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 2020, at 19,407. West Haverstraw, NY had the lowest, at 0. The median was 6 and the figure for New York was 37,330. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

Highest19,407New York, NY

Lowest0West Haverstraw, NY

Median688 cities

New York37,330History

Top 40 cities, 2020

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

Full ranking

Rank	Cities	2020 count	Change on 2019
1	New York, NY Estimated	19,407	-26.9%
2	New Rochelle, NY Estimated	821	-36.1%
3	Rochester, NY Estimated	799	+130.9%
4	Kiryas Joel, NY Estimated	540	+2.7%
5	Yonkers, NY Estimated	490	-12%
6	Sleepy Hollow, NY Estimated	446	+1,015%
7	Peekskill, NY Estimated	320	+6,300%
8	White Plains, NY Estimated	310	-1.9%
9	Mineola, NY Estimated	270	+37.8%
10	Buffalo, NY Estimated	240	-17.5%
11	Harrison, NY Estimated	178	+191.8%
12	Poughkeepsie, NY Estimated	171	+44.9%
13	Elmira, NY Estimated	156	-19.6%
14	Oswego, NY Estimated	150	+163.2%
15	Corning, NY Estimated	144	+8.3%
16	Saratoga Springs, NY Estimated	105	-23.9%
17	Schenectady, NY Estimated	94	+1,075%
18	Rome, NY Estimated	76	-31.5%
19	Middletown, NY Estimated	66	+3.1%
20	Batavia, NY Estimated	58	n/a
21	Ithaca, NY Estimated	56	-86.8%
22	Plattsburgh, NY Estimated	53	-15.9%
23	Binghamton, NY Estimated	50	-19.4%
24	Albany, NY Estimated	48	+336.4%
25	North Tonawanda, NY Estimated	46	+475%
26	Woodbury, NY Estimated	31	-6.1%
27	Rye, NY Estimated	25	-3.8%
28	Newburgh, NY Estimated	24	+140%
29	Spring Valley, NY Estimated	20	-16.7%
30	Long Beach, NY Estimated	19	+11.8%
31	Dobbs Ferry, NY Estimated	18	-33.3%
31	East Rockaway, NY Estimated	18	+63.6%
31	Westbury, NY Estimated	18	+5.9%
34	Mamaroneck, NY Estimated	17	+6.3%
35	Syracuse, NY Estimated	11	+10%
36	Troy, NY Estimated	10	-66.7%
37	Canandaigua, NY Estimated	9	+12.5%
37	Cohoes, NY Estimated	9	-30.8%
37	Great Neck, NY Estimated	9	+12.5%
37	Lake Grove, NY Estimated	9	0%
37	Massapequa Park, NY Estimated	9	+200%
37	Tonawanda, NY Estimated	9	-78%
43	Freeport, NY Estimated	7	-36.4%
44	Babylon, NY Estimated	6	+200%
44	Hempstead, NY Estimated	6	-40%
46	Mount Vernon, NY Estimated	5	n/a
46	Rockville Centre, NY Estimated	5	+66.7%
46	Tarrytown, NY Estimated	5	n/a
49	Beacon, NY Estimated	4	-84%
49	Garden City, NY Estimated	4	+300%
49	Mount Kisco, NY Estimated	4	n/a
49	Valley Stream, NY Estimated	4	+33.3%
53	Airmont, NY Estimated	3	-40%
53	Chestnut Ridge, NY Estimated	3	n/a
53	Kingston, NY Estimated	3	0%
53	Lindenhurst, NY Estimated	3	+200%
57	Glen Cove, NY Estimated	2	-71.4%
57	New Square, NY Estimated	2	-96.2%
57	Oneida, NY Estimated	2	-33.3%
60	Amsterdam, NY Estimated	1	0%
60	Cortland, NY Estimated	1	n/a
60	Glens Falls, NY Estimated	1	0%
60	Jamestown, NY Estimated	1	0%
60	Lackawanna, NY Estimated	1	-50%
60	Lockport, NY Estimated	1	n/a
60	New Hyde Park, NY Estimated	1	-66.7%
67	Auburn, NY Estimated	0	-100%
67	Depew, NY Estimated	0	-100%
67	Dunkirk, NY Estimated	0	-100%
67	Endicott, NY Estimated	0	n/a
67	Floral Park, NY Estimated	0	-100%
67	Fulton, NY Estimated	0	n/a
67	Geneva, NY Estimated	0	-100%
67	Gloversville, NY Estimated	0	n/a
67	Haverstraw, NY Estimated	0	-100%
67	Kenmore, NY Estimated	0	n/a
67	Lynbrook, NY Estimated	0	-100%
67	Niagara Falls, NY Estimated	0	n/a
67	Olean, NY Estimated	0	n/a
67	Oneonta, NY Estimated	0	n/a
67	Ossining, NY Estimated	0	-100%
67	Patchogue, NY Estimated	0	-100%
67	Port Chester, NY Estimated	0	n/a
67	Suffern, NY Estimated	0	n/a
67	Utica, NY Estimated	0	n/a
67	Watertown, NY Estimated	0	n/a
67	Watervliet, NY Estimated	0	n/a
67	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 2020 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/ne2020a.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. (2021). 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, 2020) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/Northeast%20Region/ne2020a.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, 2020. U.S. Census Bureau, 3 May 2021, https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/Northeast%20Region/ne2020a.txt. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/new-york-cities?period=2020. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

U.S. Census Bureau. 2021. 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, 2020. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/Northeast%20Region/ne2020a.txt. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/new-york-cities?period=2020.

Harvard

U.S. Census Bureau (2021) 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, 2020 [Dataset]. Available at: https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/Northeast%20Region/ne2020a.txt, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/new-york-cities?period=2020 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX

@misc{census_cities_in_new_york_2020,
  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, 2020}},
  year = {2021},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/Northeast%20Region/ne2020a.txt},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/new-york-cities?period=2020. 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/ne2020a.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, 2020
PY  - 2021
DA  - 2021/05/03
PB  - U.S. Census Bureau
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/Northeast%20Region/ne2020a.txt
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/new-york-cities?period=2020
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/new-york-cities?period=2020.
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/ne2020a.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 19,407 in 2020, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

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

West Haverstraw, NY, with 0 in 2020.

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 2020 and are not ranked.