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Unincorporated Pierce County, WA building permit statistics

Data through September 2026 · updated 20 Oct 2026

15,087 building permits issued in unincorporated Pierce County, October 2024 through September 2026: about 7,544 a year. The biggest kind of work is HVAC, with 5,332. 7,558 permits in the last 12 months (Oct 2025–Sep 2026), about the same as the 7,529 in the 12 months before. 89% were permits for homes. The busiest month for permits is April.

15,087permits issued
7,558last 12 months
+0%vs the 12 months before
89%for homes
Aprbusiest month
Sep 2026records through

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 workPermitsShareLast 12 mo12 mo beforeChangeHomesBusiest month
HVAC5,33235%2,6492,683−1%95%June
Plumbing2,91619%1,5041,412+7%92%April
New homes2,73918%1,3541,385−2%100%March
Remodels & repairs1,2338%651582+12%100%October
Garages, sheds & shade structures5924%298294+1%100%November
Solar2592%68191−64%100%December
Demolition2171%12394+31%93%July
Additions2141%11896+23%100%January
ADUs & casitas145under 1%8263+30%100%April
Roofing139under 1%9841+139%100%September
Other1,2008%580620−6%0%November

Fewer than 100 permits, so no row: fences & walls (71), pools & spas (30).

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By year

Permits issued in each calendar year of the window. Per year scales a part year to 12 months.

YearMonthsPermitsPer year
2024 (from October)31,9567,824
2025127,2767,276
2026 (through September)95,8557,807

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By month

Permits issued each month, October 2024 through September 2026. The tallest bar is the busiest month on file.

Oct 2024: 682Oct2024Nov 2024: 639Dec 2024: 635Jan 2025: 733Jan2025Feb 2025: 567Mar 2025: 573Apr 2025: 615May 2025: 596Jun 2025: 652Jul 2025: 714JulAug 2025: 587Sep 2025: 536Oct 2025: 633Nov 2025: 542Dec 2025: 528Jan 2026: 608Jan2026Feb 2026: 532Mar 2026: 618Apr 2026: 842May 2026: 675Jun 2026: 760Jul 2026: 649JulAug 2026: 573Sep 2026: 598
The same numbers as a table
MonthPermits
Oct 2024682
Nov 2024639
Dec 2024635
Jan 2025733
Feb 2025567
Mar 2025573
Apr 2025615
May 2025596
Jun 2025652
Jul 2025714
Aug 2025587
Sep 2025536
Oct 2025633
Nov 2025542
Dec 2025528
Jan 2026608
Feb 2026532
Mar 2026618
Apr 2026842
May 2026675
Jun 2026760
Jul 2026649
Aug 2026573
Sep 2026598

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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.

HVAC

5,332 permits · busiest June, quietest September

January: 102 (100 = an average month)February: 85 (100 = an average month)March: 86 (100 = an average month)April: 117 (100 = an average month)May: 106 (100 = an average month)June: 132 (100 = an average month)132July: 119 (100 = an average month)August: 90 (100 = an average month)September: 79 (100 = an average month)October: 112 (100 = an average month)November: 83 (100 = an average month)December: 90 (100 = an average month)JFMAMJJASOND

Plumbing

2,916 permits · busiest April, quietest May

January: 104 (100 = an average month)February: 99 (100 = an average month)March: 93 (100 = an average month)April: 124 (100 = an average month)124May: 87 (100 = an average month)June: 100 (100 = an average month)July: 95 (100 = an average month)August: 90 (100 = an average month)September: 103 (100 = an average month)October: 98 (100 = an average month)November: 94 (100 = an average month)December: 115 (100 = an average month)JFMAMJJASOND

New homes

2,739 permits · busiest March, quietest September

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

Remodels & repairs

1,233 permits · busiest October, quietest March

January: 108 (100 = an average month)February: 93 (100 = an average month)March: 82 (100 = an average month)April: 90 (100 = an average month)May: 102 (100 = an average month)June: 108 (100 = an average month)July: 100 (100 = an average month)August: 97 (100 = an average month)September: 93 (100 = an average month)October: 135 (100 = an average month)135November: 97 (100 = an average month)December: 93 (100 = an average month)JFMAMJJASOND

