Counties in Rhode Island by housing units authorized by building permits

Providence County had the highest housing units authorized by building permits of 5 counties in 2023, at 489. Bristol County had the lowest, at 33. The median was 215. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

Median2155 counties

All counties, 2023

CSVChart (SVG)

Providence CountyProvidence County: 489 count489Washington CountyWashington County: 306 count306Kent CountyKent County: 215 count215Newport CountyNewport County: 126 count126Bristol CountyBristol County: 33 count33
count. Source: Invokely calculation with data from U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved 2026-10-10.

Full ranking

RankCounties2023
count
1Providence County Estimated489
2Washington County Estimated306
3Kent County Estimated215
4Newport County Estimated126
5Bristol County Estimated33

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/co2023a.txt. Retrieved 2026-10-10.

Use this data in your AI agent

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Rank Counties in Rhode Island by housing units authorized by building permits using official data, and cite the source.
rank_places {"indicator":"building_permit_units","level":"province","within":"Rhode Island","limit":10}
GET https://invokely.ai/api/v1/rank?indicator=building_permit_units&level=province&within=Rhode%20Island&limit=10

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Questions

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

Providence County, with 489 in 2023, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

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

Bristol County, with 33 in 2023.

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

Counties in Rhode Island: more rankings