Data / Rankings / Housing units authorized by building permits / Cities in Washington

Cities in Washington by housing units authorized by building permits, 2025

Seattle, WA had the highest housing units authorized by building permits of 91 cities in 2025, at 4,366. Mill Creek, WA had the lowest, at 0. The median was 101 and the figure for Washington was 34,913. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

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Highest4,366Seattle, WA
Lowest0Mill Creek, WA
Median10191 cities
Washington34,913History

Top 40 cities, 2025

Seattle, WA: 4,366 countSeattle, WA4,366Redmond, WA: 1,278 countRedmond, WA1,278Spokane Valley, WA: 855 countSpokane Valley, WA855Richland, WA: 777 countRichland, WA777Vancouver, WA: 771 countVancouver, WA771Tacoma, WA: 742 countTacoma, WA742Bellingham, WA: 737 countBellingham, WA737Pasco, WA: 718 countPasco, WA718Marysville, WA: 700 countMarysville, WA700Spokane, WA: 692 countSpokane, WA692Lacey, WA: 630 countLacey, WA630Bellevue, WA: 566 countBellevue, WA566Everett, WA: 565 countEverett, WA565Wenatchee, WA: 553 countWenatchee, WA553Kennewick, WA: 530 countKennewick, WA530Port Orchard, WA: 494 countPort Orchard, WA494Lakewood, WA: 441 countLakewood, WA441Kirkland, WA: 413 countKirkland, WA413Ridgefield, WA: 399 countRidgefield, WA399Yakima, WA: 341 countYakima, WA341Washougal, WA: 334 countWashougal, WA334Puyallup, WA: 333 countPuyallup, WA333Lake Stevens, WA: 274 countLake Stevens, WA274Bremerton, WA: 273 countBremerton, WA273Battle Ground, WA: 267 countBattle Ground, WA267Bothell, WA: 262 countBothell, WA262Tumwater, WA: 250 countTumwater, WA250Camas, WA: 237 countCamas, WA237University Place, WA: 211 countUniversity Place, WA211Liberty Lake, WA: 207 countLiberty Lake, WA207Yelm, WA: 187 countYelm, WA187Burien, WA: 179 countBurien, WA179Poulsbo, WA: 161 countPoulsbo, WA161Grandview, WA: 155 countGrandview, WA155Burlington, WA: 154 countBurlington, WA154Moses Lake, WA: 149 countMoses Lake, WA149Federal Way, WA: 136 countFederal Way, WA136Covington, WA: 130 countCovington, WA130Centralia, WA: 129 countCentralia, WA129Olympia, WA: 129 countOlympia, WA129Seattle, WA: 4,366 countSeattle, WA4,366Redmond, WA: 1,278 countRedmond, WA1,278Spokane Valley, WA: 855 countSpokane Valley, WA855Richland, WA: 777 countRichland, WA777Vancouver, WA: 771 countVancouver, WA771Tacoma, WA: 742 countTacoma, WA742Bellingham, WA: 737 countBellingham, WA737Pasco, WA: 718 countPasco, WA718Marysville, WA: 700 countMarysville, WA700Spokane, WA: 692 countSpokane, WA692Lacey, WA: 630 countLacey, WA630Bellevue, WA: 566 countBellevue, WA566Everett, WA: 565 countEverett, WA565Wenatchee, WA: 553 countWenatchee, WA553Kennewick, WA: 530 countKennewick, WA530Port Orchard, WA: 494 countPort Orchard, WA494Lakewood, WA: 441 countLakewood, WA441Kirkland, WA: 413 countKirkland, WA413Ridgefield, WA: 399 countRidgefield, WA399Yakima, WA: 341 countYakima, WA341Washougal, WA: 334 countWashougal, WA334Puyallup, WA: 333 countPuyallup, WA333Lake Stevens, WA: 274 countLake Stevens, WA274Bremerton, WA: 273 countBremerton, WA273Battle Ground, WA: 267 countBattle Ground, WA267Bothell, WA: 262 countBothell, WA262Tumwater, WA: 250 countTumwater, WA250Camas, WA: 237 countCamas, WA237University Place, WA: 211 countUniversity Place, WA211Liberty Lake, WA: 207 countLiberty Lake, WA207Yelm, WA: 187 countYelm, WA187Burien, WA: 179 countBurien, WA179Poulsbo, WA: 161 countPoulsbo, WA161Grandview, WA: 155 countGrandview, WA155Burlington, WA: 154 countBurlington, WA154Moses Lake, WA: 149 countMoses Lake, WA149Federal Way, WA: 136 countFederal Way, WA136Covington, WA: 130 countCovington, WA130Centralia, WA: 129 countCentralia, WA129Olympia, WA: 129 countOlympia, WA129
count. Source: Invokely calculation with data from U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

