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

Auburn Hills, MI had the highest single-family housing units authorized by building permits of 84 cities in 2017, at 246. Ypsilanti, MI had the lowest, at 0. The median was 11. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

Highest246Auburn Hills, MI

Lowest0Ypsilanti, MI

Median1184 cities

Top 40 cities, 2017

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

Rank	Cities	2017 count	Change on 2016
1	Auburn Hills, MI Estimated	246	+459.1%
2	Sterling Heights, MI Estimated	204	+102%
3	Rochester Hills, MI Estimated	198	+30.3%
4	Novi, MI Estimated	181	-1.6%
5	Troy, MI Estimated	175	+53.5%
6	Royal Oak, MI Estimated	150	+11.9%
7	Ann Arbor, MI Estimated	105	+320%
8	Grand Rapids, MI Estimated	101	+46.4%
9	Kentwood, MI Estimated	96	+92%
10	Birmingham, MI Estimated	91	+5.8%
11	Portage, MI Estimated	77	+5.5%
12	Livonia, MI Estimated	75	+108.3%
12	Westland, MI Estimated	75	+38.9%
14	Dearborn, MI Estimated	64	+77.8%
15	Detroit, MI Estimated	59	+136%
16	Romulus, MI Estimated	54	+38.5%
17	Berkley, MI Estimated	53	+15.2%
17	Burton, MI Estimated	53	-8.6%
19	Wixom, MI Estimated	52	+62.5%
20	Lansing, MI Estimated	51	+24.4%
21	Midland, MI Estimated	48	-14.3%
22	Wyoming, MI Estimated	46	-6.1%
23	Fenton, MI Estimated	44	+131.6%
23	Walker, MI Estimated	44	+41.9%
25	Norton Shores, MI Estimated	38	-30.9%
26	Rochester, MI Estimated	36	+200%
27	South Lyon, MI Estimated	35	+59.1%
28	Kalamazoo, MI Estimated	30	+50%
29	New Baltimore, MI Estimated	26	+62.5%
30	Beverly Hills, MI Estimated	22	+1,000%
31	St. Clair Shores, MI Estimated	21	-30%
32	Flat Rock, MI Estimated	20	-20%
32	Wyandotte, MI Estimated	20	+66.7%
34	Farmington Hills, MI Estimated	17	+54.5%
34	Southfield, MI Estimated	17	+112.5%
36	Ferndale, MI Estimated	16	+45.5%
37	Holland, MI Estimated	15	+7.1%
37	Mount Pleasant, MI Estimated	15	+150%
39	Muskegon, MI Estimated	13	-31.6%
40	Pontiac, MI Estimated	12	-60%
41	Dearborn Heights, MI Estimated	11	+37.5%
41	Taylor, MI Estimated	11	-54.2%
43	Battle Creek, MI Estimated	10	+11.1%
43	Coldwater, MI Estimated	10	+233.3%
45	Fraser, MI Estimated	9	-25%
45	Warren, MI Estimated	9	-59.1%
47	Southgate, MI Estimated	8	+100%
48	East Lansing, MI Estimated	7	0%
49	Grand Haven, MI Estimated	6	+50%
49	Grandville, MI Estimated	6	0%
49	Port Huron, MI Estimated	6	+100%
49	Roseville, MI Estimated	6	+100%
49	Saginaw, MI Estimated	6	0%
54	Oak Park, MI Estimated	5	+25%
54	Trenton, MI Estimated	5	+400%
56	Alpena, MI Estimated	3	+50%
56	Madison Heights, MI Estimated	3	-40%
56	Niles, MI Estimated	3	+50%
56	Riverview, MI Estimated	3	0%
60	Monroe, MI Estimated	2	-33.3%
60	Mount Clemens, MI Estimated	2	n/a
60	Owosso, MI Estimated	2	n/a
60	Woodhaven, MI Estimated	2	n/a
64	Grosse Pointe Park, MI Estimated	1	0%
64	Jackson, MI Estimated	1	0%
64	Sault Ste. Marie, MI Estimated	1	-50%
67	Adrian, MI Estimated	0	n/a
67	Allen Park, MI Estimated	0	n/a
67	Bay City, MI Estimated	0	n/a
67	Clawson, MI Estimated	0	n/a
67	Eastpointe, MI Estimated	0	n/a
67	Farmington, MI Estimated	0	-100%
67	Flint, MI Estimated	0	n/a
67	Garden City, MI Estimated	0	-100%
67	Grosse Pointe Woods, MI Estimated	0	-100%
67	Hamtramck, MI Estimated	0	n/a
67	Harper Woods, MI Estimated	0	n/a
67	Hazel Park, MI Estimated	0	n/a
67	Inkster, MI Estimated	0	n/a
67	Lincoln Park, MI Estimated	0	-100%
67	Melvindale, MI Estimated	0	n/a
67	Sturgis, MI Estimated	0	-100%
67	Wayne, MI Estimated	0	n/a
67	Ypsilanti, MI Estimated	0	n/a

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. 3 cities with data in other periods have no value for 2017 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/Midwest%20Region/mw2017a.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. (2018). 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 Michigan by single-family housing units authorized by building permits, 2017) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/Midwest%20Region/mw2017a.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 Michigan by single-family housing units authorized by building permits, 2017. U.S. Census Bureau, 1 May 2018, https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/Midwest%20Region/mw2017a.txt. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/single-family-building-permits/michigan-cities?period=2017. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

U.S. Census Bureau. 2018. 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 Michigan by single-family housing units authorized by building permits, 2017. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/Midwest%20Region/mw2017a.txt. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/single-family-building-permits/michigan-cities?period=2017.

Harvard

U.S. Census Bureau (2018) 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 Michigan by single-family housing units authorized by building permits, 2017 [Dataset]. Available at: https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/Midwest%20Region/mw2017a.txt, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/single-family-building-permits/michigan-cities?period=2017 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX

@misc{census_cities_in_michigan_by_2017,
  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 Michigan by single-family housing units authorized by building permits, 2017}},
  year = {2018},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/Midwest%20Region/mw2017a.txt},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/single-family-building-permits/michigan-cities?period=2017. 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/Midwest\%20Region/mw2017a.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 Michigan by single-family housing units authorized by building permits, 2017
PY  - 2018
DA  - 2018/05/01
PB  - U.S. Census Bureau
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/Midwest%20Region/mw2017a.txt
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/single-family-building-permits/michigan-cities?period=2017
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/single-family-building-permits/michigan-cities?period=2017.
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/Midwest%20Region/mw2017a.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.

Embed code

<iframe src="https://invokely.ai/embed/rankings/single-family-building-permits/michigan-cities?period=2017" width="760" height="500" title="Cities in Michigan by single-family housing units authorized by building permits, 2017, chart from Invokely" loading="lazy" style="border:0;width:100%;max-width:760px" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin"></iframe>

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 Michigan 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":"Michigan","limit":10}
GET https://invokely.ai/api/v1/rank?indicator=building_permit_single_family_units&level=municipality&within=Michigan&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?

Auburn Hills, MI, with 246 in 2017, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

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

Ypsilanti, MI, with 0 in 2017.

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. 3 cities have no value for 2017 and are not ranked.