How many building permits does Asheville issue a year?

About 1,749 a year in Asheville: 3,498 permits over 24 months, October 2024 through September 2026. 1,277 permits in the last 12 months (Oct 2025-Sep 2026), 43% fewer than the 2,221 in the 12 months before.

Are building permits up or down in Asheville?

1,277 permits in the last 12 months (Oct 2025-Sep 2026), 43% fewer than the 2,221 in the 12 months before. Home addition permits grew most (163 to 179); electrical permits fell most (327 to 61).

What is the busiest month for permits in Asheville?

October, counting every kind of work (177 against an average month of 100). August is the quietest (70). Each kind of work has its own season; the charts above show them.

What share of Asheville permits are for homes?

100%: 3,498 of the 3,498 permits issued October 2024 through September 2026 were residential permits.

Asheville, NC Permit Statistics (2026): 3,498 Permits

By kind of work

Permits issued October 2024 through September 2026. Last 12 months is Oct 2025–Sep 2026; the 12 months before is Oct 2024–Sep 2025. Homes is the share issued as residential permits. Busiest month is the calendar month with the most permits on average.

Kind of work	Permits	Share	Last 12 mo	12 mo before	Change	Homes	Busiest month
Remodels & repairs	887	25%	344	543	−37%	100%	January
Electrical	388	11%	61	327	−81%	100%	October
New homes	382	11%	151	231	−35%	100%	May
Additions	342	10%	179	163	+10%	100%	June
Garages, sheds & shade structures	308	9%	148	160	−8%	100%	July
HVAC	282	8%	61	221	−72%	100%	October
Solar	255	7%	112	143	−22%	100%	September
Roofing	185	5%	34	151	−77%	100%	November
Plumbing	172	5%	41	131	−69%	100%	October
Demolition	136	4%	61	75	−19%	100%	March

Fewer than 100 permits, so no row: fences & walls (62), ADUs & casitas (58), pools & spas (24), other (17).

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By year

Permits issued in each calendar year of the window. Per year scales a part year to 12 months.

Year	Months	Permits	Per year
2024 (from October)	3	769	3,076
2025	12	1,797	1,797
2026 (through September)	9	932	1,243

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By month

Permits issued each month, October 2024 through September 2026. The tallest bar is the busiest month on file.

The same numbers as a table

Month	Permits
Oct 2024	360
Nov 2024	222
Dec 2024	187
Jan 2025	270
Feb 2025	153
Mar 2025	119
Apr 2025	161
May 2025	167
Jun 2025	154
Jul 2025	132
Aug 2025	120
Sep 2025	176
Oct 2025	157
Nov 2025	107
Dec 2025	81
Jan 2026	104
Feb 2026	99
Mar 2026	129
Apr 2026	117
May 2026	101
Jun 2026	104
Jul 2026	104
Aug 2026	84
Sep 2026	90

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When each kind of work is filed

Permits by calendar month, 100 = an average month (the thin line), October 2024 through September 2026. Kinds of work do not all peak together. Each month is counted twice (once a year), so one unusual month still moves these numbers.

Remodels & repairs

887 permits · busiest January, quietest June

Electrical

388 permits · busiest October, quietest August

New homes

382 permits · busiest May, quietest July

Additions

342 permits · busiest June, quietest August

Garages, sheds & shade structures

308 permits · busiest July, quietest December

HVAC

282 permits · busiest October, quietest August

Solar

255 permits · busiest September, quietest July

Roofing

185 permits · busiest November, quietest April

The same numbers as a table

Kind of work	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Remodels & repairs	118	97	92	103	106	83	100	93	101	96	111	100
Electrical	182	59	28	49	56	49	28	22	28	489	114	96
New homes	129	104	85	132	138	132	50	50	104	88	101	88
Additions	102	74	91	109	105	154	123	70	105	88	81	98
Garages, sheds & shade structures	70	94	132	109	90	105	152	86	125	97	78	62
HVAC	183	60	47	94	47	47	43	34	38	370	140	98
Solar	99	80	94	85	132	94	75	108	136	108	113	75
Roofing	97	117	65	39	45	45	65	117	91	188	201	130

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Homes and everything else

How the city classed each permit. Other covers commercial buildings, signs, towers and similar work.

