Data through July 2026 · updated 21 Oct 2026
1,416 building permits issued in unincorporated Benton County, August 2024 through July 2026: about 708 a year. The biggest kind of work is HVAC, with 319. 719 permits in the last 12 months on file (Aug 2025–Jul 2026), 3% more than the 697 in the 12 months before. 86% were permits for homes. The busiest month for permits is May.
Permits issued August 2024 through July 2026. Last 12 months on file is Aug 2025–Jul 2026; the 12 months before is Aug 2024–Jul 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| HVAC | 319 | 23% | 146 | 173 | −16% | 100% | April |
| Garages, sheds & shade structures | 267 | 19% | 133 | 134 | −1% | 100% | October |
| New homes | 240 | 17% | 121 | 119 | +2% | 100% | May |
| Roofing | 131 | 9% | 78 | 53 | +47% | 100% | June |
| Other | 183 | 13% | 103 | 80 | +29% | 0% | May |
Fewer than 100 permits, so no row: remodels & repairs (66), pools & spas (64), additions (36), solar (35), plumbing (29), ADUs & casitas (23), demolition (12), fences & walls (11).
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 August) | 5 | 255 | 612 |
| 2025 | 12 | 725 | 725 |
| 2026 (through July) | 7 | 436 | 747 |
Permits issued each month, August 2024 through July 2026. The tallest bar is the busiest month on file.
| Month | Permits |
|---|---|
| Aug 2024 | 64 |
| Sep 2024 | 33 |
| Oct 2024 | 66 |
| Nov 2024 | 46 |
| Dec 2024 | 46 |
| Jan 2025 | 55 |
| Feb 2025 | 45 |
| Mar 2025 | 67 |
| Apr 2025 | 67 |
| May 2025 | 75 |
| Jun 2025 | 74 |
| Jul 2025 | 59 |
| Aug 2025 | 51 |
| Sep 2025 | 71 |
| Oct 2025 | 61 |
| Nov 2025 | 43 |
| Dec 2025 | 57 |
| Jan 2026 | 46 |
| Feb 2026 | 49 |
| Mar 2026 | 67 |
| Apr 2026 | 72 |
| May 2026 | 75 |
| Jun 2026 | 66 |
| Jul 2026 | 61 |
Permits by calendar month, 100 = an average month (the thin line), August 2024 through July 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.
319 permits · busiest April, quietest August
267 permits · busiest October, quietest December
240 permits · busiest May, quietest December
131 permits · busiest June, quietest December
| Kind of work | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| HVAC | 87 | 98 | 120 | 132 | 117 | 120 | 90 | 75 | 94 | 87 | 79 | 102 |
| Garages, sheds & shade structures | 76 | 103 | 117 | 112 | 117 | 99 | 99 | 117 | 81 | 121 | 85 | 72 |
| New homes | 85 | 80 | 95 | 120 | 140 | 85 | 115 | 115 | 85 | 120 | 85 | 75 |
| Roofing | 64 | 46 | 147 | 165 | 174 | 293 | 82 | 73 | 55 | 55 | 27 | 18 |
How the county classed each permit. Other covers commercial buildings, signs, towers and similar work.
| Permit class | Permits | Share | Last 12 mo |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes (residential) | 1,212 | 86% | 607 |
| Other | 204 | 14% | 112 |
Permits issued Aug 2024–Jul 2025, so each has had at least 12 months to reach a final. Finished means the county recorded a final inspection or marked it complete. The file doesn't mark permits expired, so a lapsed permit still reads open.
| Status | Permits | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Finished | 466 | 66.9% |
| Still open | 231 | 33.1% |
The 8 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 county's permits are counted.
| ZIP code | Permits | Share | Top kind of work |
|---|---|---|---|
| 99338 | 9 | under 1% | New homes (3) |
| 99320 | 7 | under 1% | HVAC (3) |
| 99350 | 6 | under 1% | Garages, sheds & shade structures (3) |
| 99337 | 3 | under 1% | HVAC (2) |
| 99352 | 1 | under 1% | Fences & walls (1) |
| 99336 | 1 | under 1% | Fences & walls (1) |
| 99353 | 1 | under 1% | Pools & spas (1) |
| 99346 | 1 | under 1% | Other |
From our cross-city data studies: the same measure, read the same way, for every city we cover.
Permit statistics for other places in the Tri-Cities. Each permit office keeps its own file, so the numbers are not added together.
Source: Benton County Building Permits (ArcGIS Online: Building_Permits_Assessor_VIew), read 21 Oct 2026. We count permits issued August 2024 through July 2026; denied and withdrawn permits are left out.
Building permits the Benton County Building Department issues for unincorporated land only: Finley, Plymouth, Paterson, Whitstran and the rural areas around Kennewick, Prosser, Benton City and West Richland. Kennewick, Richland, West Richland, Prosser and Benton City issue their own permits and are not in this file; a Kennewick or Prosser mailing address here belongs to land outside those cities. Electrical permits are issued by the Washington State Department of Labor & Industries, not the county, so there are none in this file.
Counts are permits, not jobs: one job can need several permits. Nobody paid to be on this page and nobody can. Sources and definitions →
Free to reuse with attribution (CC BY 4.0). Please credit Contractor Records and link to this page. Suggested citation:
Contractor Records, "Unincorporated Benton County, WA building permit statistics", https://contractorrecords.com/benton-county-wa/permit-statistics, data through July 2026, from Benton County Building 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.