Data / Rankings / Single-family housing units authorized by building permits / Cities in Massachusetts

Cities in Massachusetts by single-family housing units authorized by building permits

Boston, MA had the highest single-family housing units authorized by building permits of 53 cities in 2023, at 108. Melrose, MA had the lowest, at 0. The median was 11. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

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Highest108Boston, MA
Lowest0Melrose, MA
Median1153 cities

All cities, 2023

Boston, MA: 108 countBoston, MA108Taunton, MA: 89 countTaunton, MA89Worcester, MA: 75 countWorcester, MA75Fall River, MA: 55 countFall River, MA55Waltham, MA: 53 countWaltham, MA53Lowell, MA: 52 countLowell, MA52Springfield, MA: 49 countSpringfield, MA49Brockton, MA: 48 countBrockton, MA48Attleboro, MA: 41 countAttleboro, MA41Westfield, MA: 40 countWestfield, MA40Bridgewater Town, MA: 39 countBridgewater Town, MA39Barnstable Town, MA: 37 countBarnstable Town, MA37Framingham, MA: 37 countFramingham, MA37Agawam Town, MA: 33 countAgawam Town, MA33Newton, MA: 33 countNewton, MA33North Attleborough Town, MA: 24 countNorth Attleborough Town, MA24Peabody, MA: 20 countPeabody, MA20Weymouth Town, MA: 20 countWeymouth Town, MA20Newburyport, MA: 18 countNewburyport, MA18Gardner, MA: 17 countGardner, MA17Fitchburg, MA: 16 countFitchburg, MA16Gloucester, MA: 16 countGloucester, MA16Haverhill, MA: 14 countHaverhill, MA14Northampton, MA: 14 countNorthampton, MA14Woburn, MA: 14 countWoburn, MA14Chicopee, MA: 13 countChicopee, MA13Cambridge, MA: 11 countCambridge, MA11Lynn, MA: 11 countLynn, MA11Beverly, MA: 10 countBeverly, MA10New Bedford, MA: 10 countNew Bedford, MA10Salem, MA: 10 countSalem, MA10Lawrence, MA: 9 countLawrence, MA9Randolph Town, MA: 9 countRandolph Town, MA9Franklin Town, MA: 8 countFranklin Town, MA8Marlborough, MA: 8 countMarlborough, MA8Pittsfield, MA: 8 countPittsfield, MA8Greenfield, MA: 6 countGreenfield, MA6Southbridge Town, MA: 6 countSouthbridge Town, MA6Braintree Town, MA: 5 countBraintree Town, MA5Palmer Town, MA: 5 countPalmer Town, MA5Quincy, MA: 5 countQuincy, MA5West Springfield Town, MA: 5 countWest Springfield Town, MA5Holyoke, MA: 4 countHolyoke, MA4Leominster, MA: 4 countLeominster, MA4Revere, MA: 4 countRevere, MA4Malden, MA: 2 countMalden, MA2Medford, MA: 2 countMedford, MA2Winthrop Town, MA: 2 countWinthrop Town, MA2North Adams, MA: 1 countNorth Adams, MA1Somerville, MA: 1 countSomerville, MA1Chelsea, MA: 0 countChelsea, MA0Everett, MA: 0 countEverett, MA0Melrose, MA: 0 countMelrose, MA0Boston, MA: 108 countBoston, MA108Taunton, MA: 89 countTaunton, MA89Worcester, MA: 75 countWorcester, MA75Fall River, MA: 55 countFall River, MA55Waltham, MA: 53 countWaltham, MA53Lowell, MA: 52 countLowell, MA52Springfield, MA: 49 countSpringfield, MA49Brockton, MA: 48 countBrockton, MA48Attleboro, MA: 41 countAttleboro, MA41Westfield, MA: 40 countWestfield, MA40Bridgewater Town, MA: 39 countBridgewater Town, MA39Barnstable Town, MA: 37 countBarnstable Town, MA37Framingham, MA: 37 countFramingham, MA37Agawam Town, MA: 33 countAgawam Town, MA33Newton, MA: 33 countNewton, MA33North Attleborough Town, MA: 24 countNorth Attleborough Town, MA24Peabody, MA: 20 countPeabody, MA20Weymouth Town, MA: 20 countWeymouth Town, MA20Newburyport, MA: 18 countNewburyport, MA18Gardner, MA: 17 countGardner, MA17Fitchburg, MA: 16 countFitchburg, MA16Gloucester, MA: 16 countGloucester, MA16Haverhill, MA: 14 countHaverhill, MA14Northampton, MA: 14 countNorthampton, MA14Woburn, MA: 14 countWoburn, MA14Chicopee, MA: 13 countChicopee, MA13Cambridge, MA: 11 countCambridge, MA11Lynn, MA: 11 countLynn, MA11Beverly, MA: 10 countBeverly, MA10New Bedford, MA: 10 countNew Bedford, MA10Salem, MA: 10 countSalem, MA10Lawrence, MA: 9 countLawrence, MA9Randolph Town, MA: 9 countRandolph Town, MA9Franklin Town, MA: 8 countFranklin Town, MA8Marlborough, MA: 8 countMarlborough, MA8Pittsfield, MA: 8 countPittsfield, MA8Greenfield, MA: 6 countGreenfield, MA6Southbridge Town, MA: 6 countSouthbridge Town, MA6Braintree Town, MA: 5 countBraintree Town, MA5Palmer Town, MA: 5 countPalmer Town, MA5Quincy, MA: 5 countQuincy, MA5West Springfield Town, MA: 5 countWest Springfield Town, MA5Holyoke, MA: 4 countHolyoke, MA4Leominster, MA: 4 countLeominster, MA4Revere, MA: 4 countRevere, MA4Malden, MA: 2 countMalden, MA2Medford, MA: 2 countMedford, MA2Winthrop Town, MA: 2 countWinthrop Town, MA2North Adams, MA: 1 countNorth Adams, MA1Somerville, MA: 1 countSomerville, MA1Chelsea, MA: 0 countChelsea, MA0Everett, MA: 0 countEverett, MA0Melrose, MA: 0 countMelrose, MA0
count. Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Building Permits Survey: final annual estimates of new privately owned housing units in 1-unit structures authorized by permit-issuing place, including imputation. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

