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 2021, at 19,923. West Haverstraw, NY had the lowest, at 0. The median was 12 and the figure for New York was 40,135. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

Highest19,923New York, NY

Lowest0West Haverstraw, NY

Median1288 cities

New York40,135History

Top 40 cities, 2021

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

Full ranking

Rank	Cities	2021 count	Change on 2020
1	New York, NY Estimated	19,923	+2.7%
2	New Rochelle, NY Estimated	863	+5.1%
3	Kiryas Joel, NY Estimated	650	+20.4%
4	Yonkers, NY Estimated	579	+18.2%
5	Ithaca, NY Estimated	464	+728.6%
6	Albany, NY Estimated	428	+791.7%
7	White Plains, NY Estimated	296	-4.5%
8	Buffalo, NY Estimated	292	+21.7%
9	Schenectady, NY Estimated	121	+28.7%
10	Elmira, NY Estimated	116	-25.6%
11	Tarrytown, NY Estimated	111	+2,120%
12	Beacon, NY Estimated	110	+2,650%
13	Rome, NY Estimated	98	+28.9%
14	Middletown, NY Estimated	76	+15.2%
15	Saratoga Springs, NY Estimated	71	-32.4%
16	Plattsburgh, NY Estimated	68	+28.3%
17	Binghamton, NY Estimated	65	+30%
18	Oneonta, NY Estimated	64	n/a
18	Sleepy Hollow, NY Estimated	64	-85.7%
20	Amsterdam, NY Estimated	57	+5,600%
21	Batavia, NY Estimated	56	-3.4%
22	Rochester, NY Estimated	45	-94.4%
22	Troy, NY Estimated	45	+350%
24	Canandaigua, NY Estimated	38	+322.2%
25	Peekskill, NY Estimated	37	-88.4%
26	Harrison, NY Estimated	35	-80.3%
27	Lindenhurst, NY Estimated	34	+1,033.3%
28	Poughkeepsie, NY Estimated	33	-80.7%
28	Valley Stream, NY Estimated	33	+725%
30	Dobbs Ferry, NY Estimated	30	+66.7%
30	Woodbury, NY Estimated	30	-3.2%
32	Newburgh, NY Estimated	28	+16.7%
33	Rye, NY Estimated	26	+4%
34	Hempstead, NY Estimated	22	+266.7%
34	Spring Valley, NY Estimated	22	+10%
34	Westbury, NY Estimated	22	+22.2%
37	Long Beach, NY Estimated	21	+10.5%
38	Syracuse, NY Estimated	19	+72.7%
39	New Square, NY Estimated	18	+800%
40	North Tonawanda, NY Estimated	16	-65.2%
41	Olean, NY Estimated	14	n/a
42	Airmont, NY Estimated	13	+333.3%
42	Patchogue, NY Estimated	13	n/a
44	Great Neck, NY Estimated	12	+33.3%
45	Chestnut Ridge, NY Estimated	11	+266.7%
45	Lake Grove, NY Estimated	11	+22.2%
47	Freeport, NY Estimated	10	+42.9%
48	Babylon, NY Estimated	9	+50%
48	Mamaroneck, NY Estimated	9	-47.1%
50	Niagara Falls, NY Estimated	7	n/a
51	Glen Cove, NY Estimated	6	+200%
52	Garden City, NY Estimated	5	+25%
52	Mineola, NY Estimated	5	-98.1%
54	Corning, NY Estimated	4	-97.2%
54	East Rockaway, NY Estimated	4	-77.8%
54	New Hyde Park, NY Estimated	4	+300%
54	Ossining, NY Estimated	4	n/a
54	Rockville Centre, NY Estimated	4	-20%
59	Cortland, NY Estimated	3	+200%
59	Kingston, NY Estimated	3	0%
61	Haverstraw, NY Estimated	2	n/a
61	Lockport, NY Estimated	2	+100%
61	Lynbrook, NY Estimated	2	n/a
61	Mount Vernon, NY Estimated	2	-60%
61	Watervliet, NY Estimated	2	n/a
66	Auburn, NY Estimated	1	n/a
66	Cohoes, NY Estimated	1	-88.9%
66	Glens Falls, NY Estimated	1	0%
66	Lackawanna, NY Estimated	1	0%
66	Mount Kisco, NY Estimated	1	-75%
66	Tonawanda, NY Estimated	1	-88.9%
72	Depew, NY Estimated	0	n/a
72	Dunkirk, NY Estimated	0	n/a
72	Endicott, NY Estimated	0	n/a
72	Floral Park, NY Estimated	0	n/a
72	Fulton, NY Estimated	0	n/a
72	Geneva, NY Estimated	0	n/a
72	Gloversville, NY Estimated	0	n/a
72	Jamestown, NY Estimated	0	-100%
72	Kenmore, NY Estimated	0	n/a
72	Massapequa Park, NY Estimated	0	-100%
72	Oneida, NY Estimated	0	-100%
72	Oswego, NY Estimated	0	-100%
72	Port Chester, NY Estimated	0	n/a
72	Suffern, NY Estimated	0	n/a
72	Utica, NY Estimated	0	n/a
72	Watertown, NY Estimated	0	n/a
72	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 2021 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/ne2021a.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. (2022). 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, 2021) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/Northeast%20Region/ne2021a.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, 2021. U.S. Census Bureau, 27 Apr. 2022, https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/Northeast%20Region/ne2021a.txt. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/new-york-cities?period=2021. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

U.S. Census Bureau. 2022. 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, 2021. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/Northeast%20Region/ne2021a.txt. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/new-york-cities?period=2021.

Harvard

U.S. Census Bureau (2022) 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, 2021 [Dataset]. Available at: https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/Northeast%20Region/ne2021a.txt, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/new-york-cities?period=2021 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX

@misc{census_cities_in_new_york_2021,
  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, 2021}},
  year = {2022},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/Northeast%20Region/ne2021a.txt},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/new-york-cities?period=2021. 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/ne2021a.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, 2021
PY  - 2022
DA  - 2022/04/27
PB  - U.S. Census Bureau
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/Northeast%20Region/ne2021a.txt
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/new-york-cities?period=2021
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/new-york-cities?period=2021.
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/ne2021a.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 19,923 in 2021, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

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

West Haverstraw, NY, with 0 in 2021.

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 2021 and are not ranked.