How many building permits does Madison issue a year?

About 23,538 a year in the City of Madison: 47,076 permits over 24 months, October 2024 through September 2026. 26,318 permits in the last 12 months (Oct 2025-Sep 2026), 27% more than the 20,758 in the 12 months before.

Are building permits up or down in Madison?

26,318 permits in the last 12 months (Oct 2025-Sep 2026), 27% more than the 20,758 in the 12 months before. Roofing permits grew most (2,506 to 8,352); electrical permits fell most (3,260 to 3,066).

What is the busiest month for permits in Madison?

July, counting every kind of work (147 against an average month of 100). December is the quietest (67). Each kind of work has its own season; the charts above show them.

Madison, WI Permit Statistics (2026): 47,076 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
Roofing	10,858	23%	8,352	2,506	+233%	97%	June
Plumbing	10,392	22%	5,187	5,205	0%	83%	January
HVAC	7,927	17%	4,079	3,848	+6%	82%	July
Electrical	6,326	13%	3,066	3,260	−6%	77%	July
Remodels & repairs	6,212	13%	3,124	3,088	+1%	100%	October
Solar	1,392	3%	603	789	−24%	88%	June
Garages, sheds & shade structures	1,388	3%	637	751	−15%	100%	June
Additions	501	1%	240	261	−8%	100%	April
New homes	469	under 1%	239	230	+4%	100%	August
Demolition	194	under 1%	78	116	−33%	76%	May
Other	1,373	3%	685	688	0%	4%	August

Fewer than 100 permits, so no row: ADUs & casitas (35), fences & walls (5), pools & spas (4).

Download this table (CSV)

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	4,714	18,856
2025	12	21,090	21,090
2026 (through September)	9	21,272	28,363

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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	1,962
Nov 2024	1,504
Dec 2024	1,248
Jan 2025	1,761
Feb 2025	1,384
Mar 2025	1,580
Apr 2025	1,659
May 2025	1,716
Jun 2025	1,716
Jul 2025	2,377
Aug 2025	1,968
Sep 2025	1,883
Oct 2025	2,052
Nov 2025	1,610
Dec 2025	1,384
Jan 2026	1,648
Feb 2026	1,397
Mar 2026	1,544
Apr 2026	1,775
May 2026	2,923
Jun 2026	3,735
Jul 2026	3,397
Aug 2026	2,831
Sep 2026	2,022

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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.

Roofing

10,858 permits · busiest June, quietest December

Plumbing

10,392 permits · busiest January, quietest September

HVAC

7,927 permits · busiest July, quietest May

Electrical

6,326 permits · busiest July, quietest February

Remodels & repairs

6,212 permits · busiest October, quietest December

Solar

1,392 permits · busiest June, quietest March

Garages, sheds & shade structures

1,388 permits · busiest June, quietest January

Additions

501 permits · busiest April, quietest January

The same numbers as a table

Kind of work	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Roofing	12	14	33	51	196	253	235	175	121	66	31	11
Plumbing	123	99	105	105	90	95	119	100	86	104	89	87
HVAC	126	83	94	82	80	103	128	103	88	109	103	101
Electrical	111	87	94	101	96	95	119	111	93	116	90	87
Remodels & repairs	100	80	90	103	105	115	115	103	106	119	97	69
Solar	72	115	61	72	116	156	114	114	66	141	99	74
Garages, sheds & shade structures	34	60	79	117	137	143	123	122	132	135	83	36
Additions	67	67	86	134	113	127	134	98	91	125	77	81

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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)	40,579	86%	23,089
Other	6,497	14%	3,229

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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
53704	8,482	18%	Roofing (2,374)
53711	5,618	12%	Plumbing (1,498)
53705	4,142	9%	Plumbing (1,269)
53719	3,895	8%	Plumbing (1,149)
53714	3,035	6%	Roofing (992)
53718	3,023	6%	Roofing (722)
53703	2,534	5%	Plumbing (554)
53717	2,527	5%	Plumbing (632)
53716	1,942	4%	Plumbing (504)
53593	1,907	4%	Plumbing (492)

All 14 ZIP codes with 250+ permits →

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How Madison 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 Jul, quietest Dec 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 Madison Development Services Center, Permit Reports (Construction Summary and Electrical, Plumbing and HVAC permit reports, CSV export), read 19 Oct 2026. We count permits issued October 2024 through September 2026; denied and withdrawn permits are left out. The city's permit reports have no status and no final inspection date, so no finished share is shown.

Building permits (new homes and buildings, alterations and repairs, re-roofs, decks, garages, raze permits) and electrical, plumbing and HVAC permits issued by the City of Madison Building Inspection Division for property in the city. Permits issued by the surrounding towns and villages (Fitchburg, Middleton, Monona, Sun Prairie, Verona and the rest) and by Dane County are not in these reports.

The city's permit reports have no status and no final inspection date, so we can't show which permits were finished or how long they took.
Job values are the value declared on building permits. Electrical, plumbing and HVAC permits carry no job value.
Electrical, plumbing and HVAC permits are dated by the day the permit was filed; building permits by the day they were issued.
New homes and new commercial buildings get their own electrical, plumbing and HVAC permits, and those count under electrical, plumbing and HVAC.
The construction report has no ZIP code, so a building permit takes the ZIP code the trade permit report shows for the same street address; building permits at an address that has had no trade permit have no ZIP.
Re-roofing and siding permits jump from May 2026 (about 2,000 building permits a month in May to July 2026, against 500 to 900 a year earlier), which lifts the latest 12 months.
Building permits are sorted into roofing, decks and garages, additions, solar and other kinds of work from the city's description; repairs and alterations that match no trade count as remodels.

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, "The City of Madison, WI building permit statistics", https://contractorrecords.com/madison/permit-statistics, data through September 2026, from City of Madison Building Inspection Division 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 Madison issue a year?About 23,538 a year in the City of Madison: 47,076 permits over 24 months, October 2024 through September 2026. 26,318 permits in the last 12 months (Oct 2025–Sep 2026), 27% more than the 20,758 in the 12 months before.
Are building permits up or down in Madison?26,318 permits in the last 12 months (Oct 2025–Sep 2026), 27% more than the 20,758 in the 12 months before. Roofing permits grew most (2,506 to 8,352); electrical permits fell most (3,260 to 3,066).
What is the busiest month for permits in Madison?July, counting every kind of work (147 against an average month of 100). December is the quietest (67). Each kind of work has its own season; the charts above show them.
What share of Madison permits are for homes?86%: 40,579 of the 47,076 permits issued October 2024 through September 2026 were residential permits.

Madison permit data →Madison roofing permits →Madison plumbing permits →Madison HVAC permits →Browse Madison permits →