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

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

Novi, MI had the highest single-family housing units authorized by building permits of 84 cities in 2019, at 190. Sault Ste. Marie, MI had the lowest, at 0. The median was 9. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

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Highest190Novi, MI
Lowest0Sault Ste. Marie, MI
Median984 cities

Top 40 cities, 2019

Novi, MI: 190 countNovi, MI190Sterling Heights, MI: 172 countSterling Heights, MI172Grand Rapids, MI: 153 countGrand Rapids, MI153Royal Oak, MI: 137 countRoyal Oak, MI137Ann Arbor, MI: 96 countAnn Arbor, MI96Troy, MI: 92 countTroy, MI92Auburn Hills, MI: 89 countAuburn Hills, MI89Rochester Hills, MI: 83 countRochester Hills, MI83Kentwood, MI: 82 countKentwood, MI82Portage, MI: 75 countPortage, MI75Wyoming, MI: 75 countWyoming, MI75Wixom, MI: 73 countWixom, MI73Birmingham, MI: 62 countBirmingham, MI62Westland, MI: 58 countWestland, MI58Farmington Hills, MI: 47 countFarmington Hills, MI47Ferndale, MI: 47 countFerndale, MI47South Lyon, MI: 44 countSouth Lyon, MI44Walker, MI: 44 countWalker, MI44Warren, MI: 43 countWarren, MI43Muskegon, MI: 42 countMuskegon, MI42Livonia, MI: 39 countLivonia, MI39Midland, MI: 38 countMidland, MI38Dearborn, MI: 36 countDearborn, MI36Kalamazoo, MI: 34 countKalamazoo, MI34Romulus, MI: 32 countRomulus, MI32Berkley, MI: 30 countBerkley, MI30Detroit, MI: 30 countDetroit, MI30St. Clair Shores, MI: 30 countSt. Clair Shores, MI30Burton, MI: 28 countBurton, MI28Lansing, MI: 25 countLansing, MI25Bay City, MI: 23 countBay City, MI23Taylor, MI: 21 countTaylor, MI21Madison Heights, MI: 20 countMadison Heights, MI20Southfield, MI: 17 countSouthfield, MI17New Baltimore, MI: 15 countNew Baltimore, MI15Grand Haven, MI: 14 countGrand Haven, MI14Fenton, MI: 12 countFenton, MI12Owosso, MI: 11 countOwosso, MI11Beverly Hills, MI: 10 countBeverly Hills, MI10Flint, MI: 10 countFlint, MI10Novi, MI: 190 countNovi, MI190Sterling Heights, MI: 172 countSterling Heights, MI172Grand Rapids, MI: 153 countGrand Rapids, MI153Royal Oak, MI: 137 countRoyal Oak, MI137Ann Arbor, MI: 96 countAnn Arbor, MI96Troy, MI: 92 countTroy, MI92Auburn Hills, MI: 89 countAuburn Hills, MI89Rochester Hills, MI: 83 countRochester Hills, MI83Kentwood, MI: 82 countKentwood, MI82Portage, MI: 75 countPortage, MI75Wyoming, MI: 75 countWyoming, MI75Wixom, MI: 73 countWixom, MI73Birmingham, MI: 62 countBirmingham, MI62Westland, MI: 58 countWestland, MI58Farmington Hills, MI: 47 countFarmington Hills, MI47Ferndale, MI: 47 countFerndale, MI47South Lyon, MI: 44 countSouth Lyon, MI44Walker, MI: 44 countWalker, MI44Warren, MI: 43 countWarren, MI43Muskegon, MI: 42 countMuskegon, MI42Livonia, MI: 39 countLivonia, MI39Midland, MI: 38 countMidland, MI38Dearborn, MI: 36 countDearborn, MI36Kalamazoo, MI: 34 countKalamazoo, MI34Romulus, MI: 32 countRomulus, MI32Berkley, MI: 30 countBerkley, MI30Detroit, MI: 30 countDetroit, MI30St. Clair Shores, MI: 30 countSt. Clair Shores, MI30Burton, MI: 28 countBurton, MI28Lansing, MI: 25 countLansing, MI25Bay City, MI: 23 countBay City, MI23Taylor, MI: 21 countTaylor, MI21Madison Heights, MI: 20 countMadison Heights, MI20Southfield, MI: 17 countSouthfield, MI17New Baltimore, MI: 15 countNew Baltimore, MI15Grand Haven, MI: 14 countGrand Haven, MI14Fenton, MI: 12 countFenton, MI12Owosso, MI: 11 countOwosso, MI11Beverly Hills, MI: 10 countBeverly Hills, MI10Flint, MI: 10 countFlint, MI10
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

