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

Seattle, WA had the highest single-family housing units authorized by building permits of 91 cities in 2016, at 797. Fife, WA had the lowest, at 0. The median was 80. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

Highest797Seattle, WA

Lowest0Fife, WA

Median8091 cities

Top 40 cities, 2016

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	2016 count	Change on 2015
1	Seattle, WA Estimated	797	-1.6%
2	Pasco, WA Estimated	387	+26.9%
3	Lake Stevens, WA Estimated	370	+92.7%
4	Spokane, WA Estimated	369	+9.2%
5	Lacey, WA Estimated	335	+8.8%
6	Kennewick, WA Estimated	329	+18.8%
7	Ridgefield, WA Estimated	323	+53.1%
8	Vancouver, WA Estimated	319	-12.8%
9	Kirkland, WA Estimated	312	-0.3%
10	Sammamish, WA Estimated	289	+50.5%
11	Richland, WA Estimated	271	+15.3%
12	Bellevue, WA Estimated	238	-5.6%
13	Camas, WA Estimated	234	+4.5%
14	Auburn, WA Estimated	230	+1.8%
15	Kent, WA Estimated	199	+5.3%
15	Renton, WA Estimated	199	-8.7%
17	Bellingham, WA Estimated	195	+39.3%
18	Gig Harbor, WA Estimated	192	+77.8%
19	Redmond, WA Estimated	186	-7%
20	Olympia, WA Estimated	185	+49.2%
21	Everett, WA Estimated	183	+13%
22	Spokane Valley, WA Estimated	181	+10.4%
23	Liberty Lake, WA Estimated	166	+41.9%
24	Bothell, WA Estimated	149	+34.2%
25	Mount Vernon, WA Estimated	144	+9.1%
26	Poulsbo, WA Estimated	140	+12%
27	Monroe, WA Estimated	138	+165.4%
28	Yakima, WA Estimated	137	0%
29	Puyallup, WA Estimated	131	-20.6%
30	Issaquah, WA Estimated	127	-43.8%
31	Battle Ground, WA Estimated	124	+93.8%
32	Tacoma, WA Estimated	123	-41.1%
33	Marysville, WA Estimated	121	+4.3%
34	Bainbridge Island, WA Estimated	114	-8.8%
35	Tumwater, WA Estimated	112	+86.7%
36	Bremerton, WA Estimated	96	+7.9%
37	Kenmore, WA Estimated	93	-11.4%
38	Snoqualmie, WA Estimated	91	+250%
39	West Richland, WA Estimated	90	-29.7%
40	Washougal, WA Estimated	88	-7.4%
41	Port Townsend, WA Estimated	85	+157.6%
41	Walla Walla, WA Estimated	85	+23.2%
43	Ellensburg, WA Estimated	82	+256.5%
43	Yelm, WA Estimated	82	+34.4%
45	Bonney Lake, WA Estimated	80	+33.3%
45	Lynden, WA Estimated	80	+35.6%
47	Burien, WA Estimated	78	+21.9%
47	Moses Lake, WA Estimated	78	+18.2%
49	Shoreline, WA Estimated	76	+61.7%
50	Anacortes, WA Estimated	75	0%
51	Ferndale, WA Estimated	73	-14.1%
52	Mercer Island, WA Estimated	70	-7.9%
52	Wenatchee, WA Estimated	70	0%
54	Newcastle, WA Estimated	67	-27.2%
55	SeaTac, WA Estimated	64	+540%
56	Covington, WA Estimated	62	+264.7%
57	Pullman, WA Estimated	60	+20%
57	University Place, WA Estimated	60	+400%
59	Edgewood, WA Estimated	56	+64.7%
59	Snohomish, WA Estimated	56	-24.3%
61	Edmonds, WA Estimated	54	+1.9%
62	Port Orchard, WA Estimated	52	-50%
63	Maple Valley, WA Estimated	51	+54.5%
64	Mountlake Terrace, WA Estimated	45	+400%
65	Cheney, WA Estimated	43	+65.4%
66	Oak Harbor, WA Estimated	39	0%
67	Federal Way, WA Estimated	37	-7.5%
67	Mill Creek, WA Estimated	37	+1,750%
69	Tukwila, WA Estimated	32	-15.8%
70	Lake Forest Park, WA Estimated	30	+200%
71	Enumclaw, WA Estimated	29	-29.3%
71	Lakewood, WA Estimated	29	-37%
73	Sedro-Woolley, WA Estimated	28	-30%
74	Sumner, WA Estimated	26	+85.7%
75	Airway Heights, WA Estimated	25	+25%
76	Sunnyside, WA Estimated	24	-31.4%
77	Des Moines, WA Estimated	22	+37.5%
77	Port Angeles, WA Estimated	22	-43.6%
79	Centralia, WA Estimated	19	+72.7%
80	Arlington, WA Estimated	16	+300%
81	Longview, WA Estimated	15	+25%
82	Lynnwood, WA Estimated	14	-22.2%
82	Woodinville, WA Estimated	14	-26.3%
84	Shelton, WA Estimated	9	+350%
85	Burlington, WA Estimated	6	0%
85	Mukilteo, WA Estimated	6	-64.7%
87	Aberdeen, WA Estimated	5	+400%
88	East Wenatchee, WA Estimated	4	-50%
89	Kelso, WA Estimated	3	+50%
90	Grandview, WA Estimated	2	0%
91	Fife, WA Estimated	0	-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/West%20Region/we2016a.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. (2017). 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 Washington by single-family housing units authorized by building permits, 2016) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/West%20Region/we2016a.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 Washington by single-family housing units authorized by building permits, 2016. U.S. Census Bureau, 1 May 2017, https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/West%20Region/we2016a.txt. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/single-family-building-permits/washington-cities?period=2016. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

U.S. Census Bureau. 2017. 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 Washington by single-family housing units authorized by building permits, 2016. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/West%20Region/we2016a.txt. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/single-family-building-permits/washington-cities?period=2016.

Harvard

U.S. Census Bureau (2017) 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 Washington by single-family housing units authorized by building permits, 2016 [Dataset]. Available at: https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/West%20Region/we2016a.txt, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/single-family-building-permits/washington-cities?period=2016 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX

@misc{census_cities_in_washington_by_2016,
  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 Washington by single-family housing units authorized by building permits, 2016}},
  year = {2017},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/West%20Region/we2016a.txt},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/single-family-building-permits/washington-cities?period=2016. 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/West\%20Region/we2016a.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 Washington by single-family housing units authorized by building permits, 2016
PY  - 2017
DA  - 2017/05/01
PB  - U.S. Census Bureau
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/West%20Region/we2016a.txt
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/single-family-building-permits/washington-cities?period=2016
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/single-family-building-permits/washington-cities?period=2016.
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/West%20Region/we2016a.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/washington-cities?period=2016" width="760" height="500" title="Cities in Washington by single-family housing units authorized by building permits, 2016, 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 Washington 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":"Washington","limit":10}
GET https://invokely.ai/api/v1/rank?indicator=building_permit_single_family_units&level=municipality&within=Washington&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?

Seattle, WA, with 797 in 2016, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

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

Fife, WA, with 0 in 2016.

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.