RankCities2023
count		Change on 2022
1Boston, MA Estimated108+103.8%
2Taunton, MA Estimated89+7.2%
3Worcester, MA Estimated75-20.2%
4Fall River, MA Estimated55-9.8%
5Waltham, MA Estimated53+140.9%
6Lowell, MA Estimated52+642.9%
7Springfield, MA Estimated49+104.2%
8Brockton, MA Estimated48+54.8%
9Attleboro, MA Estimated41+41.4%
10Westfield, MA Estimated40-13%
11Bridgewater Town, MA Estimated39-4.9%
12Barnstable Town, MA Estimated37-17.8%
12Framingham, MA Estimated37+27.6%
14Agawam Town, MA Estimated33+22.2%
14Newton, MA Estimated330%
16North Attleborough Town, MA Estimated24+166.7%
17Peabody, MA Estimated20-13%
17Weymouth Town, MA Estimated20-4.8%
19Newburyport, MA Estimated18+200%
20Gardner, MA Estimated17-5.6%
21Fitchburg, MA Estimated16-51.5%
21Gloucester, MA Estimated16-30.4%
23Haverhill, MA Estimated14-39.1%
23Northampton, MA Estimated14-36.4%
23Woburn, MA Estimated14-33.3%
26Chicopee, MA Estimated13+44.4%
27Cambridge, MA Estimated11-69.4%
27Lynn, MA Estimated11-59.3%
29Beverly, MA Estimated10+42.9%
29New Bedford, MA Estimated10-41.2%
29Salem, MA Estimated10+66.7%
32Lawrence, MA Estimated9-10%
32Randolph Town, MA Estimated9-40%
34Franklin Town, MA Estimated8-91%
34Marlborough, MA Estimated8+60%
34Pittsfield, MA Estimated8+300%
37Greenfield, MA Estimated6-25%
37Southbridge Town, MA Estimated6-57.1%
39Braintree Town, MA Estimated5+25%
39Palmer Town, MA Estimated5-16.7%
39Quincy, MA Estimated5-82.1%
39West Springfield Town, MA Estimated5-16.7%
43Holyoke, MA Estimated4+33.3%
43Leominster, MA Estimated4-66.7%
43Revere, MA Estimated4-63.6%
46Malden, MA Estimated2n/a
46Medford, MA Estimated2-95%
46Winthrop Town, MA Estimated2-50%
49North Adams, MA Estimated1-66.7%
49Somerville, MA Estimated1-95.7%
51Chelsea, MA Estimated0n/a
51Everett, MA Estimated0n/a
51Melrose, MA Estimated0-100%

