How many building permits does Tempe issue a year?

About 2,374 a year in the City of Tempe: 4,748 permits over 24 months, October 2024 through September 2026. 2,466 permits in the last 12 months (Oct 2025-Sep 2026), 8% more than the 2,282 in the 12 months before.

Are building permits up or down in Tempe?

2,466 permits in the last 12 months (Oct 2025-Sep 2026), 8% more than the 2,282 in the 12 months before. Electrical permits grew most (443 to 536); solar permits fell most (197 to 164).

What is the busiest month for permits in Tempe?

April, counting every kind of work (118 against an average month of 100). July is the quietest (91). Each kind of work has its own season; the charts above show them.

What share of Tempe permits are for homes?

62%: 2,924 of the 4,748 permits issued October 2024 through September 2026 were residential permits.

Tempe, AZ Permit Statistics (2026): 4,748 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	979	21%	536	443	+21%	80%	October
Remodels & repairs	860	18%	463	397	+17%	100%	April
Plumbing	527	11%	254	273	−7%	66%	August
Solar	361	8%	164	197	−17%	94%	October
Additions	151	3%	83	68	+22%	100%	May
Pools & spas	121	3%	47	74	−36%	91%	April
Garages, sheds & shade structures	101	2%	59	42	+40%	100%	September
ADUs & casitas	101	2%	71	30	+137%	100%	June
Other	1,258	26%	652	606	+8%	0%	September

Fewer than 100 permits, so no row: new homes (94), demolition (85), HVAC (71), roofing (20), fences & walls (19).

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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	540	2,160
2025	12	2,380	2,380
2026 (through September)	9	1,828	2,437

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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	206
Nov 2024	158
Dec 2024	176
Jan 2025	208
Feb 2025	228
Mar 2025	194
Apr 2025	222
May 2025	196
Jun 2025	184
Jul 2025	168
Aug 2025	181
Sep 2025	161
Oct 2025	223
Nov 2025	208
Dec 2025	207
Jan 2026	174
Feb 2026	160
Mar 2026	215
Apr 2026	245
May 2026	183
Jun 2026	207
Jul 2026	194
Aug 2026	223
Sep 2026	227

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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

979 permits · busiest October, quietest August

Remodels & repairs

860 permits · busiest April, quietest July

Plumbing

527 permits · busiest August, quietest September

Solar

361 permits · busiest October, quietest January

Additions

151 permits · busiest May, quietest October

Pools & spas

121 permits · busiest April, quietest August

Garages, sheds & shade structures

101 permits · busiest September, quietest May

ADUs & casitas

101 permits · busiest June, quietest May

The same numbers as a table

Kind of work	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Electrical	99	96	107	112	104	93	94	87	92	113	93	110
Remodels & repairs	95	114	98	152	112	89	78	95	84	95	103	85
Plumbing	114	80	109	116	80	91	105	130	77	107	82	109
Solar	66	66	90	116	120	76	93	110	116	123	100	123
Additions	127	48	111	119	159	79	135	135	72	40	79	95
Pools & spas	89	109	79	188	119	109	99	40	99	79	109	79
Garages, sheds & shade structures	107	95	95	83	36	83	71	48	214	178	95	95
ADUs & casitas	59	119	166	83	48	190	154	119	83	71	59	48

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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)	2,924	62%	1,512
Other	1,824	38%	954

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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	1,631	71.5%
Still open	339	14.9%
Expired	312	13.7%

How long each kind of permit takes →

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By ZIP code

The 6 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
85282	1,412	30%	Electrical (362)
85281	1,035	22%	Electrical (213)
85283	946	20%	Remodels & repairs (256)
85284	812	17%	Electrical (154)
85288	530	11%	Electrical (73)
85040	1	under 1%	Solar (1)

All 5 ZIP codes with 250+ permits →

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How Tempe compares with other cities

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

66% finished of electrical permits a year or more old here, against 80% across 37 cities (8th lowest of 38). Permit completion rates by city →
13% still open of electrical permits a year after issue here, against 20% across 37 cities (12th fewest 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 Apr, quietest Jul for permits here; see when each trade peaks in 50 cities. Busiest months for home projects, by city →

Nearby permit data

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

Mesa, AZ Scottsdale, AZ Gilbert, AZ Maricopa County, AZ

How these numbers are made

Source: City of Tempe Open Data, Permits Issued by Building Safety (BLDS layer from Accela), read 19 Oct 2026. We count permits issued October 2024 through September 2026; denied and withdrawn permits are left out.

Building, trade, pool, sign and demolition permits the City of Tempe Building Safety Division issues inside the city limits only. Phoenix, Mesa, Chandler, Scottsdale and unincorporated Maricopa County run their own permit offices and are not in this file. The city's engineering permits (water and sewer, drainage, paving, grading) are left out.

The city's open permit file leaves the contractor field blank on building permits, so there are no contractor lists, rankings or firm pages for Tempe.
The value is the estimated project cost on the permit; electrical, plumbing and mechanical permits are filed as no-value permits and carry none. It is not a final cost.
Kinds of work come from the permit's federal building class; general residential alterations and miscellaneous permits are sorted into trades by keywords in the work description.
Few roof replacements appear in the file, so roofing has no page of its own.
A final date is the date the city recorded the permit as completed. Permits marked Final, Finaled, CofO Issued or Closed count as finished; some of them carry no completed date and add no days.

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 Tempe, AZ building permit statistics", https://contractorrecords.com/tempe/permit-statistics, data through September 2026, from the City of Tempe Building Safety Division 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 Tempe issue a year?About 2,374 a year in the City of Tempe: 4,748 permits over 24 months, October 2024 through September 2026. 2,466 permits in the last 12 months (Oct 2025–Sep 2026), 8% more than the 2,282 in the 12 months before.
Are building permits up or down in Tempe?2,466 permits in the last 12 months (Oct 2025–Sep 2026), 8% more than the 2,282 in the 12 months before. Electrical permits grew most (443 to 536); solar permits fell most (197 to 164).
What is the busiest month for permits in Tempe?April, counting every kind of work (118 against an average month of 100). July is the quietest (91). Each kind of work has its own season; the charts above show them.
What share of Tempe permits are for homes?62%: 2,924 of the 4,748 permits issued October 2024 through September 2026 were residential permits.

Tempe permit data →How long permits take in Tempe →Tempe electrical permits →Tempe remodel and repair permits →Tempe plumbing permits →Browse Tempe permits →