How many building permits does Detroit issue a year?

About 25,938 a year in Detroit: 51,876 permits over 24 months, October 2024 through September 2026. 21,722 permits in the last 12 months (Oct 2025-Sep 2026), 28% fewer than the 30,154 in the 12 months before.

Are building permits up or down in Detroit?

21,722 permits in the last 12 months (Oct 2025-Sep 2026), 28% fewer than the 30,154 in the 12 months before. Remodel and repair permits grew most (3,495 to 3,624); plumbing permits fell most (9,024 to 4,715).

What is the busiest month for permits in Detroit?

October, counting every kind of work (132 against an average month of 100). August is the quietest (86). Each kind of work has its own season; the charts above show them.

Detroit, MI Permit Statistics (2026): 51,876 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
Plumbing	13,739	26%	4,715	9,024	−48%	88%	October
HVAC	12,989	25%	5,488	7,501	−27%	75%	April
Electrical	9,705	19%	4,462	5,243	−15%	66%	October
Remodels & repairs	7,119	14%	3,624	3,495	+4%	100%	October
Demolition	2,125	4%	612	1,513	−60%	91%	October
Roofing	1,820	4%	809	1,011	−20%	93%	October
Solar	398	under 1%	219	179	+22%	91%	October
New homes	212	under 1%	107	105	+2%	100%	October
Garages, sheds & shade structures	130	under 1%	67	63	+6%	100%	May
Additions	102	under 1%	44	58	−24%	100%	July
Other	3,498	7%	1,552	1,946	−20%	7%	July

Fewer than 100 permits, so no row: fences & walls (30), pools & spas (8), ADUs & casitas (1).

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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	7,374	29,496
2025	12	28,828	28,828
2026 (through September)	9	15,674	20,899

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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	3,263
Nov 2024	2,170
Dec 2024	1,941
Jan 2025	2,621
Feb 2025	2,181
Mar 2025	2,974
Apr 2025	2,891
May 2025	2,570
Jun 2025	2,687
Jul 2025	2,783
Aug 2025	2,192
Sep 2025	1,881
Oct 2025	2,423
Nov 2025	1,768
Dec 2025	1,857
Jan 2026	1,503
Feb 2026	1,861
Mar 2026	1,795
Apr 2026	1,887
May 2026	1,445
Jun 2026	1,881
Jul 2026	1,611
Aug 2026	1,527
Sep 2026	2,164

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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.

Plumbing

13,739 permits · busiest October, quietest December

HVAC

12,989 permits · busiest April, quietest August

Electrical

9,705 permits · busiest October, quietest January

Remodels & repairs

7,119 permits · busiest October, quietest January

Demolition

2,125 permits · busiest October, quietest February

Roofing

1,820 permits · busiest October, quietest May

Solar

398 permits · busiest October, quietest December

New homes

212 permits · busiest October, quietest November

The same numbers as a table

Kind of work	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Plumbing	99	100	109	106	83	113	118	74	103	151	77	66
HVAC	111	109	130	131	94	94	80	69	82	113	90	98
Electrical	86	88	119	99	99	109	95	91	95	127	93	98
Remodels & repairs	64	76	83	103	115	115	115	116	103	129	89	92
Demolition	137	57	86	132	66	106	93	88	67	144	142	82
Roofing	79	87	96	92	72	86	85	121	89	158	131	105
Solar	75	93	112	99	109	72	112	127	75	145	118	63
New homes	85	79	113	142	113	96	51	119	142	181	23	57

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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)	40,094	77%	16,611
Other	11,782	23%	5,111

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By ZIP code

The 10 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
48204	3,586	7%	Plumbing (2,049)
48221	3,262	6%	HVAC (825)
48235	2,913	6%	HVAC (1,149)
48224	2,787	5%	Plumbing (770)
48238	2,781	5%	Plumbing (1,414)
48206	2,619	5%	Plumbing (1,336)
48227	2,610	5%	HVAC (787)
48213	2,458	5%	Plumbing (1,066)
48205	2,434	5%	HVAC (676)
48219	2,431	5%	HVAC (767)

All 27 ZIP codes with 250+ permits →

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How Detroit compares with other cities

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

Finished share of permits a year or more old, compared across cities. Permit completion rates by city →
Share of permits still open a year after they were issued, compared across cities. 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 Detroit Open Data, BSEED Building Permits, Trades Permits and Demolition Permits layers, read 18 Oct 2026. We count permits issued October 2024 through September 2026; denied and withdrawn permits are left out. The city's public permit layers carry an issue date but no permit status and no final inspection or closed date, so no finished share is shown.

Building, trades (mechanical, electrical, plumbing, elevator, fire alarm, boiler, generator) and demolition permits the City of Detroit Buildings, Safety Engineering and Environmental Department (BSEED) issues inside city limits. Revisions of an earlier permit are not counted again. Hamtramck, Highland Park, Dearborn and the rest of Wayne County run their own permit offices and are not in this file.

The city's file has no permit status and no final inspection date, so we show neither a finished share nor time to final.
Only building permits carry a value: the estimated contractor cost written on the application, not the final cost. Trade and demolition permits have no value, so the HVAC, electrical, plumbing and demolition figures carry none.
Detroit issues electrical, plumbing and mechanical work as separate trades permits, so one house job can count several times, once under each kind of work. A building alteration that mentions trade work stays a remodel.
Plumbing counts include the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department's lead service line and water main replacement programmes, which file thousands of plumbing permits a year.
Homes are told apart by the building permit's use group and use type and, for trade and demolition permits, by the property class on the city assessor's parcel 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 →

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, "Detroit, MI building permit statistics", https://contractorrecords.com/detroit/permit-statistics, data through September 2026, from the City of Detroit Buildings, Safety Engineering and Environmental 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 · 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 · Permits by ZIP code.

Common questions

How many building permits does Detroit issue a year?About 25,938 a year in Detroit: 51,876 permits over 24 months, October 2024 through September 2026. 21,722 permits in the last 12 months (Oct 2025–Sep 2026), 28% fewer than the 30,154 in the 12 months before.
Are building permits up or down in Detroit?21,722 permits in the last 12 months (Oct 2025–Sep 2026), 28% fewer than the 30,154 in the 12 months before. Remodel and repair permits grew most (3,495 to 3,624); plumbing permits fell most (9,024 to 4,715).
What is the busiest month for permits in Detroit?October, counting every kind of work (132 against an average month of 100). August is the quietest (86). Each kind of work has its own season; the charts above show them.
What share of Detroit permits are for homes?77%: 40,094 of the 51,876 permits issued October 2024 through September 2026 were residential permits.

Detroit permit data →Detroit plumbing permits →Detroit HVAC permits →Detroit electrical permits →Browse Detroit permits →