Other periods

About this ranking

Annual number of new privately owned housing units in 1-unit structures (detached and attached single-family homes) authorized by building permits, from the US Census Bureau Building Permits Survey.

Part of building_permit_units, which also counts units in buildings with two or more units. Counts housing units, not starts, completions or sales.

Every value in the ranking comes from the same publisher and the same period, so the cities are compared on one definition. 4 cities with data in other periods have no value for 2023 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 in 1-unit structures authorized by permit-issuing place, including imputation. https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/Northeast%20Region/ne2023a.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 in 1-unit structures authorized by permit-issuing place, including imputation (Cities in Massachusetts by single-family housing units authorized by building permits, 2023) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/Northeast%20Region/ne2023a.txt

MLA 9

Building Permits Survey: final annual estimates of new privately owned housing units in 1-unit structures authorized by permit-issuing place, including imputation, Cities in Massachusetts by single-family housing units authorized by building permits, 2023. U.S. Census Bureau, 24 Apr. 2024, https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/Northeast%20Region/ne2023a.txt. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/single-family-building-permits/massachusetts-cities?period=2023. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

U.S. Census Bureau. 2024. Building Permits Survey: final annual estimates of new privately owned housing units in 1-unit structures authorized by permit-issuing place, including imputation. Cities in Massachusetts by single-family housing units authorized by building permits, 2023. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/Northeast%20Region/ne2023a.txt. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/single-family-building-permits/massachusetts-cities?period=2023.

Harvard

U.S. Census Bureau (2024) Building Permits Survey: final annual estimates of new privately owned housing units in 1-unit structures authorized by permit-issuing place, including imputation, Cities in Massachusetts by single-family housing units authorized by building permits, 2023 [Dataset]. Available at: https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/Northeast%20Region/ne2023a.txt, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/single-family-building-permits/massachusetts-cities?period=2023 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{census_cities_in_massachusetts_by_2023,
  author = {{U.S. Census Bureau}},
  title = {{Building Permits Survey: final annual estimates of new privately owned housing units in 1-unit structures authorized by permit-issuing place, including imputation: Cities in Massachusetts by single-family housing units authorized by building permits, 2023}},
  year = {2024},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/Northeast%20Region/ne2023a.txt},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/single-family-building-permits/massachusetts-cities?period=2023. Publisher attribution: U.S. Census Bureau. Building Permits Survey: final annual estimates of new privately owned housing units in 1-unit structures authorized by permit-issuing place, including imputation. https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/Northeast\%20Region/ne2023a.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 in 1-unit structures authorized by permit-issuing place, including imputation: Cities in Massachusetts by single-family housing units authorized by building permits, 2023
PY  - 2024
DA  - 2024/04/24
PB  - U.S. Census Bureau
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/Northeast%20Region/ne2023a.txt
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/single-family-building-permits/massachusetts-cities?period=2023
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/single-family-building-permits/massachusetts-cities?period=2023.
N1  - Publisher attribution: U.S. Census Bureau. Building Permits Survey: final annual estimates of new privately owned housing units in 1-unit structures authorized by permit-issuing place, including imputation. https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/Northeast%20Region/ne2023a.txt. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
ER  -
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Rank Cities in Massachusetts by single-family housing units authorized by building permits using official data, and cite the source.
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Questions

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

Boston, MA, with 108 in 2023, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

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

Melrose, MA, with 0 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 estimates of new privately owned housing units in 1-unit structures authorized by permit-issuing place, including imputation. Retrieved 2026-10-12. 4 cities have no value for 2023 and are not ranked.

Single-family housing units authorized by building permits: other rankings

Cities in Massachusetts: more rankings