Contractor Records
Home › Howard County › Electrical

Electrical permits in Howard County, MD

Data through November 2025 · updated 19 Oct 2026

11,976 electrical permits were issued in Howard County, December 2023 through November 2025: about 5,988 a year and 35% of all permits. 6,236 electrical permits in the last 12 months on file (Dec 2024–Nov 2025), 9% more than the 5,740 in the 12 months before. The busiest month is July. 21042 has the most, 2,460.

11,976permits issued
6,236last 12 months on file
Julbusiest month
Nov 2025records through

Electrical permits by month

Permits issued each month, December 2023 through November 2025.

Dec 2023: 449Dec2023Jan 2024: 452Jan2024Feb 2024: 430Mar 2024: 391Apr 2024: 451May 2024: 586Jun 2024: 471Jul 2024: 628JulAug 2024: 510Sep 2024: 482Oct 2024: 441Nov 2024: 449Dec 2024: 389Jan 2025: 406Jan2025Feb 2025: 425Mar 2025: 498Apr 2025: 468May 2025: 531Jun 2025: 630Jul 2025: 603JulAug 2025: 611Sep 2025: 642Oct 2025: 578Nov 2025: 455
The same numbers as a table
MonthPermits
Dec 2023449
Jan 2024452
Feb 2024430
Mar 2024391
Apr 2024451
May 2024586
Jun 2024471
Jul 2024628
Aug 2024510
Sep 2024482
Oct 2024441
Nov 2024449
Dec 2024389
Jan 2025406
Feb 2025425
Mar 2025498
Apr 2025468
May 2025531
Jun 2025630
Jul 2025603
Aug 2025611
Sep 2025642
Oct 2025578
Nov 2025455

Download this table (CSV)

When electrical permits are filed

By calendar month, 100 = an average month (the thin line). July is the busiest (123), December the quietest (84). A busy month at the permit counter usually means a longer wait for a contractor.

January: 86 (100 = an average month)February: 86 (100 = an average month)March: 89 (100 = an average month)April: 92 (100 = an average month)May: 112 (100 = an average month)June: 110 (100 = an average month)July: 123 (100 = an average month)123August: 112 (100 = an average month)September: 113 (100 = an average month)October: 102 (100 = an average month)November: 91 (100 = an average month)December: 84 (100 = an average month)JFMAMJJASOND
The same numbers as a table
MonthIndex
January86
February86
March89
April92
May112
June110
July123
August112
September113
October102
November91
December84

Download this table (CSV)

ZIP codes with the most electrical permits

Counted at the property's ZIP code. Share is the part of the county's 11,976 electrical permits.

ZIP codePermitsShare
210422,46021%
207231,44412%
210431,33911%
210441,29911%
210451,0499%
210757636%
210296505%
210464764%
207594664%
217972872%

Download this table (CSV)

The county's own permit types

How the county filed these permits. We group its types into kinds of work; this is the split.

Permit typePermitsShare
Residential Electrical Addition Alteration Permit9,14976%
Residential Electrical Miscellaneous Permit1,1099%
Residential Electrical New Home Permit1,0809%
Residential Electrical Low Voltage Permit6385%

Download this table (CSV)

Nearby permit data

Electrical permits for other places in the area. Each permit office keeps its own file, so the numbers are not added together.

Washington, DC

Baltimore

How these numbers are made

Source: Howard County Open Data, Building, Electrical, Fire, Grading, Mechanical, Plumbing & Sign Permits (Socrata dataset kvz2-j5cj), read 19 Oct 2026. We count permits issued December 2023 through November 2025; denied and withdrawn permits are left out. The county's file has no permit status or final inspection date, so it can't say which permits were finished, so no finished share is shown.

Residential permits Howard County's Department of Inspections, Licenses and Permits issues countywide: new houses and townhouses, alterations, additions, decks and porches, solar, pools, demolition, and electrical, plumbing, HVAC and fire-sprinkler permits for homes. Howard County has no incorporated towns, so Columbia, Ellicott City, Elkridge, Clarksville, the Howard County parts of Laurel and Mount Airy and the rest of the county are all in this file. Commercial and sign permits in the same file are not counted, and grading permits are left out.

  • The county's file names no contractor, so there are no contractor lists, rankings or firm pages for Howard County.
  • The file has no declared job value, no status and no final inspection date, so we show no costs, no finished share and no time to finish.
  • The county updates the file once a year, in December; the copy on file runs through November 2025, so the counts stop there.
  • The file holds no permits issued between December 2022 and November 2023, so the window starts in December 2023, the first month after the gap.
  • Only the residential permits are counted; a permit that was issued twice under one number is counted once, at its first issue date.

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, "Electrical permits in Howard County, MD", https://contractorrecords.com/howard-county/electrical-permits, data through November 2025, from Howard County Department of Inspections, Licenses and Permits building-permit records.

Link to a table: By month · Season · By ZIP code · Permit types.

Download the tables (CSV): Electrical permits by month · Electrical permits by calendar month (index) · Electrical permits by ZIP code · Electrical permits by permit type.

Common questions

  • How many electrical permits does Howard County issue a year?About 5,988 a year in Howard County: 11,976 permits issued December 2023 through November 2025, 6,236 of them in the last 12 months on file (to November 2025).
  • When do people in Howard County file the most electrical permits?July (123 against an average month of 100); December is the quietest (84). If you can choose, a quiet month at the permit counter can mean contractors have more room in their schedules.
  • Which ZIP code has the most electrical permits in Howard County?21042, with 2,460 of the 11,976 (21%); then 20723 (1,444).