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

Worcester, MA had the highest single-family housing units authorized by building permits of 57 cities in 2024, at 75. Winthrop Town, MA had the lowest, at 0. The median was 14. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

Keep it in a collection in your library.
Highest75Worcester, MA
Lowest0Winthrop Town, MA
Median1457 cities

All cities, 2024

Worcester, MA: 75 countWorcester, MA75Boston, MA: 72 countBoston, MA72Fall River, MA: 63 countFall River, MA63Springfield, MA: 57 countSpringfield, MA57Newton, MA: 52 countNewton, MA52Franklin Town, MA: 51 countFranklin Town, MA51Westfield, MA: 43 countWestfield, MA43Attleboro, MA: 39 countAttleboro, MA39Haverhill, MA: 39 countHaverhill, MA39Taunton, MA: 39 countTaunton, MA39Bridgewater Town, MA: 38 countBridgewater Town, MA38Lowell, MA: 38 countLowell, MA38Northampton, MA: 36 countNorthampton, MA36Barnstable Town, MA: 34 countBarnstable Town, MA34Waltham, MA: 32 countWaltham, MA32Brockton, MA: 29 countBrockton, MA29Randolph Town, MA: 28 countRandolph Town, MA28Cambridge, MA: 23 countCambridge, MA23North Attleborough Town, MA: 22 countNorth Attleborough Town, MA22Peabody, MA: 21 countPeabody, MA21Fitchburg, MA: 19 countFitchburg, MA19Gloucester, MA: 19 countGloucester, MA19Watertown, MA: 17 countWatertown, MA17Weymouth Town, MA: 16 countWeymouth Town, MA16Beverly, MA: 15 countBeverly, MA15Framingham, MA: 15 countFramingham, MA15Methuen, MA: 15 countMethuen, MA15Woburn, MA: 15 countWoburn, MA15Lynn, MA: 14 countLynn, MA14Marlborough, MA: 14 countMarlborough, MA14Chicopee, MA: 11 countChicopee, MA11Lawrence, MA: 11 countLawrence, MA11Quincy, MA: 11 countQuincy, MA11Salem, MA: 11 countSalem, MA11Agawam Town, MA: 9 countAgawam Town, MA9Medford, MA: 9 countMedford, MA9Braintree Town, MA: 7 countBraintree Town, MA7Gardner, MA: 7 countGardner, MA7Leominster, MA: 7 countLeominster, MA7Newburyport, MA: 7 countNewburyport, MA7West Springfield Town, MA: 7 countWest Springfield Town, MA7Pittsfield, MA: 6 countPittsfield, MA6Amesbury, MA: 5 countAmesbury, MA5New Bedford, MA: 5 countNew Bedford, MA5Palmer Town, MA: 5 countPalmer Town, MA5Greenfield, MA: 4 countGreenfield, MA4Holyoke, MA: 4 countHolyoke, MA4Somerville, MA: 3 countSomerville, MA3Southbridge Town, MA: 3 countSouthbridge Town, MA3Melrose, MA: 2 countMelrose, MA2North Adams, MA: 2 countNorth Adams, MA2Revere, MA: 2 countRevere, MA2Chelsea, MA: 0 countChelsea, MA0Easthampton, MA: 0 countEasthampton, MA0Everett, MA: 0 countEverett, MA0Malden, MA: 0 countMalden, MA0Winthrop Town, MA: 0 countWinthrop Town, MA0Worcester, MA: 75 countWorcester, MA75Boston, MA: 72 countBoston, MA72Fall River, MA: 63 countFall River, MA63Springfield, MA: 57 countSpringfield, MA57Newton, MA: 52 countNewton, MA52Franklin Town, MA: 51 countFranklin Town, MA51Westfield, MA: 43 countWestfield, MA43Attleboro, MA: 39 countAttleboro, MA39Haverhill, MA: 39 countHaverhill, MA39Taunton, MA: 39 countTaunton, MA39Bridgewater Town, MA: 38 countBridgewater Town, MA38Lowell, MA: 38 countLowell, MA38Northampton, MA: 36 countNorthampton, MA36Barnstable Town, MA: 34 countBarnstable Town, MA34Waltham, MA: 32 countWaltham, MA32Brockton, MA: 29 countBrockton, MA29Randolph Town, MA: 28 countRandolph Town, MA28Cambridge, MA: 23 countCambridge, MA23North Attleborough Town, MA: 22 countNorth Attleborough Town, MA22Peabody, MA: 21 countPeabody, MA21Fitchburg, MA: 19 countFitchburg, MA19Gloucester, MA: 19 countGloucester, MA19Watertown, MA: 17 countWatertown, MA17Weymouth Town, MA: 16 countWeymouth Town, MA16Beverly, MA: 15 countBeverly, MA15Framingham, MA: 15 countFramingham, MA15Methuen, MA: 15 countMethuen, MA15Woburn, MA: 15 countWoburn, MA15Lynn, MA: 14 countLynn, MA14Marlborough, MA: 14 countMarlborough, MA14Chicopee, MA: 11 countChicopee, MA11Lawrence, MA: 11 countLawrence, MA11Quincy, MA: 11 countQuincy, MA11Salem, MA: 11 countSalem, MA11Agawam Town, MA: 9 countAgawam Town, MA9Medford, MA: 9 countMedford, MA9Braintree Town, MA: 7 countBraintree Town, MA7Gardner, MA: 7 countGardner, MA7Leominster, MA: 7 countLeominster, MA7Newburyport, MA: 7 countNewburyport, MA7West Springfield Town, MA: 7 countWest Springfield Town, MA7Pittsfield, MA: 6 countPittsfield, MA6Amesbury, MA: 5 countAmesbury, MA5New Bedford, MA: 5 countNew Bedford, MA5Palmer Town, MA: 5 countPalmer Town, MA5Greenfield, MA: 4 countGreenfield, MA4Holyoke, MA: 4 countHolyoke, MA4Somerville, MA: 3 countSomerville, MA3Southbridge Town, MA: 3 countSouthbridge Town, MA3Melrose, MA: 2 countMelrose, MA2North Adams, MA: 2 countNorth Adams, MA2Revere, MA: 2 countRevere, MA2Chelsea, MA: 0 countChelsea, MA0Easthampton, MA: 0 countEasthampton, MA0Everett, MA: 0 countEverett, MA0Malden, MA: 0 countMalden, MA0Winthrop Town, MA: 0 countWinthrop Town, 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

