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

Cities in Washington by housing units authorized by building permits

Seattle, WA had the highest housing units authorized by building permits of 91 cities in 2014, at 7,445. Shelton, WA had the lowest, at 0. The median was 90 and the figure for Washington was 33,898. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

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Highest7,445Seattle, WA
Lowest0Shelton, WA
Median9091 cities
Washington33,898History

Top 40 cities, 2014

Seattle, WA: 7,445 countSeattle, WA7,445Bellevue, WA: 1,292 countBellevue, WA1,292Tacoma, WA: 1,059 countTacoma, WA1,059Issaquah, WA: 855 countIssaquah, WA855Vancouver, WA: 818 countVancouver, WA818Kirkland, WA: 671 countKirkland, WA671Renton, WA: 605 countRenton, WA605Federal Way, WA: 559 countFederal Way, WA559Bellingham, WA: 541 countBellingham, WA541Spokane, WA: 519 countSpokane, WA519Spokane Valley, WA: 491 countSpokane Valley, WA491Redmond, WA: 480 countRedmond, WA480Marysville, WA: 477 countMarysville, WA477Bonney Lake, WA: 385 countBonney Lake, WA385Kent, WA: 375 countKent, WA375Auburn, WA: 362 countAuburn, WA362Richland, WA: 343 countRichland, WA343Kennewick, WA: 328 countKennewick, WA328Lacey, WA: 314 countLacey, WA314Mill Creek, WA: 301 countMill Creek, WA301Sammamish, WA: 278 countSammamish, WA278Mercer Island, WA: 272 countMercer Island, WA272Everett, WA: 270 countEverett, WA270Pasco, WA: 261 countPasco, WA261University Place, WA: 207 countUniversity Place, WA207Olympia, WA: 191 countOlympia, WA191Pullman, WA: 190 countPullman, WA190Gig Harbor, WA: 181 countGig Harbor, WA181Camas, WA: 178 countCamas, WA178Snoqualmie, WA: 173 countSnoqualmie, WA173Fife, WA: 169 countFife, WA169Woodinville, WA: 165 countWoodinville, WA165Maple Valley, WA: 159 countMaple Valley, WA159Bothell, WA: 151 countBothell, WA151Lake Stevens, WA: 148 countLake Stevens, WA148Yakima, WA: 137 countYakima, WA137Bremerton, WA: 136 countBremerton, WA136Tumwater, WA: 122 countTumwater, WA122Moses Lake, WA: 120 countMoses Lake, WA120Puyallup, WA: 116 countPuyallup, WA116Seattle, WA: 7,445 countSeattle, WA7,445Bellevue, WA: 1,292 countBellevue, WA1,292Tacoma, WA: 1,059 countTacoma, WA1,059Issaquah, WA: 855 countIssaquah, WA855Vancouver, WA: 818 countVancouver, WA818Kirkland, WA: 671 countKirkland, WA671Renton, WA: 605 countRenton, WA605Federal Way, WA: 559 countFederal Way, WA559Bellingham, WA: 541 countBellingham, WA541Spokane, WA: 519 countSpokane, WA519Spokane Valley, WA: 491 countSpokane Valley, WA491Redmond, WA: 480 countRedmond, WA480Marysville, WA: 477 countMarysville, WA477Bonney Lake, WA: 385 countBonney Lake, WA385Kent, WA: 375 countKent, WA375Auburn, WA: 362 countAuburn, WA362Richland, WA: 343 countRichland, WA343Kennewick, WA: 328 countKennewick, WA328Lacey, WA: 314 countLacey, WA314Mill Creek, WA: 301 countMill Creek, WA301Sammamish, WA: 278 countSammamish, WA278Mercer Island, WA: 272 countMercer Island, WA272Everett, WA: 270 countEverett, WA270Pasco, WA: 261 countPasco, WA261University Place, WA: 207 countUniversity Place, WA207Olympia, WA: 191 countOlympia, WA191Pullman, WA: 190 countPullman, WA190Gig Harbor, WA: 181 countGig Harbor, WA181Camas, WA: 178 countCamas, WA178Snoqualmie, WA: 173 countSnoqualmie, WA173Fife, WA: 169 countFife, WA169Woodinville, WA: 165 countWoodinville, WA165Maple Valley, WA: 159 countMaple Valley, WA159Bothell, WA: 151 countBothell, WA151Lake Stevens, WA: 148 countLake Stevens, WA148Yakima, WA: 137 countYakima, WA137Bremerton, WA: 136 countBremerton, WA136Tumwater, WA: 122 countTumwater, WA122Moses Lake, WA: 120 countMoses Lake, WA120Puyallup, WA: 116 countPuyallup, WA116
count. Source: Invokely calculation with data from U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

