City rankings
U.S. cities with the most commercial construction permits
In the 90 days to November 6, 2026, New York City permitted the most commercial and multifamily projects of the 34 U.S. cities we cover: 11,164, ahead of Miami-Dade County (4,191) and Chicago (2,908). By declared value, Miami-Dade County led with $14.1B.
Most projects first
Commercial and multifamily projects with a permit issued in the last 90 days. A project groups the permits on one job site.
| Rank | City | Projects | Permits | Declared value | Permits declaring a value | Share of all permits |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | New York City, NY | 11,164 | 15,181 | $9.7B | 83% | 74% |
| 2 | Miami-Dade County, FL | 4,191 | 6,026 | $14.1B | 88% | 35% |
| 3 | Chicago, IL | 2,908 | 4,265 | $10.7B | 75% | 50% |
| 4 | Los Angeles, CA | 2,717 | 3,160 | $5.2B | 93% | 21% |
| 5 | Philadelphia, PA | 2,596 | 3,665 | Not published | 0% | 33% |
| 6 | Austin, TX | 2,521 | 3,937 | $4.7B | 10% | 27% |
| 7 | Miami, FL | 2,470 | 4,155 | $7.8B | 89% | 57% |
| 8 | Boston, MA | 1,946 | 3,901 | $6.6B | 91% | 44% |
| 9 | Columbus, OH | 1,845 | 3,101 | $4.6B | 32% | 27% |
| 10 | Seattle, WA | 1,772 | 3,772 | $5.4B | 60% | 30% |
| 11 | San Jose, CA | 1,342 | 1,484 | $1.5B | 27% | 28% |
| 12 | San Francisco, CA | 1,268 | 1,870 | $2.3B | 78% | 50% |
| 13 | Orlando, FL | 1,183 | 2,600 | $3.6B | 82% | 40% |
| 14 | Nashville, TN | 1,093 | 1,169 | $2.1B | 94% | 45% |
| 15 | Baltimore, MD | 965 | 1,419 | $2.6B | 77% | 19% |
| 16 | Raleigh, NC | 936 | 2,130 | $1.1B | 19% | 33% |
| 17 | Minneapolis, MN | 891 | 1,356 | $1.1B | 45% | 17% |
| 18 | New Orleans, LA | 749 | 1,181 | $1.7B | 56% | 29% |
| 19 | Cincinnati, OH | 728 | 1,068 | $904M | 91% | 44% |
| 20 | Fort Worth, TX | 718 | 1,613 | $5.2B | 34% | 16% |
| 21 | Cleveland, OH | 609 | 754 | $922M | 95% | 23% |
| 22 | Louisville, KY | 594 | 775 | $988M | 86% | 24% |
| 23 | Baton Rouge, LA | 506 | 668 | $372M | 43% | 31% |
| 24 | Denver, CO | 480 | 483 | $235M | 81% | 32% |
| 25 | Buffalo, NY | 455 | 643 | $726M | 94% | 22% |
| 26 | Norfolk, VA | 449 | 689 | $616M | 74% | 28% |
| 27 | Pittsburgh, PA | 429 | 793 | $1.6B | 88% | 32% |
| 28 | Mesa, AZ | 363 | 462 | $2.6B | 74% | 38% |
| 29 | Tacoma, WA | 287 | 454 | $783M | 84% | 27% |
| 30 | Los Angeles County, CA | 271 | 499 | $257M | 51% | 8% |
| 31 | Montgomery County, MD | 262 | 298 | $519M | 0% | 100% |
| 32 | Arlington, TX | 222 | 272 | $673M | 84% | 23% |
| 33 | Albuquerque, NM | 180 | 218 | $235M | 100% | 36% |
| 34 | Cambridge, MA | 107 | 130 | $577M | 100% | 64% |
How we measured this
- Permits issued August 8, 2026 to November 6, 2026 on commercial and multifamily property, recalculated daily from each city’s official open data.
- Each permit is classified from the city’s own fields and grouped into a project by job site, as described in our methodology.
- A project counts when the job as a whole is commercial or multifamily and it had any permit in the period. A permit counts when its own record says so, or when it’s a trade permit with no category of its own on such a job. A permit with neither, like a change of contractor, still counts its project, so a city can show more projects than permits.
- Declared value is what applicants state on the permit, not the final construction cost, and many permits don’t state one.
- Cities permit different kinds of work and cover different areas, so treat this as a measure of permit activity, not of a whole market.
Questions and answers
Which U.S. city has the most commercial construction permits?
In the 90 days to November 6, 2026, New York City permitted the most commercial and multifamily projects of the 34 U.S. cities we cover: 11,164, ahead of Miami-Dade County (4,191) and Chicago (2,908). By declared value, Miami-Dade County led with $14.1B.
Why rank by projects rather than dollars?
Many cities leave the value off a large share of their permits, and some publish none at all, so a ranking by dollars would mostly reflect which cities report values. We group permits into projects and count those, and show declared value beside it with the share of permits that carry one.
Does this cover every U.S. city?
No. It covers the 34 cities and counties we publish, each within its own boundary, and isn't adjusted for population. National housing figures for every state, metro and county are on our state pages.
Commercial construction by city: key facts
- Most active city: New York City, NY, with 11,164 commercial and multifamily projects.
- Across the 34 cities we cover: 49,217 projects and $102B of declared value.
- Period: permits issued August 8, 2026 to November 6, 2026.
Source: official city open-data portals, checked daily. Data through . How we count
Using these numbers? Please cite US Permit Search and link to this page.
Selling to job sites in these cities?
Pro shows each new commercial project the morning its permit is issued, with email alerts and CSV export.