RankCities2024
count		Change on 2023
1Worcester, MA Estimated750%
2Boston, MA Estimated72-33.3%
3Fall River, MA Estimated63+14.5%
4Springfield, MA Estimated57+16.3%
5Newton, MA Estimated52+57.6%
6Franklin Town, MA Estimated51+537.5%
7Westfield, MA Estimated43+7.5%
8Attleboro, MA Estimated39-4.9%
8Haverhill, MA Estimated39+178.6%
8Taunton, MA Estimated39-56.2%
11Bridgewater Town, MA Estimated38-2.6%
11Lowell, MA Estimated38-26.9%
13Northampton, MA Estimated36+157.1%
14Barnstable Town, MA Estimated34-8.1%
15Waltham, MA Estimated32-39.6%
16Brockton, MA Estimated29-39.6%
17Randolph Town, MA Estimated28+211.1%
18Cambridge, MA Estimated23+109.1%
19North Attleborough Town, MA Estimated22-8.3%
20Peabody, MA Estimated21+5%
21Fitchburg, MA Estimated19+18.8%
21Gloucester, MA Estimated19+18.8%
23Watertown, MA Estimated17n/a
24Weymouth Town, MA Estimated16-20%
25Beverly, MA Estimated15+50%
25Framingham, MA Estimated15-59.5%
25Methuen, MA Estimated15n/a
25Woburn, MA Estimated15+7.1%
29Lynn, MA Estimated14+27.3%
29Marlborough, MA Estimated14+75%
31Chicopee, MA Estimated11-15.4%
31Lawrence, MA Estimated11+22.2%
31Quincy, MA Estimated11+120%
31Salem, MA Estimated11+10%
35Agawam Town, MA Estimated9-72.7%
35Medford, MA Estimated9+350%
37Braintree Town, MA Estimated7+40%
37Gardner, MA Estimated7-58.8%
37Leominster, MA Estimated7+75%
37Newburyport, MA Estimated7-61.1%
37West Springfield Town, MA Estimated7+40%
42Pittsfield, MA Estimated6-25%
43Amesbury, MA Estimated5n/a
43New Bedford, MA Estimated5-50%
43Palmer Town, MA Estimated50%
46Greenfield, MA Estimated4-33.3%
46Holyoke, MA Estimated40%
48Somerville, MA Estimated3+200%
48Southbridge Town, MA Estimated3-50%
50Melrose, MA Estimated2n/a
50North Adams, MA Estimated2+100%
50Revere, MA Estimated2-50%
53Chelsea, MA Estimated0n/a
53Easthampton, MA Estimated0n/a
53Everett, MA Estimated0n/a
53Malden, MA Estimated0-100%
53Winthrop Town, 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. 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/ne2024a.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. (2025). 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, 2024) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/Northeast%20Region/ne2024a.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, 2024. U.S. Census Bureau, 1 May 2025, https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/Northeast%20Region/ne2024a.txt. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/single-family-building-permits/massachusetts-cities?period=2024. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

U.S. Census Bureau. 2025. 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, 2024. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/Northeast%20Region/ne2024a.txt. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/single-family-building-permits/massachusetts-cities?period=2024.

Harvard

U.S. Census Bureau (2025) 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, 2024 [Dataset]. Available at: https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/Northeast%20Region/ne2024a.txt, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/single-family-building-permits/massachusetts-cities?period=2024 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{census_cities_in_massachusetts_by_2024,
  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, 2024}},
  year = {2025},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/Northeast%20Region/ne2024a.txt},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/single-family-building-permits/massachusetts-cities?period=2024. 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/ne2024a.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, 2024
PY  - 2025
DA  - 2025/05/01
PB  - U.S. Census Bureau
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/Northeast%20Region/ne2024a.txt
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/single-family-building-permits/massachusetts-cities?period=2024
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/single-family-building-permits/massachusetts-cities?period=2024.
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/ne2024a.txt. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
ER  -
Embed this chart

Paste this code into a web page or a blog post. The chart shows the latest figures as they are published, with the source and a link back to this page.

Sites that read oEmbed links, such as WordPress, can show the chart when you paste the link to this page.

Use this data in your AI agent

Invokely serves this figure to AI assistants through MCP and to code through a REST API, with the source and citation attached. Ask your assistant:

Rank Cities in Massachusetts by single-family housing units authorized by building permits using official data, and cite the source.
rank_places {"indicator":"building_permit_single_family_units","level":"municipality","within":"Massachusetts","limit":10}
GET https://invokely.ai/api/v1/rank?indicator=building_permit_single_family_units&level=municipality&within=Massachusetts&limit=10

Connect Claude, ChatGPT or Cursor in one step. The trial answers 25 calls a day without an account.

Questions

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

Worcester, MA, with 75 in 2024, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

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

Winthrop Town, MA, with 0 in 2024.

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.

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

Cities in Massachusetts: more rankings