut Ridge, NY Estimated	3	0%
52	Glen Cove, NY Estimated	3	-91.7%
52	Lindenhurst, NY Estimated	3	-66.7%
56	Batavia, NY Estimated	2	-66.7%
56	Dobbs Ferry, NY Estimated	2	-33.3%
56	Tonawanda, NY Estimated	2	n/a
56	Watervliet, NY Estimated	2	-33.3%
60	East Rockaway, NY Estimated	1	n/a
60	Floral Park, NY Estimated	1	0%
60	Fulton, NY Estimated	1	n/a
60	Geneva, NY Estimated	1	n/a
60	Jamestown, NY Estimated	1	n/a
60	Kingston, NY Estimated	1	-85.7%
60	Massapequa Park, NY Estimated	1	-75%
60	Ossining, NY Estimated	1	0%
60	Sleepy Hollow, NY Estimated	1	n/a
60	Valley Stream, NY Estimated	1	-97.5%
70	Amsterdam, NY Estimated	0	n/a
70	Corning, NY Estimated	0	-100%
70	Depew, NY Estimated	0	-100%
70	Dunkirk, NY Estimated	0	n/a
70	Elmira, NY Estimated	0	n/a
70	Gloversville, NY Estimated	0	-100%
70	Haverstraw, NY Estimated	0	-100%
70	Kenmore, NY Estimated	0	n/a
70	Lackawanna, NY Estimated	0	-100%
70	Lockport, NY Estimated	0	n/a
70	Lynbrook, NY Estimated	0	n/a
70	Mount Kisco, NY Estimated	0	-100%
70	Olean, NY Estimated	0	-100%
70	Poughkeepsie, NY Estimated	0	-100%
70	Rye, NY Estimated	0	n/a
70	Suffern, NY Estimated	0	-100%
70	Utica, NY Estimated	0	n/a
70	Watertown, NY Estimated	0	n/a
70	West Haverstraw, NY 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. 1 cities with data in other periods have no value for 2015 and are left out rather than filled from another source. 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/ne2015a.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. (2016). Building Permits Survey: final annual estimates of new privately owned housing units authorized by permit-issuing place, including imputation (Cities in New York by housing units authorized by building permits, 2015) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/Northeast%20Region/ne2015a.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 York by housing units authorized by building permits, 2015. U.S. Census Bureau, 30 Sept. 2016, https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/Northeast%20Region/ne2015a.txt. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/new-york-cities?period=2015. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

U.S. Census Bureau. 2016. Building Permits Survey: final annual estimates of new privately owned housing units authorized by permit-issuing place, including imputation. Cities in New York by housing units authorized by building permits, 2015. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/Northeast%20Region/ne2015a.txt. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/new-york-cities?period=2015.

Harvard

U.S. Census Bureau (2016) Building Permits Survey: final annual estimates of new privately owned housing units authorized by permit-issuing place, including imputation, Cities in New York by housing units authorized by building permits, 2015 [Dataset]. Available at: https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/Northeast%20Region/ne2015a.txt, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/new-york-cities?period=2015 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX

@misc{census_cities_in_new_york_2015,
  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 York by housing units authorized by building permits, 2015}},
  year = {2016},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/Northeast%20Region/ne2015a.txt},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/new-york-cities?period=2015. 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/ne2015a.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 York by housing units authorized by building permits, 2015
PY  - 2016
DA  - 2016/09/30
PB  - U.S. Census Bureau
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/Northeast%20Region/ne2015a.txt
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/new-york-cities?period=2015
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/new-york-cities?period=2015.
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/ne2015a.txt. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
ER  -

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Rank Cities in New York by housing units authorized by building permits using official data, and cite the source.

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Questions

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

New York, NY, with 56,183 in 2015, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

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

West Haverstraw, NY, with 0 in 2015.

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. 1 cities have no value for 2015 and are not ranked.