Cities in Utah by housing units authorized by building permits

Salt Lake City, UT had the highest housing units authorized by building permits of 64 cities in 2020, at 2,667. Smithfield, UT had the lowest, at 0. The median was 231 and the figure for Utah was 31,775. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

Highest2,667Salt Lake City, UT

Lowest0Smithfield, UT

Median23164 cities

Utah31,775History

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	Salt Lake City, UT Estimated	2,667	-23.5%
2	Saratoga Springs, UT Estimated	1,594	+119.3%
3	St. George, UT Estimated	1,575	+3.1%
4	Eagle Mountain, UT Estimated	1,443	+30.6%
5	South Jordan, UT Estimated	1,271	+23.3%
6	Lehi, UT Estimated	1,044	-19.9%
7	West Haven, UT Estimated	984	+49.5%
8	Herriman, UT Estimated	967	-36.9%
9	Washington, UT Estimated	907	-23%
10	Millcreek, UT Estimated	854	+1,009.1%
11	Logan, UT Estimated	783	+68.8%
12	Draper, UT Estimated	779	+198.5%
13	Layton, UT Estimated	734	+61%
14	West Jordan, UT Estimated	651	-7.3%
15	West Valley City, UT Estimated	644	+71.7%
16	Bluffdale, UT Estimated	554	+10.6%
17	Santaquin, UT Estimated	433	+91.6%
18	Spanish Fork, UT Estimated	424	+50.4%
19	Vineyard, UT Estimated	418	-25%
20	Hurricane, UT Estimated	392	+9.2%
21	Syracuse, UT Estimated	373	+20.3%
22	American Fork, UT Estimated	370	+6%
23	Provo, UT Estimated	357	+13.7%
24	Ogden, UT Estimated	353	+115.2%
25	Springville, UT Estimated	336	+63.1%
26	Tooele, UT Estimated	332	-15.1%
27	Payson, UT Estimated	310	+2%
28	Midvale, UT Estimated	286	-32.7%
29	Mapleton, UT Estimated	285	+88.7%
30	Cedar City, UT Estimated	265	+14.7%
31	Riverton, UT Estimated	236	+4.4%
32	Clearfield, UT Estimated	234	+350%
33	Grantsville, UT Estimated	228	+76.7%
34	North Ogden, UT Estimated	213	+0.5%
35	North Salt Lake, UT Estimated	209	+69.9%
36	South Salt Lake, UT Estimated	203	+120.7%
37	Ivins, UT Estimated	202	-9.4%
38	Tremonton, UT Estimated	160	+83.9%
39	Orem, UT Estimated	155	-79.4%
39	Salem, UT Estimated	155	+47.6%
41	Pleasant Grove, UT Estimated	153	+5.5%
42	West Point, UT Estimated	150	+15.4%
43	Murray, UT Estimated	132	-18%
44	Clinton, UT Estimated	130	+19.3%
45	Farmington, UT Estimated	128	+60%
46	Heber, UT Estimated	116	-30.5%
47	Kaysville, UT Estimated	106	-4.5%
48	Brigham City, UT Estimated	105	+183.8%
48	Roy, UT Estimated	105	-9.5%
50	Highland, UT Estimated	99	+30.3%
51	Woods Cross, UT Estimated	97	+3.2%
52	Lindon, UT Estimated	93	-31.6%
53	Holladay, UT Estimated	88	+54.4%
54	South Ogden, UT Estimated	85	+66.7%
55	Sandy, UT Estimated	84	-24.3%
56	North Logan, UT Estimated	73	-30.5%
57	Taylorsville, UT Estimated	60	-77.8%
58	Bountiful, UT Estimated	48	-27.3%
58	Pleasant View, UT Estimated	48	+140%
60	Alpine, UT Estimated	41	+10.8%
61	Centerville, UT Estimated	38	+192.3%
62	Cottonwood Heights, UT Estimated	35	-36.4%
63	Vernal, UT Estimated	4	-63.6%
64	Smithfield, UT 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. 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/West%20Region/we2020a.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 Utah by housing units authorized by building permits, 2020) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/West%20Region/we2020a.txt

MLA 9

Building Permits Survey: final annual estimates of new privately owned housing units authorized by permit-issuing place, including imputation, Cities in Utah by housing units authorized by building permits, 2020. U.S. Census Bureau, 3 May 2021, https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/West%20Region/we2020a.txt. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/utah-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 Utah by housing units authorized by building permits, 2020. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/West%20Region/we2020a.txt. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/utah-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 Utah by housing units authorized by building permits, 2020 [Dataset]. Available at: https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/West%20Region/we2020a.txt, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/utah-cities?period=2020 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX

@misc{census_cities_in_utah_by_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 Utah by housing units authorized by building permits, 2020}},
  year = {2021},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/West%20Region/we2020a.txt},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/utah-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/West\%20Region/we2020a.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 Utah 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/West%20Region/we2020a.txt
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/utah-cities?period=2020
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/utah-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/West%20Region/we2020a.txt. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
ER  -

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rank_places {"indicator":"building_permit_units","level":"municipality","within":"Utah","limit":10}
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Questions

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

Salt Lake City, UT, with 2,667 in 2020, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

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

Smithfield, UT, 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.