RankCities2025
count		Change on 2024
1Seattle, WA Estimated4,366-25.9%
2Redmond, WA Estimated1,278+56.6%
3Spokane Valley, WA Estimated855+80.4%
4Richland, WA Estimated777+73.1%
5Vancouver, WA Estimated771-36%
6Tacoma, WA Estimated742+84.6%
7Bellingham, WA Estimated737+37.8%
8Pasco, WA Estimated718-19.5%
9Marysville, WA Estimated700-6.3%
10Spokane, WA Estimated692-47.6%
11Lacey, WA Estimated630+253.9%
12Bellevue, WA Estimated566-3.9%
13Everett, WA Estimated565-4.6%
14Wenatchee, WA Estimated553+657.5%
15Kennewick, WA Estimated530-8.8%
16Port Orchard, WA Estimated494+15.7%
17Lakewood, WA Estimated441-2.2%
18Kirkland, WA Estimated413-6.6%
19Ridgefield, WA Estimated399+6.7%
20Yakima, WA Estimated341+154.5%
21Washougal, WA Estimated334+267%
22Puyallup, WA Estimated333+712.2%
23Lake Stevens, WA Estimated274+114.1%
24Bremerton, WA Estimated273+84.5%
25Battle Ground, WA Estimated267-8.2%
26Bothell, WA Estimated262+27.2%
27Tumwater, WA Estimated250-3.8%
28Camas, WA Estimated237-4%
29University Place, WA Estimated211-20.7%
30Liberty Lake, WA Estimated207-48.4%
31Yelm, WA Estimated187+78.1%
32Burien, WA Estimated179+2.9%
33Poulsbo, WA Estimated161+54.8%
34Grandview, WA Estimated155-6.6%
35Burlington, WA Estimated1540%
36Moses Lake, WA Estimated149-9.1%
37Federal Way, WA Estimated136+338.7%
38Covington, WA Estimated130+116.7%
39Centralia, WA Estimated129+706.3%
39Olympia, WA Estimated129-54.3%
41Ferndale, WA Estimated123+48.2%
42Sumner, WA Estimated122-24.2%
43Kent, WA Estimated117-36.4%
44Port Townsend, WA Estimated115+238.2%
45Kenmore, WA Estimated114+1.8%
46Walla Walla, WA Estimated101-34.4%
46West Richland, WA Estimated101-63.9%
48Woodinville, WA Estimated92-79.7%
49Newcastle, WA Estimated88+87.2%
50Monroe, WA Estimated83-5.7%
51Lynnwood, WA Estimated79-85.2%
52Enumclaw, WA Estimated77+305.3%
53Arlington, WA Estimated74-38.3%
54Renton, WA Estimated70-4.1%
55Bainbridge Island, WA Estimated67+55.8%
55Mount Vernon, WA Estimated67-38.5%
57Edgewood, WA Estimated58+16%
58Ellensburg, WA Estimated55-39.6%
59Lynden, WA Estimated53-59.5%
60Oak Harbor, WA Estimated49-59.5%
61Sammamish, WA Estimated45+66.7%
62Edmonds, WA Estimated37-27.5%
63Port Angeles, WA Estimated36-7.7%
64Kelso, WA Estimated31-8.8%
65Bonney Lake, WA Estimated30+100%
66Anacortes, WA Estimated29+26.1%
66Sedro-Woolley, WA Estimated29-52.5%
68Issaquah, WA Estimated28+27.3%
68Sunnyside, WA Estimated28-3.4%
70Longview, WA Estimated27-71%
71Auburn, WA Estimated26n/a
71Shoreline, WA Estimated26-92%
73East Wenatchee, WA Estimated25+316.7%
74Mercer Island, WA Estimated23-11.5%
75Airway Heights, WA Estimated22-76.1%
76Cheney, WA Estimated20-20%
76Mukilteo, WA Estimated20+1,900%
78Snohomish, WA Estimated19-90.1%
79Tukwila, WA Estimated18-93.8%
80Mountlake Terrace, WA Estimated15-28.6%
81SeaTac, WA Estimated13-96.5%
82Aberdeen, WA Estimated110%
82Pullman, WA Estimated11-35.3%
84Shelton, WA Estimated10-76.2%
84Snoqualmie, WA Estimated10+233.3%
86Des Moines, WA Estimated9-72.7%
87Gig Harbor, WA Estimated8-65.2%
88Lake Forest Park, WA Estimated6-50%
89Maple Valley, WA Estimated2-87.5%
90Fife, WA Estimated0n/a
90Mill Creek, WA Estimated0-100%

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. 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/we2025a.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. (2026). Building Permits Survey: final annual estimates of new privately owned housing units authorized by permit-issuing place, including imputation (Cities in Washington by housing units authorized by building permits, 2025) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/West%20Region/we2025a.txt

MLA 9

Building Permits Survey: final annual estimates of new privately owned housing units authorized by permit-issuing place, including imputation, Cities in Washington by housing units authorized by building permits, 2025. U.S. Census Bureau, 14 May 2026, https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/West%20Region/we2025a.txt. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/washington-cities. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

U.S. Census Bureau. 2026. Building Permits Survey: final annual estimates of new privately owned housing units authorized by permit-issuing place, including imputation. Cities in Washington by housing units authorized by building permits, 2025. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/West%20Region/we2025a.txt. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/washington-cities.

Harvard

U.S. Census Bureau (2026) Building Permits Survey: final annual estimates of new privately owned housing units authorized by permit-issuing place, including imputation, Cities in Washington by housing units authorized by building permits, 2025 [Dataset]. Available at: https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/West%20Region/we2025a.txt, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/washington-cities (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{census_cities_in_washington_by_2025,
  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 Washington by housing units authorized by building permits, 2025}},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/West%20Region/we2025a.txt},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/washington-cities. 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/we2025a.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 Washington by housing units authorized by building permits, 2025
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/05/14
PB  - U.S. Census Bureau
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/West%20Region/we2025a.txt
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/washington-cities
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/washington-cities.
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/we2025a.txt. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
ER  -
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Questions

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

Seattle, WA, with 4,366 in 2025, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

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

Mill Creek, WA, 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 estimates of new privately owned housing units authorized by permit-issuing place, including imputation. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Housing units authorized by building permits: other rankings

Cities in Washington: more rankings