Counties in Pennsylvania by housing units authorized by building permits, 2025
Philadelphia County had the highest housing units authorized by building permits of 67 counties in 2025, at 3,366. Jefferson County had the lowest, at 0. The median was 90. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.
Top 40 counties, 2025
Full ranking
| Rank | Counties | 2025 | Change on 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Philadelphia County Estimated | 3,366 | +13.6% |
| 2 | Allegheny County Estimated | 3,191 | +6.4% |
| 3 | Montgomery County Estimated | 2,231 | -10.4% |
| 4 | York County Estimated | 1,589 | +19% |
| 5 | Chester County Estimated | 1,400 | -8.4% |
| 6 | Lancaster County Estimated | 1,296 | +9.5% |
| 7 | Butler County Estimated | 1,246 | +27.7% |
| 8 | Northampton County Estimated | 1,050 | +92.3% |
| 9 | Franklin County Estimated | 1,033 | +65.8% |
| 10 | Bucks County Estimated | 780 | +8.6% |
| 11 | Cumberland County Estimated | 745 | -28.2% |
| 12 | Berks County Estimated | 582 | +46.6% |
| 13 | Lebanon County Estimated | 542 | +67.3% |
| 14 | Adams County Estimated | 476 | +18.1% |
| 15 | Westmoreland County Estimated | 421 | +1.7% |
| 16 | Lehigh County Estimated | 394 | -62.9% |
| 17 | Washington County Estimated | 359 | -20.2% |
| 18 | Dauphin County Estimated | 329 | -34.1% |
| 19 | Centre County Estimated | 314 | -14.4% |
| 20 | Luzerne County Estimated | 295 | -9.2% |
| 21 | Beaver County Estimated | 285 | +6.7% |
| 22 | Lackawanna County Estimated | 277 | +10.8% |
| 23 | Monroe County Estimated | 257 | -7.6% |
| 24 | Erie County Estimated | 243 | -28.3% |
| 25 | Delaware County Estimated | 217 | -22.8% |
| 26 | Schuylkill County Estimated | 211 | -11.7% |
| 27 | Fayette County Estimated | 196 | +3.7% |
| 28 | Carbon County Estimated | 195 | +24.2% |
| 29 | Pike County Estimated | 167 | -12.1% |
| 30 | Wayne County Estimated | 150 | -14.3% |
| 31 | Perry County Estimated | 127 | +18.7% |
| 32 | Columbia County Estimated | 111 | +63.2% |
| 33 | Crawford County Estimated | 99 | +25.3% |
| 34 | Mercer County Estimated | 90 | +18.4% |
| 35 | Blair County Estimated | 86 | -1.1% |
| 36 | Bedford County Estimated | 75 | +5.6% |
| 36 | Clearfield County Estimated | 75 | -14.8% |
| 38 | Tioga County Estimated | 74 | +131.3% |
| 39 | Lawrence County Estimated | 70 | +16.7% |
| 40 | Lycoming County Estimated | 69 | +6.2% |
| 40 | Snyder County Estimated | 69 | +43.8% |
| 42 | Wyoming County Estimated | 67 | +219% |
| 43 | Huntingdon County Estimated | 64 | -3% |
| 44 | Union County Estimated | 63 | +16.7% |
| 45 | Bradford County Estimated | 62 | -32.6% |
| 46 | Cambria County Estimated | 61 | -1.6% |
| 46 | Susquehanna County Estimated | 61 | -12.9% |
| 48 | Somerset County Estimated | 57 | -20.8% |
| 49 | Mifflin County Estimated | 54 | -14.3% |
| 50 | Venango County Estimated | 50 | +25% |
| 51 | Indiana County Estimated | 40 | -2.4% |
| 52 | Clinton County Estimated | 38 | +5.6% |
| 53 | Greene County Estimated | 36 | +56.5% |
| 54 | Warren County Estimated | 35 | -37.5% |
| 55 | McKean County Estimated | 33 | +22.2% |
| 56 | Northumberland County Estimated | 31 | -44.6% |
| 57 | Juniata County Estimated | 30 | -11.8% |
| 58 | Armstrong County Estimated | 29 | -49.1% |
| 59 | Clarion County Estimated | 23 | -8% |
| 59 | Elk County Estimated | 23 | -52.1% |
| 61 | Potter County Estimated | 21 | +16.7% |
| 62 | Montour County Estimated | 18 | -18.2% |
| 63 | Fulton County Estimated | 17 | -34.6% |
| 64 | Sullivan County Estimated | 12 | 0% |
| 65 | Forest County Estimated | 2 | -33.3% |
| 66 | Cameron County Estimated | 0 | |
| 66 | Jefferson County Estimated | 0 |
Other periods
About this ranking
Annual number of new privately owned housing units authorized by building permits, from the US Census Bureau Building Permits Survey.
Final annual county estimates include imputation for missing reports. Counts housing units, not buildings, starts, completions or sales. Covers permit-issuing areas; areas where permits are not required are outside the survey. Not seasonally adjusted or expressed as an annualized monthly rate. The total is the sum of units in the four published structure categories; inputs are retained.
Every value in the ranking comes from the same publisher and the same period, so the counties are compared on one definition. Equal values share a rank.
How to cite
U.S. Census Bureau. Building Permits Survey: final annual county estimates of new privately owned housing units authorized, including imputation. https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/County/co2025a.txt. Retrieved 2026-10-10.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 Counties in Pennsylvania by housing units authorized by building permits using official data, and cite the source.
rank_places {"indicator":"building_permit_units","level":"province","within":"Pennsylvania","limit":10}
GET https://invokely.ai/api/v1/rank?indicator=building_permit_units&level=province&within=Pennsylvania&limit=10Questions
Which county has the highest housing units authorized by building permits?
Philadelphia County, with 3,366 in 2025, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
Which county has the lowest housing units authorized by building permits?
Jefferson County, with 0 in 2025.
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 county estimates of new privately owned housing units authorized, including imputation. Retrieved 2026-10-10.
Housing units authorized by building permits: other rankings
- US counties
- Counties in Texas
- Counties in Georgia
- Counties in Virginia
- Counties in Missouri
- Counties in Kansas
- Counties in North Carolina
- Counties in Iowa
- Counties in Illinois
- Counties in Kentucky
- Counties in Tennessee
- Counties in Indiana
Counties in Pennsylvania: more rankings
- Asian population share
- Bachelor's degree or higher, population 25 and over
- Live births, July to June
- Black or African American population share
- Crude birth rate, July to June
- Crude death rate, July to June
- Deaths, July to June
- Foreign-born population share
- Real GDP growth
- GDP per capita, US dollars
- Gross domestic product (GDP), US dollars
- Gini index
- Hispanic or Latino population share
- Homeownership rate (US, housing units)
- County house price annual change, sales and refinances
- County house price index, 1990 = 100