Data / Rankings / Housing units authorized by building permits / Cities in New York

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 2016, at 16,280. West Haverstraw, NY had the lowest, at 0. The median was 7 and the figure for New York was 33,711. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

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Highest16,280New York, NY
Lowest0West Haverstraw, NY
Median788 cities
New York33,711History

Top 40 cities, 2016

New York, NY: 16,280 countNew York, NY16,280Buffalo, NY: 311 countBuffalo, NY311Yonkers, NY: 295 countYonkers, NY295White Plains, NY: 293 countWhite Plains, NY293Syracuse, NY: 279 countSyracuse, NY279Ithaca, NY: 271 countIthaca, NY271Schenectady, NY: 259 countSchenectady, NY259Saratoga Springs, NY: 145 countSaratoga Springs, NY145Poughkeepsie, NY: 136 countPoughkeepsie, NY136Kiryas Joel, NY: 128 countKiryas Joel, NY128Albany, NY: 103 countAlbany, NY103Glens Falls, NY: 87 countGlens Falls, NY87Harrison, NY: 75 countHarrison, NY75Peekskill, NY: 70 countPeekskill, NY70Middletown, NY: 68 countMiddletown, NY68Lockport, NY: 62 countLockport, NY62Oneonta, NY: 50 countOneonta, NY50Troy, NY: 42 countTroy, NY42Plattsburgh, NY: 40 countPlattsburgh, NY40Rome, NY: 40 countRome, NY40Rockville Centre, NY: 34 countRockville Centre, NY34Auburn, NY: 30 countAuburn, NY30Woodbury, NY: 30 countWoodbury, NY30Rochester, NY: 26 countRochester, NY26New Square, NY: 21 countNew Square, NY21Lindenhurst, NY: 19 countLindenhurst, NY19Long Beach, NY: 18 countLong Beach, NY18Mamaroneck, NY: 18 countMamaroneck, NY18Port Chester, NY: 17 countPort Chester, NY17Beacon, NY: 14 countBeacon, NY14Mineola, NY: 14 countMineola, NY14Spring Valley, NY: 14 countSpring Valley, NY14Babylon, NY: 13 countBabylon, NY13Glen Cove, NY: 13 countGlen Cove, NY13Westbury, NY: 13 countWestbury, NY13Canandaigua, NY: 11 countCanandaigua, NY11Mount Vernon, NY: 11 countMount Vernon, NY11Patchogue, NY: 11 countPatchogue, NY11New Hyde Park, NY: 10 countNew Hyde Park, NY10Newburgh, NY: 10 countNewburgh, NY10New York, NY: 16,280 countNew York, NY16,280Buffalo, NY: 311 countBuffalo, NY311Yonkers, NY: 295 countYonkers, NY295White Plains, NY: 293 countWhite Plains, NY293Syracuse, NY: 279 countSyracuse, NY279Ithaca, NY: 271 countIthaca, NY271Schenectady, NY: 259 countSchenectady, NY259Saratoga Springs, NY: 145 countSaratoga Springs, NY145Poughkeepsie, NY: 136 countPoughkeepsie, NY136Kiryas Joel, NY: 128 countKiryas Joel, NY128Albany, NY: 103 countAlbany, NY103Glens Falls, NY: 87 countGlens Falls, NY87Harrison, NY: 75 countHarrison, NY75Peekskill, NY: 70 countPeekskill, NY70Middletown, NY: 68 countMiddletown, NY68Lockport, NY: 62 countLockport, NY62Oneonta, NY: 50 countOneonta, NY50Troy, NY: 42 countTroy, NY42Plattsburgh, NY: 40 countPlattsburgh, NY40Rome, NY: 40 countRome, NY40Rockville Centre, NY: 34 countRockville Centre, NY34Auburn, NY: 30 countAuburn, NY30Woodbury, NY: 30 countWoodbury, NY30Rochester, NY: 26 countRochester, NY26New Square, NY: 21 countNew Square, NY21Lindenhurst, NY: 19 countLindenhurst, NY19Long Beach, NY: 18 countLong Beach, NY18Mamaroneck, NY: 18 countMamaroneck, NY18Port Chester, NY: 17 countPort Chester, NY17Beacon, NY: 14 countBeacon, NY14Mineola, NY: 14 countMineola, NY14Spring Valley, NY: 14 countSpring Valley, NY14Babylon, NY: 13 countBabylon, NY13Glen Cove, NY: 13 countGlen Cove, NY13Westbury, NY: 13 countWestbury, NY13Canandaigua, NY: 11 countCanandaigua, NY11Mount Vernon, NY: 11 countMount Vernon, NY11Patchogue, NY: 11 countPatchogue, NY11New Hyde Park, NY: 10 countNew Hyde Park, NY10Newburgh, NY: 10 countNewburgh, NY10
count. Source: Invokely calculation with data from U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