Garages, sheds & shade structures

592 permits · busiest November, quietest February

January: 89 (100 = an average month)February: 61 (100 = an average month)March: 85 (100 = an average month)April: 116 (100 = an average month)May: 95 (100 = an average month)June: 105 (100 = an average month)July: 132 (100 = an average month)August: 83 (100 = an average month)September: 116 (100 = an average month)October: 118 (100 = an average month)November: 134 (100 = an average month)134December: 67 (100 = an average month)JFMAMJJASOND

Solar

259 permits · busiest December, quietest February

January: 74 (100 = an average month)February: 37 (100 = an average month)March: 51 (100 = an average month)April: 88 (100 = an average month)May: 56 (100 = an average month)June: 144 (100 = an average month)July: 102 (100 = an average month)August: 97 (100 = an average month)September: 79 (100 = an average month)October: 167 (100 = an average month)November: 130 (100 = an average month)December: 176 (100 = an average month)176JFMAMJJASOND

Demolition

217 permits · busiest July, quietest November

January: 116 (100 = an average month)February: 94 (100 = an average month)March: 127 (100 = an average month)April: 94 (100 = an average month)May: 66 (100 = an average month)June: 100 (100 = an average month)July: 144 (100 = an average month)144August: 105 (100 = an average month)September: 94 (100 = an average month)October: 100 (100 = an average month)November: 61 (100 = an average month)December: 100 (100 = an average month)JFMAMJJASOND

Additions

214 permits · busiest January, quietest February

January: 123 (100 = an average month)123February: 62 (100 = an average month)March: 101 (100 = an average month)April: 118 (100 = an average month)May: 79 (100 = an average month)June: 123 (100 = an average month)July: 95 (100 = an average month)August: 107 (100 = an average month)September: 123 (100 = an average month)October: 73 (100 = an average month)November: 90 (100 = an average month)December: 107 (100 = an average month)JFMAMJJASOND
The same numbers as a table
Kind of workJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
HVAC102858611710613211990791128390
Plumbing10499931248710095901039894115
New homes127100129116116921058768909577
Remodels & repairs10893829010210810097931359793
Garages, sheds & shade structures896185116951051328311611813467
Solar74375188561441029779167130176
Demolition1169412794661001441059410061100
Additions1236210111879123951071237390107

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Homes and everything else

How the county classed each permit. Other covers commercial buildings, signs, towers and similar work.

Permit classPermitsShareLast 12 mo
Homes (residential)13,35289%6,629
Other1,73511%929

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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 county recorded a final inspection or marked it complete; expired means it lapsed without one.

StatusPermitsShare
Finished5,18868.9%
Still open3354.4%
Expired2,00626.6%

How long each kind of permit takes →

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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

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

Seattle, WABellevue, WAKing County, WAEverett, WATacoma, WAKitsap County, WAAuburn, WA

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, "Unincorporated Pierce County, WA building permit statistics", https://contractorrecords.com/pierce-county/permit-statistics, data through September 2026, from Pierce County Planning & Public Works 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.

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.

Common questions

  • How many building permits does Pierce County issue a year?About 7,544 a year in unincorporated Pierce County: 15,087 permits over 24 months, October 2024 through September 2026. 7,558 permits in the last 12 months (Oct 2025–Sep 2026), about the same as the 7,529 in the 12 months before.
  • Are building permits up or down in Pierce County?7,558 permits in the last 12 months (Oct 2025–Sep 2026), about the same as the 7,529 in the 12 months before. Plumbing permits grew most (1,412 to 1,504); solar permits fell most (191 to 68).
  • What is the busiest month for permits in Pierce County?April, counting every kind of work (116 against an average month of 100). February is the quietest (87). Each kind of work has its own season; the charts above show them.
  • What share of Pierce County permits are for homes?89%: 13,352 of the 15,087 permits issued October 2024 through September 2026 were residential permits.
Pierce County permit data →How long permits take in Pierce County →Pierce County HVAC permits →Pierce County plumbing permits →Pierce County new home permits →Browse Pierce County permits →