Cities in Wisconsin by housing units authorized by building permits

Madison, WI had the highest housing units authorized by building permits of 94 cities in 2022, at 2,360. South Milwaukee, WI had the lowest, at 0. The median was 62 and the figure for Wisconsin was 21,072. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

Highest2,360Madison, WI

Lowest0South Milwaukee, WI

Median6294 cities

Wisconsin21,072History

Top 40 cities, 2022

count. Source: Invokely calculation with data from U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

Rank	Cities	2022 count	Change on 2021
1	Madison, WI Estimated	2,360	-34.9%
2	Sun Prairie, WI Estimated	654	n/a
3	Verona, WI Estimated	603	n/a
4	Oak Creek, WI Estimated	543	+1,651.6%
5	Eau Claire, WI Estimated	535	-8.1%
6	Middleton, WI Estimated	407	+182.6%
7	Menomonee Falls, WI Estimated	251	+23%
8	Janesville, WI Estimated	205	-33.4%
9	Hobart, WI Estimated	199	+73%
10	West Bend, WI Estimated	194	n/a
11	Hudson, WI Estimated	182	+203.3%
12	Plover, WI Estimated	178	+217.9%
13	Milwaukee, WI Estimated	176	-13.7%
14	Howard, WI Estimated	172	+0.6%
15	Fitchburg, WI Estimated	169	-54.4%
16	River Falls, WI Estimated	163	+21.6%
17	Appleton, WI Estimated	142	+17.4%
18	Kenosha, WI Estimated	129	-69.1%
19	Windsor, WI Estimated	127	-37.1%
20	DeForest, WI Estimated	122	+10.9%
21	Oshkosh, WI Estimated	120	-76.7%
22	Wausau, WI Estimated	117	n/a
23	West Allis, WI Estimated	115	n/a
24	Ashwaubenon, WI Estimated	113	+564.7%
25	Sussex, WI Estimated	105	n/a
26	Franklin, WI Estimated	104	+6.1%
26	La Crosse, WI Estimated	104	+2%
28	Oconomowoc, WI Estimated	103	-1%
29	Grafton, WI Estimated	102	+20%
29	Reedsburg, WI Estimated	102	+240%
31	Waunakee, WI Estimated	99	n/a
32	Holmen, WI Estimated	96	-65.1%
33	Bellevue, WI Estimated	95	-65.8%
33	Stevens Point, WI Estimated	95	n/a
35	Mequon, WI Estimated	94	+104.3%
36	Muskego, WI Estimated	91	+152.8%
37	New Richmond, WI Estimated	87	-36%
38	Shorewood, WI Estimated	82	n/a
39	Menasha, WI Estimated	78	+178.6%
40	Waukesha, WI Estimated	77	n/a
41	Pewaukee, WI Estimated	71	-40.3%
42	Cedarburg, WI Estimated	67	+109.4%
42	Weston, WI Estimated	67	n/a
44	Kaukauna, WI Estimated	65	-27%
45	Chippewa Falls, WI Estimated	64	+1.6%
45	Harrison, WI Estimated	64	-89.9%
47	Oregon, WI Estimated	63	-68.5%
48	Onalaska, WI Estimated	60	-58.6%
49	Hartford, WI Estimated	59	0%
50	Hartland, WI Estimated	50	-73.3%
51	Fox Crossing, WI Estimated	47	n/a
52	Pleasant Prairie, WI Estimated	44	-88%
53	Germantown, WI Estimated	41	-45.3%
54	Neenah, WI Estimated	39	-49.4%
55	Green Bay, WI Estimated	37	-38.3%
56	De Pere, WI Estimated	35	-32.7%
57	Suamico, WI Estimated	34	n/a
58	Waupun, WI Estimated	33	n/a
59	Fond du Lac, WI Estimated	31	-69.9%
60	Mount Pleasant, WI Estimated	29	-23.7%
61	Menomonie, WI Estimated	22	+69.2%
61	Port Washington, WI Estimated	22	-66.2%
63	Beloit, WI Estimated	20	-63.6%
63	Wisconsin Rapids, WI Estimated	20	n/a
65	Baraboo, WI Estimated	19	-87.5%
65	Little Chute, WI Estimated	19	-36.7%
65	Manitowoc, WI Estimated	19	-87.2%
65	Salem Lakes, WI Estimated	19	n/a
69	New Berlin, WI Estimated	18	-45.5%
69	Watertown, WI Estimated	18	n/a
71	Richfield, WI Estimated	14	-63.2%
72	Brookfield, WI Estimated	13	-95.7%
73	Marshfield, WI Estimated	11	-26.7%
73	Superior, WI Estimated	11	n/a
75	Sheboygan, WI Estimated	10	-89%
76	Beaver Dam, WI Estimated	9	+50%
76	Greenfield, WI Estimated	9	-10%
76	Two Rivers, WI Estimated	9	n/a
79	Racine, WI Estimated	8	n/a
80	Fort Atkinson, WI Estimated	7	+16.7%
81	Burlington, WI Estimated	5	-54.5%
82	Allouez, WI Estimated	2	-50%
82	Elkhorn, WI Estimated	2	-71.4%
82	Wauwatosa, WI Estimated	2	n/a
82	Whitefish Bay, WI Estimated	2	n/a
82	Whitewater, WI Estimated	2	n/a
87	Brown Deer, WI Estimated	1	n/a
87	Platteville, WI Estimated	1	-90.9%
89	Cudahy, WI Estimated	0	n/a
89	Glendale, WI Estimated	0	n/a
89	Greendale, WI Estimated	0	-100%
89	Marinette, WI Estimated	0	-100%
89	Monroe, WI Estimated	0	-100%
89	South Milwaukee, WI Estimated	0	-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. 2 cities with data in other periods have no value for 2022 and are left out rather than filled from another source. 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/Midwest%20Region/mw2022a.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. (2024). Building Permits Survey: final annual estimates of new privately owned housing units authorized by permit-issuing place, including imputation (Cities in Wisconsin by housing units authorized by building permits, 2022) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/Midwest%20Region/mw2022a.txt

