How many building permits does Rockford issue a year?

About 9,562 a year in the City of Rockford: 19,123 permits over 24 months, October 2024 through September 2026. 9,608 permits in the last 12 months (Oct 2025-Sep 2026), about the same as the 9,515 in the 12 months before.

Are building permits up or down in Rockford?

9,608 permits in the last 12 months (Oct 2025-Sep 2026), about the same as the 9,515 in the 12 months before. Plumbing permits grew most (2,415 to 3,043); solar permits fell most (598 to 227).

What is the busiest month for permits in Rockford?

June, counting every kind of work (125 against an average month of 100). January is the quietest (62). Each kind of work has its own season; the charts above show them.

Rockford, IL Permit Statistics (2026): 19,123 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
Plumbing	5,458	29%	3,043	2,415	+26%	82%	April
Electrical	3,597	19%	1,871	1,726	+8%	42%	July
HVAC	2,647	14%	1,229	1,418	−13%	71%	October
Roofing	2,024	11%	952	1,072	−11%	90%	October
Fences & walls	1,016	5%	481	535	−10%	92%	June
Solar	825	4%	227	598	−62%	93%	October
Remodels & repairs	635	3%	316	319	−1%	100%	June
Garages, sheds & shade structures	278	1%	138	140	−1%	100%	June
New homes	260	1%	185	75	+147%	100%	December
Demolition	102	under 1%	45	57	−21%	46%	July
Other	2,233	12%	1,100	1,133	−3%	5%	November

Fewer than 100 permits, so no row: pools & spas (24), additions (24).

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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	2,462	9,848
2025	12	9,144	9,144
2026 (through September)	9	7,517	10,023

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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	949
Nov 2024	867
Dec 2024	646
Jan 2025	524
Feb 2025	573
Mar 2025	524
Apr 2025	811
May 2025	643
Jun 2025	869
Jul 2025	953
Aug 2025	1,174
Sep 2025	982
Oct 2025	894
Nov 2025	612
Dec 2025	585
Jan 2026	470
Feb 2026	533
Mar 2026	916
Apr 2026	1,027
May 2026	916
Jun 2026	1,118
Jul 2026	973
Aug 2026	768
Sep 2026	796

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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.

Plumbing

5,458 permits · busiest April, quietest January

Electrical

3,597 permits · busiest July, quietest December

HVAC

2,647 permits · busiest October, quietest March

Roofing

2,024 permits · busiest October, quietest January

Fences & walls

1,016 permits · busiest June, quietest January

Solar

825 permits · busiest October, quietest February

Remodels & repairs

635 permits · busiest June, quietest January

Garages, sheds & shade structures

278 permits · busiest June, quietest February

The same numbers as a table

Kind of work	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Plumbing	64	78	121	149	104	117	99	115	111	93	79	70
Electrical	61	80	71	89	88	123	159	148	130	100	93	57
HVAC	82	86	64	87	84	133	97	131	83	136	103	114
Roofing	21	46	87	133	113	107	113	142	154	156	87	42
Fences & walls	22	24	76	150	157	183	181	102	92	124	64	26
Solar	71	51	74	57	73	143	153	86	70	179	153	92
Remodels & repairs	55	64	74	81	102	161	155	140	119	108	77	64
Garages, sheds & shade structures	22	9	52	134	155	168	160	117	121	147	82	35

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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)	12,773	67%	6,301
Other	6,350	33%	3,307

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How Rockford compares with other cities

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

Finished share of permits a year or more old, compared across cities. Permit completion rates by city →
Share of permits still open a year after they were issued, compared across cities. 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 Jun, quietest Jan 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 Rockford Building Permits (Illinois EDP open data, dataset 3k8p-pkx8), read 21 Oct 2026. We count permits issued October 2024 through September 2026; denied and withdrawn permits are left out. The city's file lists permits when they are issued and has no status or final inspection date, so no finished share is shown.

Building and trade permits the City of Rockford issues inside the city limits only. Loves Park, Machesney Park, Cherry Valley and unincorporated Winnebago County issue their own permits and are not in this file.

The city's file names the contracting company on about half the permits. We show only how many permits the most active of them filed; that is volume, not quality.
The file lists permits when they are issued and has no status or final inspection date, so these pages cannot show which permits finished or how long a permit takes; every permit is listed as open.
The file starts in September 2024 and has no ZIP code, so there are no ZIP pages and no comparison before October 2024.
Gas-line permits are counted under plumbing. Siding and townhouse buildings are counted under other.
The value is the valuation on the permit, which sets the fee. It is not a final cost.

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, "The City of Rockford, IL building permit statistics", https://contractorrecords.com/rockford/permit-statistics, data through September 2026, from the City of Rockford Community & Economic Development department 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.

Download the tables (CSV): Permits by kind of work · Permits by year · Permits by month · Permits by calendar month (index) · Homes and other permits.

Common questions

How many building permits does Rockford issue a year?About 9,562 a year in the City of Rockford: 19,123 permits over 24 months, October 2024 through September 2026. 9,608 permits in the last 12 months (Oct 2025–Sep 2026), about the same as the 9,515 in the 12 months before.
Are building permits up or down in Rockford?9,608 permits in the last 12 months (Oct 2025–Sep 2026), about the same as the 9,515 in the 12 months before. Plumbing permits grew most (2,415 to 3,043); solar permits fell most (598 to 227).
What is the busiest month for permits in Rockford?June, counting every kind of work (125 against an average month of 100). January is the quietest (62). Each kind of work has its own season; the charts above show them.
What share of Rockford permits are for homes?67%: 12,773 of the 19,123 permits issued October 2024 through September 2026 were residential permits.

Rockford permit data →Rockford plumbing permits →Rockford electrical permits →Rockford HVAC permits →Browse Rockford permits →