Permit class	Permits	Share	Last 12 mo
Homes (residential)	3,498	100%	1,277
Other	0	0%	0

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How many permits get finished

Permits issued Oct 2024–Sep 2025, so each has had at least 12 months to reach a final. Finished means the city recorded a final inspection or marked it complete; expired means it lapsed without one.

Status	Permits	Share
Finished	1,647	74.2%
Still open	272	12.2%
Expired	302	13.6%

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By ZIP code

The 7 ZIP codes with the most permits, counted at the property's ZIP code. A ZIP code can cross into a city that runs its own permit office; only the city's permits are counted.

ZIP code	Permits	Share	Top kind of work
28806	949	27%	Remodels & repairs (191)
28804	846	24%	Remodels & repairs (237)
28803	636	18%	Remodels & repairs (187)
28801	493	14%	Remodels & repairs (128)
28805	444	13%	Remodels & repairs (116)
28704	80	2%	New homes (24)
28715	49	1%	Remodels & repairs (14)

All 5 ZIP codes with 250+ permits →

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How Asheville compares with other cities

From our cross-city data studies: the same measure, read the same way, for every city we cover.

74% finished of remodel permits a year or more old here, against 79% across 24 cities (11th lowest of 25). Permit completion rates by city →
17% still open of remodel permits a year after issue here, against 21% across 24 cities (8th fewest left open of 25). Permits still open after a year, by city →
Firms per city, how many are active and how many are new, across 53 cities. How many contractors each city has →
Busiest Oct, quietest Aug for permits here; see when each trade peaks in 50 cities. Busiest months for home projects, by city →

How these numbers are made

Source: City of Asheville, Accela Permits View (ArcGIS layer Permits/AccelaPermitsView, layer 2), read 19 Oct 2026. We count permits issued October 2024 through September 2026; denied and withdrawn permits are left out.

Residential permits the City of Asheville Development Services Department issues inside city limits: new houses, townhomes, duplexes and ADUs, alterations, additions and repairs, re-roofs, trade permits, solar, decks, sheds, retaining walls, pools and demolition. Commercial permits, fire, sign, event, stormwater and right-of-way records in the same file are not counted. Unincorporated Buncombe County, Weaverville, Black Mountain, Woodfin and the other towns issue their own permits and are not in this file.

The city's file lists a contractor on most permits, but these pages show permit counts only: there are no contractor lists, rankings or firm pages for Asheville.
The file has no issue date, so a permit is dated by the day its application was opened; applications still in review or waiting on the applicant are not counted.
The job value column is blank on almost every permit, so we show no costs.
Hurricane Helene struck at the end of September 2024, so the first months of the window carry a wave of storm-repair permits.
Because permits are dated by application, we don't show how long they take from issue to final: the file can't separate the wait for approval from the work. The finished share comes from the city's status (finaled, certificate of completion or occupancy issued, closed).

Counts are permits, not jobs: one job can need several permits. Nobody paid to be on this page and nobody can. Sources and definitions →

Cite this page

Free to reuse with attribution (CC BY 4.0). Please credit Contractor Records and link to this page. Suggested citation:

Contractor Records, "Asheville, NC building permit statistics", https://contractorrecords.com/asheville/permit-statistics, data through September 2026, from the City of Asheville Development Services Department building-permit records.

Link to a table: By kind of work · By year · By month · When each kind of work is filed · Homes and everything else · How many get finished · By ZIP code.

Download the tables (CSV): Permits by kind of work · Permits by year · Permits by month · Permits by calendar month (index) · Homes and other permits · Finished, open and expired · Permits by ZIP code.

Common questions

How many building permits does Asheville issue a year?About 1,749 a year in Asheville: 3,498 permits over 24 months, October 2024 through September 2026. 1,277 permits in the last 12 months (Oct 2025–Sep 2026), 43% fewer than the 2,221 in the 12 months before.
Are building permits up or down in Asheville?1,277 permits in the last 12 months (Oct 2025–Sep 2026), 43% fewer than the 2,221 in the 12 months before. Home addition permits grew most (163 to 179); electrical permits fell most (327 to 61).
What is the busiest month for permits in Asheville?October, counting every kind of work (177 against an average month of 100). August is the quietest (70). Each kind of work has its own season; the charts above show them.
What share of Asheville permits are for homes?100%: 3,498 of the 3,498 permits issued October 2024 through September 2026 were residential permits.

Asheville permit data →Asheville remodel and repair permits →Asheville electrical permits →Asheville new home permits →Browse Asheville permits →