Data through May 2026 · updated 18 Oct 2026
3,079 building permits issued in the City of Milwaukee, June 2024 through May 2026: about 1,540 a year. The biggest kind of work is remodels & repairs, with 1,215. 1,470 permits in the last 12 months on file (Jun 2025–May 2026), 9% fewer than the 1,609 in the 12 months before. 55% were permits for homes. The busiest month for permits is October.
What this file covers: The city's public file holds a small slice of its permits (about 1,500 a year): alteration and new-construction permits only, with no electrical, plumbing or HVAC permits. It ends in mid-June 2026.
Permits issued June 2024 through May 2026. Last 12 months on file is Jun 2025–May 2026; the 12 months before is Jun 2024–May 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Remodels & repairs | 1,215 | 39% | 574 | 641 | −10% | 100% | October |
| Garages, sheds & shade structures | 274 | 9% | 127 | 147 | −14% | 100% | August |
| New homes | 157 | 5% | 59 | 98 | −40% | 100% | August |
| Other | 1,433 | 47% | 710 | 723 | −2% | 3% | October |
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 June) | 7 | 1,003 | 1,719 |
| 2025 | 12 | 1,540 | 1,540 |
| 2026 (through May) | 5 | 536 | 1,286 |
Permits issued each month, June 2024 through May 2026. The tallest bar is the busiest month on file.
| Month | Permits |
|---|---|
| Jun 2024 | 161 |
| Jul 2024 | 155 |
| Aug 2024 | 176 |
| Sep 2024 | 129 |
| Oct 2024 | 168 |
| Nov 2024 | 100 |
| Dec 2024 | 114 |
| Jan 2025 | 100 |
| Feb 2025 | 110 |
| Mar 2025 | 127 |
| Apr 2025 | 124 |
| May 2025 | 145 |
| Jun 2025 | 158 |
| Jul 2025 | 142 |
| Aug 2025 | 145 |
| Sep 2025 | 150 |
| Oct 2025 | 157 |
| Nov 2025 | 105 |
| Dec 2025 | 77 |
| Jan 2026 | 80 |
| Feb 2026 | 112 |
| Mar 2026 | 93 |
| Apr 2026 | 119 |
| May 2026 | 132 |
Permits by calendar month, 100 = an average month (the thin line), June 2024 through May 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.
1,215 permits · busiest October, quietest February
274 permits · busiest August, quietest December
157 permits · busiest August, quietest January
| Kind of work | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Remodels & repairs | 84 | 75 | 89 | 96 | 111 | 125 | 121 | 112 | 103 | 126 | 78 | 80 |
| Garages, sheds & shade structures | 39 | 39 | 74 | 105 | 136 | 123 | 153 | 162 | 114 | 149 | 79 | 26 |
| New homes | 15 | 115 | 92 | 23 | 84 | 107 | 115 | 222 | 168 | 61 | 92 | 107 |
How the city classed each permit. Other covers commercial buildings, signs, towers and similar work.
| Permit class | Permits | Share | Last 12 mo |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes (residential) | 1,696 | 55% | 780 |
| Other | 1,383 | 45% | 690 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 53207 | 447 | 15% | Remodels & repairs (246) |
| 53202 | 289 | 9% | Remodels & repairs (20) |
| 53212 | 243 | 8% | Remodels & repairs (98) |
| 53208 | 195 | 6% | Remodels & repairs (85) |
| 53215 | 185 | 6% | Remodels & repairs (54) |
| 53204 | 167 | 5% | Remodels & repairs (42) |
| 53211 | 135 | 4% | Remodels & repairs (84) |
| 53221 | 116 | 4% | Remodels & repairs (54) |
| 53209 | 113 | 4% | Remodels & repairs (40) |
| 53210 | 109 | 4% | Remodels & repairs (57) |
From our cross-city data studies: the same measure, read the same way, for every city we cover.
Source: City of Milwaukee Open Data, Residential and Commercial Permit Work Data (buildingpermits), read 18 Oct 2026. We count permits issued June 2024 through May 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.
Residential and commercial alteration and new-construction permits the City of Milwaukee's Department of Neighborhood Services issues inside city limits, as the city publishes them. Electrical, plumbing, HVAC and other trade permits are not in this file, and neither are Wauwatosa, West Allis and the other Milwaukee County suburbs, which run their own permit offices.
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, "The City of Milwaukee, WI building permit statistics", https://contractorrecords.com/milwaukee/permit-statistics, data through May 2026, from the City of Milwaukee Department of Neighborhood Services 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.