The most active ADU & residential permit markets in the US
Where new residential and accessory-dwelling-unit (ADU) building permits are filing right now — ranked from the live permit data Igni tracks across 95 cities in 39 states and DC.
What these numbers are: the permit records Igni currently tracks from each city's official open-data portal as of September 28, 2026 — recent filing activity, not a complete historical census or an official government total. Each city's feed covers a different window and depth, so totals reflect what's in the Igni index per source, not the full permit history of any city. Counts below are the real, un-rounded figures from that snapshot.
95
Cities tracked
39 + DC
States covered
278,922
Permit records tracked
3,109
ADU permits classified
Across this snapshot Igni is tracking 278,922 residential and building-permit records, of which 3,109 were classified as accessory dwelling units — 3,063 of them above Igni's ADU confidence threshold (“reliable ADU”). In the data Igni tracks, Los Angeles leads all cities by reliable ADU permit count.
Most active ADU markets
The top 20 cities Igni tracks by reliable ADU permit count — ADU filings whose typed classification cleared Igni's confidence threshold. Each city links to its live permit page.
| # | City | ADU permits | Reliable ADU | Total tracked | Busiest ZIP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Los Angeles, CA | 597 | 593 | 4,959 | 90272 |
| 2 | San Diego, CA | 552 | 546 | 12,388 | 92101 |
| 3 | Seattle, WA | 391 | 388 | 1,994 | 98103 |
| 4 | Pasadena, CA | 191 | 191 | 427 | 91104 |
| 5 | Nashville, TN | 205 | 190 | 5,105 | 37203 |
| 6 | Los Angeles County, CA | 128 | 128 | 708 | 91001 |
| 7 | San Francisco, CA | 101 | 99 | 6,194 | 94110 |
| 8 | San Jose, CA | 87 | 87 | 5,133 | 95125 |
| 9 | Sacramento, CA | 72 | 70 | 3,981 | 95831 |
| 10 | Boise, ID | 58 | 58 | 349 | 83709 |
| 11 | New York City, NY | 54 | 54 | 41,738 | 10022 |
| 12 | Bend, OR | 50 | 50 | 2,633 | 97702 |
| 13 | Tempe, AZ | 48 | 43 | 2,721 | 85282 |
| 14 | Tucson, AZ | 45 | 43 | 2,639 | 85711 |
| 15 | Portland, OR | 42 | 42 | 339 | 97206 |
| 16 | Tacoma, WA | 38 | 38 | 2,104 | 98404 |
| 17 | Fayetteville, AR | 38 | 38 | 939 | 72701 |
| 18 | Chicago, IL | 37 | 37 | 9,870 | 60614 |
| 19 | Anaheim, CA | 33 | 33 | 906 | 92802 |
| 20 | Maricopa County, AZ | 30 | 29 | 1,060 | 85355 |
Highest permit volume
The top 15 cities Igni tracks by total permit records in this snapshot. High volume reflects both how busy a city is and how much history its open-data feed exposes.
| # | City | Total tracked | Residential | Reliable ADU | Latest filing |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | New York City, NY | 41,738 | 4,129 | 54 | Sep 25, 2026 |
| 2 | San Diego, CA | 12,388 | 4,941 | 546 | Sep 27, 2026 |
| 3 | Columbus, OH | 12,386 | 10,122 | 0 | Sep 26, 2026 |
| 4 | Chicago, IL | 9,870 | 2,136 | 37 | Sep 27, 2026 |
| 5 | Kansas City, MO | 9,814 | 3,892 | 0 | Sep 22, 2026 |
| 6 | Washington, DC | 9,699 | 280 | 10 | Sep 26, 2026 |
| 7 | Boston, MA | 9,507 | 4,047 | 0 | Sep 28, 2026 |
| 8 | Austin, TX | 9,409 | 6,400 | 4 | Sep 27, 2026 |
| 9 | Baltimore, MD | 8,388 | 7,261 | 2 | Sep 27, 2026 |
| 10 | San Antonio, TX | 8,022 | 1,060 | 6 | Sep 25, 2026 |
| 11 | Las Vegas, NV | 7,944 | 6,724 | 0 | Sep 25, 2026 |
| 12 | Louisville, KY | 7,319 | 5,367 | 0 | Sep 28, 2026 |
| 13 | San Francisco, CA | 6,194 | 4,597 | 99 | Sep 27, 2026 |
| 14 | Fort Worth, TX | 5,320 | 3,671 | 15 | Sep 28, 2026 |
| 15 | San Jose, CA | 5,133 | 4,731 | 87 | Sep 26, 2026 |
By state
The 40 states with live coverage in this snapshot, aggregated across every city Igni tracks there. Each state links to its coverage page.
