National ranking · Top 100 · data updated July 2026
The 100 most-permits
Ranking the top 100 US cities by value, drawn straight from Official U.S. government data.
- 100
- Cities ranked
- #1
- Fort Worth
- 13,148
- Value
Data updated July 2026
The headline finding
Fort Worth, TX tops this list at 13,148 value, making the top 100 requires at least 1,450.
- Fort Worth, TX
- #1 · 13,148
- 1,450
- #100 cutoff
- 100
- cities in this ranking
Every figure here is read live from the same Official U.S. government data data rendered in the table below.
These 100 cities span 29 states. Texas has the most entries on this list: 23 (23% of the total). Texas state page.
How we calculate the state breakdown
The state count and leader above are a live tally of this list's own 100 rows, grouped by state. See the methodology page for the full source-to-figure lineage.
| Rank | City | Value |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fort Worth , TX | 13,148 |
| 2 | Houston , TX | 11,898 |
| 3 | Los Angeles , CA | 10,488 |
| 4 | Austin , TX | 9,444 |
| 5 | Phoenix , AZ | 8,997 |
| 6 | Atlanta , GA | 8,109 |
| 7 | Nashville-Davidson metropolitan government (balance) , TN | 6,799 |
| 8 | San Diego , CA | 6,615 |
| 9 | Jacksonville , FL | 6,398 |
| 10 | San Antonio , TX | 6,258 |
| 11 | Columbus , OH | 6,084 |
| 12 | Dallas , TX | 6,038 |
| 13 | Miami , FL | 6,023 |
| 14 | Seattle , WA | 5,895 |
| 15 | Raleigh , NC | 5,044 |
| 16 | Oklahoma City , OK | 4,398 |
| 17 | Chicago , IL | 4,371 |
| 18 | Omaha , NE | 4,360 |
| 19 | Celina , TX | 4,357 |
| 20 | Denver , CO | 3,994 |
| 21 | Fulshear , TX | 3,970 |
| 22 | McKinney , TX | 3,910 |
| 23 | Port St. Lucie , FL | 3,798 |
| 24 | Irvine , CA | 3,730 |
| 25 | Las Vegas , NV | 3,590 |
| 26 | Surprise , AZ | 3,490 |
| 27 | Cape Coral , FL | 3,397 |
| 28 | Henderson , NV | 3,286 |
| 29 | Goodyear , AZ | 3,195 |
| 30 | Buckeye , AZ | 3,111 |
| 31 | Palm Bay , FL | 3,062 |
| 32 | Philadelphia , PA | 2,962 |
| 33 | Kansas City , MO | 2,878 |
| 34 | Madison , WI | 2,812 |
| 35 | Durham , NC | 2,793 |
| 36 | Mesa , AZ | 2,735 |
| 37 | Reno , NV | 2,723 |
| 38 | Jersey City , NJ | 2,601 |
| 39 | North Port , FL | 2,578 |
| 40 | Tampa , FL | 2,546 |
| 41 | Richmond , VA | 2,540 |
| 42 | New Braunfels , TX | 2,438 |
| 43 | Conroe , TX | 2,425 |
| 44 | Aurora , CO | 2,374 |
| 45 | Georgetown , TX | 2,354 |
| 46 | Princeton , TX | 2,278 |
| 47 | Fayetteville , AR | 2,236 |
| 48 | Columbia , SC | 2,148 |
| 49 | Winston-Salem , NC | 2,134 |
| 50 | Sioux Falls , SD | 2,119 |
| 51 | Knoxville , TN | 2,096 |
| 52 | Palm Coast , FL | 2,095 |
| 53 | North Las Vegas , NV | 2,078 |
| 54 | Clarksville , TN | 2,069 |
| 55 | Apex , NC | 2,051 |
| 56 | Sacramento , CA | 2,043 |
| 57 | San Jose , CA | 1,998 |
| 58 | Maricopa , AZ | 1,991 |
| 59 | Denton , TX | 1,976 |
| 60 | Orlando , FL | 1,970 |
| 61 | Greensboro , NC | 1,954 |
| 62 | Round Rock , TX | 1,937 |
| 63 | Detroit , MI | 1,919 |
| 64 | Roseville , CA | 1,905 |
| 65 | Peoria , AZ | 1,901 |
| 66 | El Paso , TX | 1,887 |
| 67 | St. Cloud , FL | 1,861 |
| 68 | Gilbert , AZ | 1,858 |
| 69 | Bakersfield , CA | 1,853 |
| 70 | Lubbock , TX | 1,852 |
| 71 | Queen Creek , AZ | 1,812 |
| 72 | Boston , MA | 1,789 |
| 73 | Kyle , TX | 1,768 |
| 74 | Washington , DC | 1,737 |
| 75 | Newark , NJ | 1,736 |
| 76 | Haines City , FL | 1,733 |
| 77 | Mansfield , TX | 1,731 |
| 78 | Lincoln , NE | 1,730 |
| 79 | Idaho Falls , ID | 1,729 |
| 80 | McAllen , TX | 1,722 |
| 81 | Fort Myers , FL | 1,721 |
| 82 | Arlington , TX | 1,703 |
| 83 | Portland , OR | 1,700 |
| 84 | North Charleston , SC | 1,698 |
| 85 | Lewisville , TX | 1,690 |
| 86 | Westfield , IN | 1,674 |
| 87 | Pittsburgh , PA | 1,664 |
| 88 | St. Petersburg , FL | 1,613 |
| 89 | Grand Prairie , TX | 1,582 |
| 90 | Madison , AL | 1,559 |
| 91 | Avondale , AZ | 1,555 |
| 92 | Meridian , ID | 1,551 |
| 93 | Marana , AZ | 1,544 |
| 94 | Daytona Beach , FL | 1,506 |
| 95 | Tucson , AZ | 1,505 |
| 96 | Midland , TX | 1,504 |
| 97 | Greer , SC | 1,488 |
| 98 | Huntsville , AL | 1,485 |
| 99 | Tallahassee , FL | 1,460 |
| 100 | Nampa , ID | 1,450 |
According to the U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (2023 vintage, released December 2024), the underlying dataset behind this ranking spans 28,702 U.S. incorporated places and census-designated places nationally; this page shows the top 100 by value. See our methodology for the full data-collection process.
Source: Official U.S. government data. Verify directly with the source agency: U.S. Census Bureau, FBI UCR, NOAA, NCES.
What to do with the most-permits list
Use this ranking to narrow the field, then dig into the specific places you're considering.
- Fort Worth, TX leads this list at 13,148 -- see its full profile before drawing conclusions from the rank alone. Fort Worth profile
- Put two specific cities side by side across every tracked metric, not just this one ranking. Compare cities
- See every ranked city in Texas together, not just how Fort Worth compares nationally. Texas state page
This ranking reflects the single value metric only -- it is not a composite of everything that makes a city a good fit.
Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.
Primary sources: Census ACS, FBI UCR, NOAA Climate Normals, NCES.
Every figure on PlainCities is rendered directly from Census ACS source data, no number is typed in by an editor. This page draws directly on Census ACS source data, no figure is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error.