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 2017, at 22,101. West Haverstraw, NY had the lowest, at 0. The median was 7 and the figure for New York was 39,350. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

Highest22,101New York, NY

Lowest0West Haverstraw, NY

Median788 cities

New York39,350History

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	New York, NY Estimated	22,101	+35.8%
2	Syracuse, NY Estimated	525	+88.2%
3	Yonkers, NY Estimated	361	+22.4%
4	Buffalo, NY Estimated	267	-14.1%
5	Ithaca, NY Estimated	264	-2.6%
6	Kiryas Joel, NY Estimated	250	+95.3%
7	Rochester, NY Estimated	238	+815.4%
8	Beacon, NY Estimated	154	+1,000%
9	Binghamton, NY Estimated	140	n/a
10	Peekskill, NY Estimated	128	+82.9%
11	Saratoga Springs, NY Estimated	122	-15.9%
12	Albany, NY Estimated	118	+14.6%
13	Schenectady, NY Estimated	115	-55.6%
14	Suffern, NY Estimated	92	n/a
15	Poughkeepsie, NY Estimated	70	-48.5%
16	Elmira, NY Estimated	68	n/a
17	Middletown, NY Estimated	65	-4.4%
18	New Square, NY Estimated	50	+138.1%
19	North Tonawanda, NY Estimated	47	+683.3%
20	Plattsburgh, NY Estimated	39	-2.5%
20	Rome, NY Estimated	39	-2.5%
22	Harrison, NY Estimated	33	-56%
22	New Rochelle, NY Estimated	33	+3,200%
22	Oneida, NY Estimated	33	n/a
25	Dunkirk, NY Estimated	32	n/a
25	Woodbury, NY Estimated	32	+6.7%
27	East Rockaway, NY Estimated	30	+2,900%
28	Mineola, NY Estimated	25	+78.6%
29	Spring Valley, NY Estimated	21	+50%
30	Long Beach, NY Estimated	17	-5.6%
31	Tonawanda, NY Estimated	16	+700%
32	Port Chester, NY Estimated	14	-17.6%
32	Rockville Centre, NY Estimated	14	-58.8%
34	Westbury, NY Estimated	13	0%
35	Glens Falls, NY Estimated	12	-86.2%
35	Mamaroneck, NY Estimated	12	-33.3%
35	White Plains, NY Estimated	12	-95.9%
38	Lake Grove, NY Estimated	11	+175%
39	Canandaigua, NY Estimated	10	-9.1%
39	Newburgh, NY Estimated	10	0%
41	Great Neck, NY Estimated	9	+12.5%
42	Babylon, NY Estimated	8	-38.5%
43	Airmont, NY Estimated	7	+250%
43	Glen Cove, NY Estimated	7	-46.2%
43	Lackawanna, NY Estimated	7	0%
46	Floral Park, NY Estimated	6	+20%
46	Lindenhurst, NY Estimated	6	-68.4%
46	Tarrytown, NY Estimated	6	-14.3%
49	Cohoes, NY Estimated	5	-44.4%
49	Hempstead, NY Estimated	5	+400%
49	Massapequa Park, NY Estimated	5	-28.6%
52	Freeport, NY Estimated	3	-62.5%
52	Geneva, NY Estimated	3	n/a
52	Kingston, NY Estimated	3	0%
52	Mount Vernon, NY Estimated	3	-72.7%
52	Valley Stream, NY Estimated	3	+50%
57	Batavia, NY Estimated	2	n/a
57	Corning, NY Estimated	2	0%
57	Dobbs Ferry, NY Estimated	2	+100%
57	Garden City, NY Estimated	2	0%
57	Sleepy Hollow, NY Estimated	2	n/a
62	Amsterdam, NY Estimated	1	n/a
62	Auburn, NY Estimated	1	-96.7%
62	New Hyde Park, NY Estimated	1	-90%
62	Niagara Falls, NY Estimated	1	-83.3%
62	Oneonta, NY Estimated	1	-98%
62	Ossining, NY Estimated	1	n/a
62	Patchogue, NY Estimated	1	-90.9%
62	Troy, NY Estimated	1	-97.6%
70	Chestnut Ridge, NY Estimated	0	-100%
70	Cortland, NY Estimated	0	-100%
70	Depew, NY Estimated	0	-100%
70	Endicott, NY Estimated	0	n/a
70	Fulton, NY Estimated	0	n/a
70	Gloversville, NY Estimated	0	n/a
70	Haverstraw, NY Estimated	0	-100%
70	Jamestown, NY Estimated	0	-100%
70	Kenmore, NY Estimated	0	n/a
70	Lockport, NY Estimated	0	-100%
70	Lynbrook, NY Estimated	0	n/a
70	Mount Kisco, NY Estimated	0	n/a
70	Olean, NY Estimated	0	-100%
70	Oswego, NY Estimated	0	-100%
70	Rye, NY Estimated	0	n/a
70	Utica, NY Estimated	0	n/a
70	Watertown, NY Estimated	0	n/a
70	Watervliet, 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 2017 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/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 York 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 York 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-york-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 York 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-york-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 York 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-york-cities?period=2017 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX

@misc{census_cities_in_new_york_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 York 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-york-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 York 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-york-cities?period=2017
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/new-york-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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Rank Cities in New York by housing units authorized by building permits using official data, and cite the source.

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

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

New York, NY, with 22,101 in 2017, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

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

West Haverstraw, NY, 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. 1 cities have no value for 2017 and are not ranked.