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ADU and casita permits in unincorporated Sonoma County, CA

Data through May 2025 · updated 23 Oct 2026

342 ADU and casita permits were issued in unincorporated Sonoma County, June 2023 through May 2025: about 171 a year and 2% of all permits. 195 ADU and casita permits in the last 12 months on file (Jun 2024–May 2025), 33% more than the 147 in the 12 months before. The busiest month is April.

342permits issued
195last 12 months on file
Aprbusiest month
46%finished
May 2025records through

ADU and casita permits by month

Permits issued each month, June 2023 through May 2025.

Jun 2023: 13Jun2023Jul 2023: 21JulAug 2023: 9Sep 2023: 13Oct 2023: 15Nov 2023: 8Dec 2023: 5Jan 2024: 10Jan2024Feb 2024: 14Mar 2024: 12Apr 2024: 13May 2024: 14Jun 2024: 18Jul 2024: 15JulAug 2024: 17Sep 2024: 16Oct 2024: 23Nov 2024: 11Dec 2024: 12Jan 2025: 20Jan2025Feb 2025: 10Mar 2025: 10Apr 2025: 27May 2025: 16
The same numbers as a table
MonthPermits
Jun 202313
Jul 202321
Aug 20239
Sep 202313
Oct 202315
Nov 20238
Dec 20235
Jan 202410
Feb 202414
Mar 202412
Apr 202413
May 202414
Jun 202418
Jul 202415
Aug 202417
Sep 202416
Oct 202423
Nov 202411
Dec 202412
Jan 202520
Feb 202510
Mar 202510
Apr 202527
May 202516

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When ADU and casita permits are filed

By calendar month, 100 = an average month (the thin line). April is the busiest (140), December the quietest (60). A busy month at the permit counter usually means a longer wait for a contractor.

January: 105 (100 = an average month)February: 84 (100 = an average month)March: 77 (100 = an average month)April: 140 (100 = an average month)140May: 105 (100 = an average month)June: 109 (100 = an average month)July: 126 (100 = an average month)August: 91 (100 = an average month)September: 102 (100 = an average month)October: 133 (100 = an average month)November: 67 (100 = an average month)December: 60 (100 = an average month)JFMAMJJASOND
The same numbers as a table
MonthIndex
January105
February84
March77
April140
May105
June109
July126
August91
September102
October133
November67
December60

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How many ADU and casita permits get finished

Permits issued Jun 2023–May 2024, at least 12 months before the file ends.

MeasureValue
Permits issued Jun 2023–May 2024147
Finished46.3%
Expired0.0%

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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
Building Permit With Plan Check29185%
Building Permit No Plan Check5115%

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Nearby permit data

ADU and casita permits for other places in the Bay Area. Each permit office keeps its own file, so the numbers are not added together.

How these numbers are made

Source: Sonoma County Open Data, Sonoma County Construction Permits (Socrata dataset 88ms-k5e7), read 23 Oct 2026. We count permits issued June 2023 through May 2025; denied and withdrawn permits are left out.

Building, solar and demolition permits Permit Sonoma issues for unincorporated Sonoma County only (Sonoma Valley, Guerneville and the Russian River, Glen Ellen, Larkfield-Wikiup, Bodega Bay, Penngrove and other rural areas). Santa Rosa, Petaluma, Rohnert Park, Windsor, Healdsburg, Sonoma, Cotati, Sebastopol and Cloverdale run their own building departments and are not in this file. Encroachment, septic, well, grading and sewer permits are left out.

  • The county's file names no contractor, so there are no contractor lists, rankings or firm pages for Sonoma County.
  • The county's open file holds only permits started from October 23, 2022 to May 30, 2025 and has not added newer permits since, so these pages end with May 2025. The window starts in June 2023 because permits applied for before the file begins and issued later are missing, which undercounts the first months.
  • Finished means the county's status is Finaled. Expired permits lapsed without a final; denied and cancelled permits are not counted. The file has no final date, so we show no time to final.
  • Permit Sonoma files most work under two broad types (with or without plan check), so the kind of work is read from the permit description: solar, reroofs, furnaces and heat pumps, water heaters, panels and so on. Permits with no description count as other.
  • The file can't reliably tell homes from other property, and it has no declared value on most permits and no ZIP code, so there are no homes figures, costs or ZIP pages.

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, "ADU and casita permits in unincorporated Sonoma County, CA", https://contractorrecords.com/sonoma-county/adu-permits, data through May 2025, from Permit Sonoma (Sonoma County Permit and Resource Management Department) building-permit records.

Link to a table: By month · Season · How many get finished · Permit types.

Download the tables (CSV): ADUs & casitas permits by month · ADUs & casitas permits by calendar month (index) · ADUs & casitas permits: finished share · ADUs & casitas permits by permit type.

Common questions

  • How many ADU and casita permits does Sonoma County issue a year?About 171 a year in unincorporated Sonoma County: 342 permits issued June 2023 through May 2025, 195 of them in the last 12 months on file (to May 2025).
  • When do people in Sonoma County file the most ADU and casita permits?April (140 against an average month of 100); December is the quietest (60). If you can choose, a quiet month at the permit counter can mean contractors have more room in their schedules.