| State | Cities tracked | Total tracked | Reliable ADU |
|---|---|---|---|
| New York | 2 | 45,235 | 55 |
| California | 12 | 36,314 | 1,782 |
| Texas | 10 | 26,717 | 28 |
| Ohio | 3 | 19,344 | 0 |
| Arizona | 6 | 12,470 | 143 |
| Florida | 4 | 11,900 | 11 |
| Illinois | 3 | 10,688 | 37 |
| Missouri | 1 | 9,814 | 0 |
| Massachusetts | 2 | 9,742 | 1 |
| District of Columbia | 1 | 9,699 | 10 |
| Maryland | 3 | 9,559 | 14 |
| Nevada | 2 | 8,316 | 11 |
| Pennsylvania | 2 | 8,295 | 0 |
| Kentucky | 1 | 7,319 | 0 |
| Tennessee | 2 | 5,863 | 191 |
| North Carolina | 3 | 5,177 | 49 |
| Washington | 4 | 4,953 | 450 |
| South Dakota | 1 | 4,866 | 0 |
| Virginia | 4 | 4,742 | 14 |
| Minnesota | 1 | 3,720 | 7 |
| Louisiana | 2 | 3,596 | 2 |
| Colorado | 4 | 3,052 | 27 |
| Michigan | 1 | 3,007 | 3 |
| Oregon | 2 | 2,972 | 92 |
| Connecticut | 1 | 1,857 | 1 |
| North Dakota | 1 | 1,286 | 0 |
| Georgia | 2 | 1,125 | 16 |
| Arkansas | 1 | 939 | 38 |
| Alabama | 1 | 822 | 0 |
| Indiana | 1 | 800 | 1 |
| Nebraska | 1 | 764 | 0 |
| Utah | 1 | 709 | 4 |
| Wisconsin | 1 | 685 | 0 |
| Montana | 3 | 588 | 13 |
| Kansas | 1 | 554 | 0 |
| South Carolina | 1 | 434 | 0 |
| Idaho | 1 | 349 | 58 |
| New Mexico | 1 | 233 | 0 |
| Wyoming | 1 | 217 | 5 |
| Mississippi | 1 | 200 | 0 |
Fastest-growing permit markets
Cities ranked by the change in permits over the last 12 months against the 12 months before, among cities with at least 500 permits a year. Counts are what each city publishes to its open-data feed, so a change in what a city publishes moves them too; the forecast is the median expectation for the next six months. See the forecast methodology.
| # | City | Permits, last 12 months | Year over year | Forecast, next 6 months |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bernalillo County, NM | 1,273 | Up 37.6% | — |
| 2 | Boulder, CO | 1,110 | Up 26.1% | ≈ 599 |
| 3 | Alachua County, FL | 1,669 | Up 22.0% | ≈ 834 |
| 4 | Everett, WA | 825 | Up 21.9% | ≈ 414 |
| 5 | DeKalb County, GA | 2,759 | Up 14.7% | ≈ 1,380 |
| 6 | Mesa, AZ | 5,384 | Up 12.7% | ≈ 2,599 |
| 7 | Raymore, MO | 618 | Up 12.4% | ≈ 208 |
| 8 | Tacoma, WA | 3,144 | Up 8.9% | ≈ 1,572 |
| 9 | Overland Park, KS | 2,722 | Up 8.1% | ≈ 1,362 |
| 10 | Virginia Beach, VA | 6,353 | Up 6.5% | ≈ 3,034 |
| 11 | Norfolk, VA | 2,045 | Up 6.5% | ≈ 951 |
| 12 | Coconino County, AZ | 1,341 | Up 6.5% | ≈ 521 |
| 13 | Citrus Heights, CA | 4,015 | Up 6.2% | ≈ 1,797 |
| 14 | San Bruno, CA | 1,623 | Up 4.8% | ≈ 810 |
| 15 | Cincinnati, OH | 9,752 | Up 4.6% | ≈ 4,626 |
| 16 | Tempe, AZ | 2,419 | Up 4.1% | ≈ 1,212 |
| 17 | Austin, TX | 55,982 | Up 3.2% | ≈ 28,057 |
| 18 | Montgomery County, MD | 6,377 | Up 2.7% | ≈ 3,186 |
| 19 | Kitsap County, WA | 2,898 | Up 2.7% | ≈ 1,339 |
| 20 | Seattle, WA | 6,365 | Up 1.9% | ≈ 3,134 |
Permit approval times by city
The typical (median) number of calendar days from application to issuance for permits in each city Igni tracks, estimated from years of historical records, fastest first. Typical, not guaranteed — see the methodology for how still-pending applications are handled. Each city links to its permit page with a breakdown by permit type.
Methodology
Every figure on this page is computed from the permit records Igni had ingested as of September 28, 2026. Records come exclusively from each city's official open-data portal, are normalized into one schema, de-duplicated, and run through Igni's typed ADU classifier; “reliable ADU” counts only filings whose classification cleared the confidence threshold. Igni refreshes most sources within about a day of filing and flags SB-9/SB-10 activity where applicable. Numbers are a point-in-time snapshot and will move as feeds update — read the full data methodology for how each source is verified.
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Informational only, not legal advice. Counts reflect the permit records Igni currently tracks per official open-data source as of September 28, 2026 — recent activity, not a complete government census.