US City Building Permit Rankings

Closure rates, open permit backlogs, and year-over-year trends across 35 US cities.

10,838,933

Permits Tracked

2,246,599

Open Permits

77.2%

Avg Closure Rate

Most Improved

Boston

+1.9 pp vs. prior year

Most Backlogged

Boston

297,975 open permits

#	City	State	Closure Rate↓	Open	Permits	Trend	Grade
1	Anaheim	CA	98.1%	2,773	147,993	-8.4 pp	C
2	Orlando	FL	97.7%	18,161	791,187	-4.3 pp	B
3	Wilmington	NC	96.2%	10,438	271,525	-3 pp	B
4	Raleigh	NC	96.1%	6,480	166,174	-6.6 pp	C
5	Greensboro	NC	94.1%	3,437	57,925	-24 pp	C
6	Minneapolis	MN	94%	7,013	116,768	-11 pp	C
7	Elk Grove	CA	92.5%	8,974	120,132	-10 pp	C
8	Honolulu	HI	92.3%	26,117	339,997	-27.6 pp	C
9	Miami	FL	90.7%	18,334	197,961	-7.1 pp	C
10	Chicago	IL	90.6%	39,264	417,454	-12.5 pp	C
11	Tacoma	WA	90.4%	3,369	35,241	-16.5 pp	C
12	Austin	TX	88.3%	113,234	969,513	-3.4 pp	C
13	Philadelphia	PA	85.8%	107,127	753,428	-4.9 pp	C
14	Cary	NC	85.7%	9,025	63,311	-4.5 pp	C
15	Cincinnati	OH	85.1%	19,902	133,268	-6.8 pp	C
16	Seattle	WA	84.9%	20,369	135,159	-9.8 pp	C
17	Fort Worth	TX	84.6%	225,106	1,457,069	-15.2 pp	D
18	Scottsdale	AZ	82.2%	24,344	136,820	-7.7 pp	C
19	Norfolk	VA	81.5%	16,596	89,878	-3.3 pp	C
20	Cleveland	OH	80.3%	33,398	169,929	-6.8 pp	C
21	Cape Coral	FL	79.3%	7,708	37,202	—	C
22	Columbus	OH	75.4%	159,536	647,790	-0.2 pp	C
23	Henderson	NV	73.4%	48,386	181,645	-4.3 pp	C
24	Little Rock	AR	72.5%	16,975	61,772	-4 pp	C
25	San Francisco	CA	72.5%	146,919	533,360	-8.3 pp	D
26	Los Angeles	CA	72.1%	92,813	332,458	-6.6 pp	D
27	San Diego	CA	70%	119,105	396,921	—	C
28	New York City	NY	68.2%	271,843	855,614	-8.3 pp	D
29	Pittsburgh	PA	67.9%	18,683	58,248	-5.4 pp	D
30	Worcester	MA	67.9%	14,600	45,489	-1.1 pp	C
31	New Orleans	LA	59.3%	105,534	259,056	-28.8 pp	D
32	Boston	MA	44.4%	297,975	535,627	+1.9 pp	D
33	Atlanta	GA	38.7%	5,155	8,412	-31.6 pp	F
34	Washington, D.C.	DC	29.5%	183,312	260,117	-0.9 pp	F
35	Mesa	AZ	18.2%	44,594	54,490	-3.8 pp	F

Closure rate measures the percentage of rate-eligible permits (those older than one year) that have been closed. Trend shows year-over-year change in percentage points.