RankCities2016
count		Change on 2015
1New York, NY Estimated16,280-71%
2Buffalo, NY Estimated311+196.2%
3Yonkers, NY Estimated295+32.9%
4White Plains, NY Estimated293+4,085.7%
5Syracuse, NY Estimated279-7.9%
6Ithaca, NY Estimated271+298.5%
7Schenectady, NY Estimated259+581.6%
8Saratoga Springs, NY Estimated145-26.8%
9Poughkeepsie, NY Estimated136n/a
10Kiryas Joel, NY Estimated128-43.9%
11Albany, NY Estimated103-57.4%
12Glens Falls, NY Estimated87-9.4%
13Harrison, NY Estimated75+127.3%
14Peekskill, NY Estimated70+900%
15Middletown, NY Estimated68+9.7%
16Lockport, NY Estimated62n/a
17Oneonta, NY Estimated50-59%
18Troy, NY Estimated42+223.1%
19Plattsburgh, NY Estimated40-9.1%
19Rome, NY Estimated40+2.6%
21Rockville Centre, NY Estimated34-80%
22Auburn, NY Estimated30+3.4%
22Woodbury, NY Estimated30+130.8%
24Rochester, NY Estimated26-93.7%
25New Square, NY Estimated21-62.5%
26Lindenhurst, NY Estimated19+533.3%
27Long Beach, NY Estimated18+12.5%
27Mamaroneck, NY Estimated18-28%
29Port Chester, NY Estimated17+13.3%
30Beacon, NY Estimated14+7.7%
30Mineola, NY Estimated14-63.2%
30Spring Valley, NY Estimated14-22.2%
33Babylon, NY Estimated13+30%
33Glen Cove, NY Estimated13+333.3%
33Westbury, NY Estimated130%
36Canandaigua, NY Estimated11+83.3%
36Mount Vernon, NY Estimated11+57.1%
36Patchogue, NY Estimated11-68.6%
39New Hyde Park, NY Estimated10+150%
39Newburgh, NY Estimated10+11.1%
41Cohoes, NY Estimated9-96.6%
42Freeport, NY Estimated8-42.9%
42Great Neck, NY Estimated8+33.3%
44Lackawanna, NY Estimated7n/a
44Massapequa Park, NY Estimated7+600%
44Tarrytown, NY Estimated7-22.2%
47Niagara Falls, NY Estimated6-73.9%
47North Tonawanda, NY Estimated6-25%
49Floral Park, NY Estimated5+400%
50Lake Grove, NY Estimated4-20%
51Cortland, NY Estimated3-92.7%
51Kingston, NY Estimated3+200%
53Airmont, NY Estimated2-33.3%
53Chestnut Ridge, NY Estimated2-33.3%
53Corning, NY Estimated2n/a
53Garden City, NY Estimated2-81.8%
53Haverstraw, NY Estimated2n/a
53Oswego, NY Estimated2-77.8%
53Tonawanda, NY Estimated20%
53Valley Stream, NY Estimated2+100%
61Depew, NY Estimated1n/a
61Dobbs Ferry, NY Estimated1-50%
61East Rockaway, NY Estimated10%
61Hempstead, NY Estimated1-80%
61Jamestown, NY Estimated10%
61New Rochelle, NY Estimated1-94.1%
61Olean, NY Estimated1n/a
68Amsterdam, NY Estimated0n/a
68Batavia, NY Estimated0-100%
68Binghamton, NY Estimated0-100%
68Dunkirk, NY Estimated0n/a
68Elmira, NY Estimated0n/a
68Endicott, NY Estimated0-100%
68Fulton, NY Estimated0-100%
68Geneva, NY Estimated0-100%
68Gloversville, NY Estimated0n/a
68Kenmore, NY Estimated0n/a
68Lynbrook, NY Estimated0n/a
68Mount Kisco, NY Estimated0n/a
68Oneida, NY Estimated0-100%
68Ossining, NY Estimated0-100%
68Rye, NY Estimated0n/a
68Sleepy Hollow, NY Estimated0-100%
68Suffern, NY Estimated0n/a
68Utica, NY Estimated0n/a
68Watertown, NY Estimated0n/a
68Watervliet, NY Estimated0-100%
68West Haverstraw, NY Estimated0n/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 2016 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/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 York 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 York 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-york-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 York 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-york-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 York 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-york-cities?period=2016 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{census_cities_in_new_york_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 York 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-york-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 York 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-york-cities?period=2016
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/new-york-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?

New York, NY, with 16,280 in 2016, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

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

West Haverstraw, NY, 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. 1 cities have no value for 2016 and are not ranked.

Housing units authorized by building permits: other rankings

Cities in New York: more rankings