Cities in Pennsylvania by housing units authorized by building permits

Philadelphia, PA had the highest housing units authorized by building permits of 68 cities in 2022, at 3,223. York, PA had the lowest, at 0. The median was 4 and the figure for Pennsylvania was 28,149. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

Highest3,223Philadelphia, PA

Lowest0York, PA

Median468 cities

Pennsylvania28,149History

Top 40 cities, 2022

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

Full ranking

Rank	Cities	2022 count	Change on 2021
1	Philadelphia, PA Estimated	3,223	-87.2%
2	Pittsburgh, PA Estimated	2,028	+148.8%
3	Bethlehem, PA Estimated	375	+278.8%
4	State College, PA Estimated	294	n/a
5	Phoenixville, PA Estimated	285	+99.3%
6	Emmaus, PA Estimated	173	+408.8%
7	Mechanicsburg, PA Estimated	144	+269.2%
8	Carlisle, PA Estimated	135	+743.8%
9	Columbia, PA Estimated	134	n/a
10	Murrysville, PA Estimated	58	+314.3%
11	Harrisburg, PA Estimated	52	-1.9%
12	Northampton, PA Estimated	49	+145%
13	Williamsport, PA Estimated	43	+4,200%
14	Chambersburg, PA Estimated	32	-27.3%
15	Allentown, PA Estimated	27	n/a
16	Lansdale, PA Estimated	26	+420%
17	Lower Burrell, PA Estimated	23	+283.3%
17	Monroeville, PA Estimated	23	-81.5%
19	Plum, PA Estimated	21	-48.8%
20	Waynesboro, PA Estimated	20	+66.7%
21	Easton, PA Estimated	17	-89%
22	Franklin Park, PA Estimated	15	+114.3%
23	Jefferson Hills, PA Estimated	11	-65.6%
23	Lebanon, PA Estimated	11	n/a
25	Chester, PA Estimated	10	0%
25	Hazleton, PA Estimated	10	n/a
27	Elizabethtown, PA Estimated	8	-57.9%
27	Hanover, PA Estimated	8	-81.4%
29	Bethel Park, PA Estimated	7	-69.6%
29	Norristown, PA Estimated	7	n/a
29	St. Marys, PA Estimated	7	+75%
32	Hermitage, PA Estimated	5	-50%
33	Berwick, PA Estimated	4	+100%
33	Scranton, PA Estimated	4	+33.3%
33	Washington, PA Estimated	4	+33.3%
33	West Chester, PA Estimated	4	n/a
37	Erie, PA Estimated	3	-75%
37	Lancaster, PA Estimated	3	-25%
39	Baldwin, PA Estimated	2	n/a
39	Bloomsburg, PA Estimated	2	n/a
39	Butler, PA Estimated	2	n/a
39	Ephrata, PA Estimated	2	+100%
39	Greensburg, PA Estimated	2	n/a
39	Pottstown, PA Estimated	2	+100%
39	West Mifflin, PA Estimated	2	-85.7%
46	Dunmore, PA Estimated	1	-50%
46	Munhall, PA Estimated	1	n/a
46	New Castle, PA Estimated	1	0%
46	Wilkes-Barre, PA Estimated	1	-50%
50	Altoona, PA Estimated	0	-100%
50	Coatesville, PA Estimated	0	n/a
50	Darby, PA Estimated	0	n/a
50	Indiana, PA Estimated	0	n/a
50	Johnstown, PA Estimated	0	n/a
50	Kingston, PA Estimated	0	n/a
50	Lansdowne, PA Estimated	0	-100%
50	McKeesport, PA Estimated	0	n/a
50	Meadville, PA Estimated	0	n/a
50	Nanticoke, PA Estimated	0	n/a
50	New Kensington, PA Estimated	0	-100%
50	Pottsville, PA Estimated	0	-100%
50	Reading, PA Estimated	0	n/a
50	Sharon, PA Estimated	0	n/a
50	Whitehall, PA Estimated	0	-100%
50	Wilkinsburg, PA Estimated	0	n/a
50	Wyomissing, PA Estimated	0	-100%
50	Yeadon, PA Estimated	0	-100%
50	York, PA Estimated	0	-100%

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. 2 cities with data in other periods have no value for 2022 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/ne2022a.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. (2024). Building Permits Survey: final annual estimates of new privately owned housing units authorized by permit-issuing place, including imputation (Cities in Pennsylvania by housing units authorized by building permits, 2022) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/Northeast%20Region/ne2022a.txt

MLA 9

Building Permits Survey: final annual estimates of new privately owned housing units authorized by permit-issuing place, including imputation, Cities in Pennsylvania by housing units authorized by building permits, 2022. U.S. Census Bureau, 2 Apr. 2024, https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/Northeast%20Region/ne2022a.txt. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/pennsylvania-cities?period=2022. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

U.S. Census Bureau. 2024. Building Permits Survey: final annual estimates of new privately owned housing units authorized by permit-issuing place, including imputation. Cities in Pennsylvania by housing units authorized by building permits, 2022. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/Northeast%20Region/ne2022a.txt. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/pennsylvania-cities?period=2022.

Harvard

U.S. Census Bureau (2024) Building Permits Survey: final annual estimates of new privately owned housing units authorized by permit-issuing place, including imputation, Cities in Pennsylvania by housing units authorized by building permits, 2022 [Dataset]. Available at: https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/Northeast%20Region/ne2022a.txt, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/pennsylvania-cities?period=2022 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX

@misc{census_cities_in_pennsylvania_by_2022,
  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 Pennsylvania by housing units authorized by building permits, 2022}},
  year = {2024},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/Northeast%20Region/ne2022a.txt},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/pennsylvania-cities?period=2022. 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/ne2022a.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 Pennsylvania by housing units authorized by building permits, 2022
PY  - 2024
DA  - 2024/04/02
PB  - U.S. Census Bureau
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/Northeast%20Region/ne2022a.txt
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/pennsylvania-cities?period=2022
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/pennsylvania-cities?period=2022.
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/ne2022a.txt. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
ER  -

Embed this chart

Paste this code into a web page or a blog post. The chart shows the latest figures as they are published, with the source and a link back to this page.

Embed code

<iframe src="https://invokely.ai/embed/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/pennsylvania-cities?period=2022" width="760" height="500" title="Cities in Pennsylvania by housing units authorized by building permits, 2022, chart from Invokely" loading="lazy" style="border:0;width:100%;max-width:760px" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin"></iframe>

Sites that read oEmbed links, such as WordPress, can show the chart when you paste the link to this page.

Use this data in your AI agent

Invokely serves this figure to AI assistants through MCP and to code through a REST API, with the source and citation attached. Ask your assistant:

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

rank_places {"indicator":"building_permit_units","level":"municipality","within":"Pennsylvania","limit":10}
GET https://invokely.ai/api/v1/rank?indicator=building_permit_units&level=municipality&within=Pennsylvania&limit=10

Connect Claude, ChatGPT or Cursor in one step. The trial answers 25 calls a day without an account.

Questions

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

Philadelphia, PA, with 3,223 in 2022, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

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

York, PA, with 0 in 2022.

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. 2 cities have no value for 2022 and are not ranked.