RankCities2019
count		Change on 2018
1Novi, MI Estimated190+29.3%
2Sterling Heights, MI Estimated172+341%
3Grand Rapids, MI Estimated153+23.4%
4Royal Oak, MI Estimated137-3.5%
5Ann Arbor, MI Estimated96-23.8%
6Troy, MI Estimated92-34.3%
7Auburn Hills, MI Estimated89-53.4%
8Rochester Hills, MI Estimated83-29.7%
9Kentwood, MI Estimated82+17.1%
10Portage, MI Estimated75+31.6%
10Wyoming, MI Estimated75+212.5%
12Wixom, MI Estimated73+21.7%
13Birmingham, MI Estimated62-29.5%
14Westland, MI Estimated58-10.8%
15Farmington Hills, MI Estimated47+80.8%
15Ferndale, MI Estimated47-13%
17South Lyon, MI Estimated44+120%
17Walker, MI Estimated440%
19Warren, MI Estimated43+79.2%
20Muskegon, MI Estimated42+162.5%
21Livonia, MI Estimated39-32.8%
22Midland, MI Estimated38+8.6%
23Dearborn, MI Estimated36+24.1%
24Kalamazoo, MI Estimated34-24.4%
25Romulus, MI Estimated32-22%
26Berkley, MI Estimated30+3.4%
26Detroit, MI Estimated30-42.3%
26St. Clair Shores, MI Estimated30+20%
29Burton, MI Estimated28-39.1%
30Lansing, MI Estimated25-3.8%
31Bay City, MI Estimated23-4.2%
32Taylor, MI Estimated21+5%
33Madison Heights, MI Estimated20+66.7%
34Southfield, MI Estimated17+13.3%
35New Baltimore, MI Estimated15+7.1%
36Grand Haven, MI Estimated14+16.7%
37Fenton, MI Estimated12-75%
38Owosso, MI Estimated11+120%
39Beverly Hills, MI Estimated10+11.1%
39Flint, MI Estimated10n/a
39Norton Shores, MI Estimated10-16.7%
42Battle Creek, MI Estimated90%
42Dearborn Heights, MI Estimated90%
42Holland, MI Estimated90%
42Wyandotte, MI Estimated9-57.1%
46Hazel Park, MI Estimated8n/a
46Mount Pleasant, MI Estimated8n/a
48Coldwater, MI Estimated70%
48Rochester, MI Estimated7-63.2%
50East Lansing, MI Estimated60%
50Roseville, MI Estimated6+500%
52Oak Park, MI Estimated5-64.3%
52Riverview, MI Estimated50%
52Saginaw, MI Estimated50%
55Melvindale, MI Estimated4n/a
55Port Huron, MI Estimated4+100%
55Ypsilanti, MI Estimated4+300%
58Flat Rock, MI Estimated3-50%
58Grandville, MI Estimated3-25%
58Pontiac, MI Estimated30%
58Sturgis, MI Estimated3+200%
62Allen Park, MI Estimated2n/a
62Alpena, MI Estimated20%
62Niles, MI Estimated20%
62Southgate, MI Estimated2+100%
62Trenton, MI Estimated20%
62Woodhaven, MI Estimated20%
68Farmington, MI Estimated1n/a
68Grosse Pointe Park, MI Estimated1-83.3%
68Grosse Pointe Woods, MI Estimated1-50%
68Harper Woods, MI Estimated1n/a
68Jackson, MI Estimated1n/a
68Monroe, MI Estimated1-66.7%
68Wayne, MI Estimated1n/a
75Adrian, MI Estimated0n/a
75Clawson, MI Estimated0n/a
75Eastpointe, MI Estimated0-100%
75Fraser, MI Estimated0-100%
75Garden City, MI Estimated0n/a
75Hamtramck, MI Estimated0-100%
75Inkster, MI Estimated0n/a
75Lincoln Park, MI Estimated0n/a
75Mount Clemens, MI Estimated0-100%
75Sault Ste. Marie, MI Estimated0n/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 2019 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/mw2019a.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. (2020). 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, 2019) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/Midwest%20Region/mw2019a.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, 2019. U.S. Census Bureau, 1 May 2020, https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/Midwest%20Region/mw2019a.txt. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/single-family-building-permits/michigan-cities?period=2019. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

U.S. Census Bureau. 2020. 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, 2019. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/Midwest%20Region/mw2019a.txt. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/single-family-building-permits/michigan-cities?period=2019.

Harvard

U.S. Census Bureau (2020) 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, 2019 [Dataset]. Available at: https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/Midwest%20Region/mw2019a.txt, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/single-family-building-permits/michigan-cities?period=2019 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{census_cities_in_michigan_by_2019,
  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, 2019}},
  year = {2020},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/Midwest%20Region/mw2019a.txt},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/single-family-building-permits/michigan-cities?period=2019. 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/mw2019a.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, 2019
PY  - 2020
DA  - 2020/05/01
PB  - U.S. Census Bureau
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/Midwest%20Region/mw2019a.txt
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/single-family-building-permits/michigan-cities?period=2019
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/single-family-building-permits/michigan-cities?period=2019.
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/mw2019a.txt. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
ER  -
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Questions

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

Novi, MI, with 190 in 2019, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

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

Sault Ste. Marie, MI, with 0 in 2019.

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 2019 and are not ranked.

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

Cities in Michigan: more rankings