How many building permits does New Orleans issue a year?

About 13,870 a year in New Orleans: 27,739 permits over 24 months, October 2024 through September 2026. 14,014 permits in the last 12 months (Oct 2025-Sep 2026), 2% more than the 13,725 in the 12 months before.

Are building permits up or down in New Orleans?

14,014 permits in the last 12 months (Oct 2025-Sep 2026), 2% more than the 13,725 in the 12 months before. Roofing permits grew most (501 to 1,276); solar permits fell most (880 to 166).

What is the busiest month for permits in New Orleans?

May, counting every kind of work (114 against an average month of 100). December is the quietest (79). Each kind of work has its own season; the charts above show them.

New Orleans, LA Permit Statistics (2026): 27,739 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
Electrical	9,668	35%	4,752	4,916	−3%	100%	June
Plumbing	7,492	27%	3,843	3,649	+5%	100%	May
HVAC	3,333	12%	1,918	1,415	+36%	100%	May
Remodels & repairs	2,172	8%	953	1,219	−22%	100%	March
Roofing	1,777	6%	1,276	501	+155%	100%	September
Solar	1,046	4%	166	880	−81%	100%	October
New homes	717	3%	385	332	+16%	100%	July
Demolition	666	2%	258	408	−37%	100%	October
Pools & spas	387	1%	203	184	+10%	100%	October
Additions	304	1%	157	147	+7%	100%	May
Garages, sheds & shade structures	174	under 1%	101	73	+38%	100%	June

Fewer than 100 permits, so no row: fences & walls (3).

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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	3,207	12,828
2025	12	13,781	13,781
2026 (through September)	9	10,751	14,335

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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	1,285
Nov 2024	993
Dec 2024	929
Jan 2025	902
Feb 2025	1,077
Mar 2025	953
Apr 2025	1,213
May 2025	1,178
Jun 2025	1,348
Jul 2025	1,362
Aug 2025	1,382
Sep 2025	1,103
Oct 2025	1,355
Nov 2025	1,000
Dec 2025	908
Jan 2026	1,026
Feb 2026	1,062
Mar 2026	1,265
Apr 2026	1,196
May 2026	1,467
Jun 2026	1,204
Jul 2026	1,192
Aug 2026	1,098
Sep 2026	1,241

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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.

Electrical

9,668 permits · busiest June, quietest November

Plumbing

7,492 permits · busiest May, quietest January

HVAC

3,333 permits · busiest May, quietest December

Remodels & repairs

2,172 permits · busiest March, quietest December

Roofing

1,777 permits · busiest September, quietest December

Solar

1,046 permits · busiest October, quietest September

New homes

717 permits · busiest July, quietest December

Demolition

666 permits · busiest October, quietest December

The same numbers as a table

Kind of work	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Electrical	79	85	85	99	121	123	122	116	98	115	73	83
Plumbing	86	99	103	105	110	101	101	100	104	105	96	90
HVAC	76	86	104	105	125	117	124	96	116	94	85	72
Remodels & repairs	87	112	117	101	98	91	82	117	96	114	107	77
Roofing	78	63	89	112	134	128	122	111	142	106	70	45
Solar	119	138	94	171	94	72	36	83	17	173	125	78
New homes	87	85	100	89	84	87	161	107	90	156	87	67
Demolition	81	115	67	72	77	99	108	128	106	193	97	56

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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)	27,739	100%	14,014
Other	0	0%	0

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How many permits get finished

Permits issued Oct 2024–Sep 2025, so each has had at least 12 months to reach a final. Finished means the city recorded a final inspection or marked it complete; expired means it lapsed without one.

Status	Permits	Share
Finished	9,592	69.9%
Still open	4,016	29.3%
Expired	117	0.9%

How long each kind of permit takes →

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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
70115	2,982	11%	Electrical (1,103)
70118	2,844	10%	Electrical (1,092)
70117	2,638	10%	Electrical (885)
70122	2,569	9%	Electrical (914)
70119	2,191	8%	Electrical (797)
70124	2,088	8%	Electrical (820)
70126	1,679	6%	Electrical (562)
70114	1,574	6%	Electrical (622)
70131	1,419	5%	Electrical (559)
70125	1,287	5%	Electrical (487)

All 17 ZIP codes with 250+ permits →

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How New Orleans compares with other cities

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

74% finished of electrical permits a year or more old here, against 80% across 37 cities (11th lowest of 38). Permit completion rates by city →
24% still open of electrical permits a year after issue here, against 20% across 37 cities (13th most left open of 38). 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 May, 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 New Orleans, Permits - BLDS (data.nola.gov, dataset 72f9-bi28), read 18 Oct 2026. We count permits issued October 2024 through September 2026; denied and withdrawn permits are left out.

Residential permits the City of New Orleans Department of Safety and Permits issues inside the city, which is also Orleans Parish: building, renovation, re-roofing, electrical, plumbing, gas, HVAC, solar, pool, generator and demolition permits for single-family homes, two-family homes and doubles. Permits for buildings with three or more units and commercial property are not counted, nor are historic-district reviews, right-of-way permits (street cuts, driveways, sidewalks) and address changes in the same file. Jefferson, St. Bernard and St. Tammany parishes run their own permit offices and are not in this file.

The city's file lists a contractor on most permits, usually the licensed person rather than the company, but these pages show permit counts only: there are no contractor lists, rankings or firm pages for New Orleans.
The value is the project cost declared on the application. About a third of permits carry none, mostly small trade permits.
Gas permits (gas lines, water heaters and the six-month gas test after a home sits empty) are counted with plumbing; an electrical vacancy permit, needed to turn power back on in a home that sat empty, counts as electrical.
The city's file has a residential re-roofing permit type only from May 2025; before that few re-roofs appear in it, so the rise in roofing permits mostly reflects the new permit type, not more roofs.
A final date is the day the city recorded the permit as finaled or completed. Permits the city marks Closed count as finished but add no days, because the file does not say whether the work passed a final inspection.

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, "New Orleans, LA building permit statistics", https://contractorrecords.com/new-orleans/permit-statistics, data through September 2026, from the City of New Orleans Department of Safety and Permits 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 · How many get finished · 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 · Finished, open and expired · Permits by ZIP code.

Common questions

How many building permits does New Orleans issue a year?About 13,870 a year in New Orleans: 27,739 permits over 24 months, October 2024 through September 2026. 14,014 permits in the last 12 months (Oct 2025–Sep 2026), 2% more than the 13,725 in the 12 months before.
Are building permits up or down in New Orleans?14,014 permits in the last 12 months (Oct 2025–Sep 2026), 2% more than the 13,725 in the 12 months before. Roofing permits grew most (501 to 1,276); solar permits fell most (880 to 166).
What is the busiest month for permits in New Orleans?May, counting every kind of work (114 against an average month of 100). December is the quietest (79). Each kind of work has its own season; the charts above show them.
What share of New Orleans permits are for homes?100%: 27,739 of the 27,739 permits issued October 2024 through September 2026 were residential permits.

New Orleans permit data →How long permits take in New Orleans →New Orleans electrical permits →New Orleans plumbing permits →New Orleans HVAC permits →Browse New Orleans permits →