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New home permits in unincorporated Pierce County, WA

Data through September 2026 · updated 20 Oct 2026

2,739 new home permits were issued in unincorporated Pierce County, October 2024 through September 2026: about 1,370 a year and 18% of all permits. 1,354 new home permits in the last 12 months (Oct 2025–Sep 2026), 2% fewer than the 1,385 in the 12 months before. The busiest month is March. The usual one took 166 days from issue to the county's final.

2,739permits issued
1,354last 12 months
Marbusiest month
166days, usual issue to final
90%finished
$366,156usual declared value
Sep 2026records through

New home permits by month

Permits issued each month, October 2024 through September 2026.

Oct 2024: 116Oct2024Nov 2024: 127Dec 2024: 84Jan 2025: 169Jan2025Feb 2025: 122Mar 2025: 165Apr 2025: 123May 2025: 106Jun 2025: 66Jul 2025: 141JulAug 2025: 98Sep 2025: 68Oct 2025: 90Nov 2025: 89Dec 2025: 91Jan 2026: 120Jan2026Feb 2026: 107Mar 2026: 129Apr 2026: 141May 2026: 158Jun 2026: 143Jul 2026: 98JulAug 2026: 100Sep 2026: 88
The same numbers as a table
MonthPermits
Oct 2024116
Nov 2024127
Dec 202484
Jan 2025169
Feb 2025122
Mar 2025165
Apr 2025123
May 2025106
Jun 202566
Jul 2025141
Aug 202598
Sep 202568
Oct 202590
Nov 202589
Dec 202591
Jan 2026120
Feb 2026107
Mar 2026129
Apr 2026141
May 2026158
Jun 2026143
Jul 202698
Aug 2026100
Sep 202688

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When new home permits are filed

By calendar month, 100 = an average month (the thin line). March is the busiest (129), September the quietest (68). A busy month at the permit counter usually means a longer wait for a contractor.

January: 127 (100 = an average month)February: 100 (100 = an average month)March: 129 (100 = an average month)129April: 116 (100 = an average month)May: 116 (100 = an average month)June: 92 (100 = an average month)July: 105 (100 = an average month)August: 87 (100 = an average month)September: 68 (100 = an average month)October: 90 (100 = an average month)November: 95 (100 = an average month)December: 77 (100 = an average month)JFMAMJJASOND
The same numbers as a table
MonthIndex
January127
February100
March129
April116
May116
June92
July105
August87
September68
October90
November95
December77

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How long a new home permit takes

Permits issued Oct 2024–Sep 2025, at least 12 months before the file ends. Usual days is the middle permit among the 1,244 with a final date.

MeasureValue
Permits issued Oct 2024–Sep 20251,385
Finished89.9%
Expired2.0%
Usual days, issue to final166
Middle half, days142–208

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What a new home permit is declared at

The value written on the permit at application, from 2,580 permits with one. Not a quote and not the final bill.

MeasureValue
Usual declared value$366,156
Middle half$286,609–$450,988

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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
Construction Residential - New Structure - House/plex2,53893%
Mobile/Manuf Home Anch and Fdn - New Structure1505%
Mobile/Manuf Home in a Non Conforming Park - New Structure24under 1%
Mobile/Manuf Home Anch and Fdn - Replacement Permit8under 1%
Mobile/Manuf Home Temp Dwelling - Renewal6under 1%
Mobile/Manuf Home Temp Dwelling - New Structure4under 1%
Mobile Home in a Conforming Park - New Structure3under 1%
Mobile/Manuf Home in a Non Conforming Park2under 1%
Mobile/Manuf Home Temp Dwelling1under 1%
Mobile/Manuf Home Anch and Fdn1under 1%

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How Pierce County compares with other cities

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

Nearby permit data

New home permits for other places in Seattle and Puget Sound. Each permit office keeps its own file, so the numbers are not added together.

How these numbers are made

Source: Pierce County Open Data, Permits - Pierce County (Permits_Pierce_County, from PALS Plus), read 20 Oct 2026. We count permits issued October 2024 through September 2026; denied and withdrawn permits are left out.

Building, mechanical, plumbing, manufactured-home, demolition, pool and sign permits Pierce County Planning & Public Works issues for unincorporated land only: Spanaway, Graham, Frederickson, Parkland, South Hill, Lake Tapps, the Key Peninsula, Gig Harbor peninsula and similar places. Tacoma, Lakewood, Puyallup, University Place, Gig Harbor city, Bonney Lake and the other cities run their own permit offices and are not in this file. Engineering, sewer and fire-prevention permits are left out.

  • The county's open permit file names no contractor, so there are no contractor lists, rankings or firm pages for Pierce County.
  • The value is the building valuation the county works out to set the permit fee (largely from floor area and type of construction); mechanical and plumbing permits carry none. It is not a final cost.
  • The file has no property ZIP code, so there are no ZIP code pages for Pierce County.
  • Electrical permits in Washington are issued by the state Department of Labor & Industries, not the county, so electrical work does not appear here; rooftop solar appears only when it needed a county building permit.
  • Mechanical permits cover furnaces, heat pumps and air conditioning, and also gas piping, gas fireplaces and water heaters; those last are counted as plumbing when the description says so.
  • A final date is the county's final date; permits the county cancelled are not counted.

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 home permits in unincorporated Pierce County, WA", https://contractorrecords.com/pierce-county/new-home-permits, data through September 2026, from Pierce County Planning & Public Works building-permit records.

Link to a table: By month · Season · Days to final · Declared value · Permit types.

Download the tables (CSV): New homes permits by month · New homes permits by calendar month (index) · New homes permits: days to final · New homes permits: declared value · New homes permits by permit type.

Common questions

  • How many new home permits does Pierce County issue a year?About 1,370 a year in unincorporated Pierce County: 2,739 permits issued October 2024 through September 2026, 1,354 of them in the last 12 months.
  • How long does a new home permit take in Pierce County?The usual one took 166 days from issue to the county's final inspection, and the middle half took 142 to 208 days (1,244 permits issued Oct 2024–Sep 2025 that reached a final). The wait to get the permit issued is not in this file.
  • When do people in Pierce County file the most new home permits?March (129 against an average month of 100); September is the quietest (68). If you can choose, a quiet month at the permit counter can mean contractors have more room in their schedules.