US City Building Permit Rankings

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

10,931,247

Permits Tracked

2,267,885

Open Permits

77.2%

Avg Closure Rate

Most Improved

Boston

+1.8 pp vs. prior year

Most Backlogged

Boston

299,182 open permits

#	City	State	Closure Rate↓	Open	Permits	Trend	Grade
1	Anaheim	CA	98.1%	2,773	147,993	-11.1 pp	C
2	Orlando	FL	97.7%	18,128	794,928	-4.7 pp	B
3	Wilmington	NC	96.3%	10,143	272,337	-4.1 pp	B
4	Raleigh	NC	96%	6,742	167,000	-7.2 pp	C
5	Greensboro	NC	94.2%	3,384	58,413	-20.8 pp	C
6	Minneapolis	MN	94.1%	6,990	118,164	-12 pp	C
7	Elk Grove	CA	92.5%	8,974	120,132	-10.8 pp	C
8	Honolulu	HI	92.3%	26,117	339,997	-31.2 pp	C
9	Miami	FL	90.8%	18,552	201,691	-7.5 pp	C
10	Chicago	IL	90.4%	40,140	420,060	-15 pp	C
11	Tacoma	WA	90.3%	3,481	35,851	-14.7 pp	C
12	Austin	TX	88.3%	114,178	977,233	-2.9 pp	C
13	Cary	NC	85.8%	9,176	64,695	-4.2 pp	C
14	Philadelphia	PA	85.7%	108,315	759,501	-5.3 pp	C
15	Cincinnati	OH	85%	20,145	134,320	-6.6 pp	C
16	Seattle	WA	84.9%	20,512	135,959	-10 pp	D
17	Fort Worth	TX	84.6%	225,765	1,466,317	-14.9 pp	D
18	Scottsdale	AZ	82.3%	24,262	136,930	-8.3 pp	C
19	Norfolk	VA	81.5%	16,882	91,114	-3.3 pp	C
20	Cleveland	OH	80.6%	33,357	171,731	-5.9 pp	C
21	Cape Coral	FL	80.5%	7,921	40,668	—	C
22	Columbus	OH	75.2%	162,250	654,445	-0.2 pp	C
23	Henderson	NV	73.4%	48,657	183,082	-5.9 pp	D
24	Little Rock	AR	72.5%	16,975	61,772	-5.4 pp	D
25	San Francisco	CA	72.5%	145,164	528,331	-6.5 pp	D
26	Los Angeles	CA	72.3%	94,272	340,416	-6.7 pp	D
27	San Diego	CA	69.9%	121,069	402,059	—	C
28	New York City	NY	68.3%	276,912	872,479	-9 pp	D
29	Worcester	MA	68.3%	14,445	45,552	-1.3 pp	C
30	Pittsburgh	PA	67.8%	19,229	59,687	-5.2 pp	D
31	New Orleans	LA	59.2%	105,752	259,350	-37.9 pp	D
32	Boston	MA	44.6%	299,182	539,620	+1.8 pp	D
33	Atlanta	GA	38.7%	5,155	8,412	-24.8 pp	F
34	Washington, D.C.	DC	29.4%	188,292	266,518	-1.3 pp	F
35	Mesa	AZ	18.2%	44,594	54,490	-3.1 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.