RankCities2014
count		Change on 2013
1Seattle, WA Estimated7,445+11.5%
2Bellevue, WA Estimated1,292+55.7%
3Tacoma, WA Estimated1,059+278.2%
4Issaquah, WA Estimated855+441.1%
5Vancouver, WA Estimated818-11.9%
6Kirkland, WA Estimated671+57.9%
7Renton, WA Estimated605+49%
8Federal Way, WA Estimated559+412.8%
9Bellingham, WA Estimated541+28.5%
10Spokane, WA Estimated519+12.1%
11Spokane Valley, WA Estimated491+158.4%
12Redmond, WA Estimated480-26.8%
13Marysville, WA Estimated477-21%
14Bonney Lake, WA Estimated385+163.7%
15Kent, WA Estimated375+77.7%
16Auburn, WA Estimated362-16%
17Richland, WA Estimated343+3.9%
18Kennewick, WA Estimated3280%
19Lacey, WA Estimated314+45.4%
20Mill Creek, WA Estimated301+110.5%
21Sammamish, WA Estimated278-2.1%
22Mercer Island, WA Estimated272+385.7%
23Everett, WA Estimated270-44.7%
24Pasco, WA Estimated261-22.1%
25University Place, WA Estimated207+590%
26Olympia, WA Estimated191-52.5%
27Pullman, WA Estimated190-45.6%
28Gig Harbor, WA Estimated181-32.7%
29Camas, WA Estimated178+40.2%
30Snoqualmie, WA Estimated173-10.4%
31Fife, WA Estimated169+463.3%
32Woodinville, WA Estimated165+8,150%
33Maple Valley, WA Estimated159+109.2%
34Bothell, WA Estimated151-57%
35Lake Stevens, WA Estimated148+54.2%
36Yakima, WA Estimated137+15.1%
37Bremerton, WA Estimated136-27.3%
38Tumwater, WA Estimated122-8.3%
39Moses Lake, WA Estimated120+9.1%
40Puyallup, WA Estimated116-8.7%
41Mount Vernon, WA Estimated114-0.9%
42Liberty Lake, WA Estimated109-30.1%
43West Richland, WA Estimated106-19.7%
44Ridgefield, WA Estimated104-41.2%
45Edmonds, WA Estimated99+175%
46Lynden, WA Estimated90-23.1%
47Walla Walla, WA Estimated89+3.5%
48Battle Ground, WA Estimated83-60.5%
49Washougal, WA Estimated82-21.9%
50Ellensburg, WA Estimated79-42.8%
51Poulsbo, WA Estimated75-31.8%
52Ferndale, WA Estimated72-50.3%
53Monroe, WA Estimated69+91.7%
54Oak Harbor, WA Estimated61+13%
54Yelm, WA Estimated61-71%
56Burien, WA Estimated57+18.8%
57Anacortes, WA Estimated56+47.4%
58Wenatchee, WA Estimated55-84.7%
59Bainbridge Island, WA Estimated53-50%
59Shoreline, WA Estimated53-14.5%
61Kenmore, WA Estimated51-5.6%
62Des Moines, WA Estimated50-38.3%
62Newcastle, WA Estimated50+31.6%
64Lakewood, WA Estimated49-26.9%
64Port Orchard, WA Estimated49-70.8%
66Port Townsend, WA Estimated37+8.8%
67Airway Heights, WA Estimated35-25.5%
67Mukilteo, WA Estimated35-7.9%
69Lynnwood, WA Estimated34-20.9%
70Port Angeles, WA Estimated32+113.3%
70Snohomish, WA Estimated32-40.7%
72Sunnyside, WA Estimated29-3.3%
73Edgewood, WA Estimated23-43.9%
74Mountlake Terrace, WA Estimated18-52.6%
75Tukwila, WA Estimated17-39.3%
76Burlington, WA Estimated15+400%
76Enumclaw, WA Estimated15+275%
78Longview, WA Estimated13-38.1%
79Cheney, WA Estimated12-29.4%
80Centralia, WA Estimated11+37.5%
80Grandview, WA Estimated11-8.3%
80SeaTac, WA Estimated11-76.1%
80Sedro-Woolley, WA Estimated11-31.3%
84Lake Forest Park, WA Estimated9-43.8%
85East Wenatchee, WA Estimated6-45.5%
86Sumner, WA Estimated4-69.2%
87Arlington, WA Estimated3-91.4%
88Kelso, WA Estimated2-50%
89Aberdeen, WA Estimated1-66.7%
90Covington, WA Estimated0-100%
90Shelton, 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/we2014a.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. (2016). 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, 2014) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/West%20Region/we2014a.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, 2014. U.S. Census Bureau, 30 Sept. 2016, https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/West%20Region/we2014a.txt. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/washington-cities?period=2014. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

U.S. Census Bureau. 2016. 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, 2014. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/West%20Region/we2014a.txt. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/washington-cities?period=2014.

Harvard

U.S. Census Bureau (2016) 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, 2014 [Dataset]. Available at: https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/West%20Region/we2014a.txt, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/washington-cities?period=2014 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{census_cities_in_washington_by_2014,
  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, 2014}},
  year = {2016},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/West%20Region/we2014a.txt},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/washington-cities?period=2014. 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/we2014a.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, 2014
PY  - 2016
DA  - 2016/09/30
PB  - U.S. Census Bureau
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/West%20Region/we2014a.txt
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/washington-cities?period=2014
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/washington-cities?period=2014.
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/we2014a.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 7,445 in 2014, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

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

Shelton, WA, with 0 in 2014.

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