Data through September 2026 · updated 19 Oct 2026
358 building permits were issued in ZIP code 38138 by the Memphis and Shelby County Division of Planning & Development, October 2024 through September 2026: 4% of the 9,445 in Memphis and Shelby County, the 9th busiest ZIP code. Home addition permits lead with 76. 167 permits in the last 12 months (Oct 2025–Sep 2026), 13% fewer than the 191 in the 12 months before. Permits from a city that runs its own permit office are not counted.
Share here is the part of the 358 permits in 38138; citywide is the same for all of Memphis and Shelby County.
| Kind of work | Permits | Share here | Citywide |
|---|---|---|---|
| Additions | 76 | 21% | 8% |
| Remodels & repairs | 56 | 16% | 28% |
| New homes | 45 | 13% | 19% |
| Pools & spas | 44 | 12% | 4% |
| Garages, sheds & shade structures | 41 | 11% | 8% |
| Roofing | 8 | 2% | 5% |
| Demolition | 6 | 2% | under 1% |
| Fences & walls | 2 | under 1% | 3% |
| Solar | 1 | under 1% | under 1% |
| Other | 79 | 22% | 24% |
Permits issued in each calendar year of the window.
| Year | Months | Permits | Per year |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 (from October) | 3 | 45 | 180 |
| 2025 | 12 | 174 | 174 |
| 2026 (through September) | 9 | 139 | 185 |
Source: Memphis Open Data Hub, DPD Building Permits (ArcGIS layer), read 19 Oct 2026. We count permits issued October 2024 through September 2026; denied and withdrawn permits are left out. The file carries no usable permit status, so it can't say which permits were finished, so no finished share is shown.
Building permits the Memphis and Shelby County Division of Planning & Development issues: the City of Memphis, unincorporated Shelby County and the towns that use the joint office (rows carry Memphis, Cordova, Arlington, Millington, Lakeland, Eads and other postal cities). Germantown, Collierville and Bartlett, which run their own permit offices, appear only where the joint office issued the permit. Electrical, plumbing and mechanical permits are not 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, "Building permits in 38138, Memphis and Shelby County", https://contractorrecords.com/memphis/zip/38138, data through September 2026, from the Memphis and Shelby County Division of Planning & Development building-permit records.Link to a table: By kind of work · By year.
Download the tables (CSV): Permits in 38138 by kind of work · Permits in 38138 by year.