MLA 9

Building Permits Survey: final annual estimates of new privately owned housing units authorized by permit-issuing place, including imputation, Cities in Wisconsin by housing units authorized by building permits, 2022. U.S. Census Bureau, 2 Apr. 2024, https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/Midwest%20Region/mw2022a.txt. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/wisconsin-cities?period=2022. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

U.S. Census Bureau. 2024. Building Permits Survey: final annual estimates of new privately owned housing units authorized by permit-issuing place, including imputation. Cities in Wisconsin by housing units authorized by building permits, 2022. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/Midwest%20Region/mw2022a.txt. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/wisconsin-cities?period=2022.

Harvard

U.S. Census Bureau (2024) Building Permits Survey: final annual estimates of new privately owned housing units authorized by permit-issuing place, including imputation, Cities in Wisconsin by housing units authorized by building permits, 2022 [Dataset]. Available at: https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/Midwest%20Region/mw2022a.txt, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/wisconsin-cities?period=2022 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX

@misc{census_cities_in_wisconsin_by_2022,
  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 Wisconsin by housing units authorized by building permits, 2022}},
  year = {2024},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/Midwest%20Region/mw2022a.txt},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/wisconsin-cities?period=2022. 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/Midwest\%20Region/mw2022a.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 Wisconsin by housing units authorized by building permits, 2022
PY  - 2024
DA  - 2024/04/02
PB  - U.S. Census Bureau
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/Midwest%20Region/mw2022a.txt
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/wisconsin-cities?period=2022
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/wisconsin-cities?period=2022.
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/Midwest%20Region/mw2022a.txt. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
ER  -

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Rank Cities in Wisconsin by housing units authorized by building permits using official data, and cite the source.

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

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

Madison, WI, with 2,360 in 2022, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

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

South Milwaukee, WI, with 0 in 2022.

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. 2 cities have no value for 2022 and are not ranked.