Worcester building & ADU permits
Recent permit activity, updated continuously.
Worcester is New England's second-largest city, in central Massachusetts, where the 2024 Affordable Homes Act allows ADUs by right. Its building-permit records mark accessory dwelling units in their own permit category, which Igni reads to flag ADUs. The city's data licence requires credit to the City of Worcester, MA, which Igni shows alongside its data.
Igni is tracking 1,057 residential and building permits in Worcester, MA. The most active ZIP is 01604. The most recent filing Igni tracked was Nov 7, 2026. All records come from City of Worcester open data (ArcGIS), an official government open-data feed, and are refreshed continuously.
1057
Permits tracked
0
ADU permits
9
Distinct ZIP codes
Nov 7, 2026
Newest permit
Recent permits
A sample of the freshest permits in this jurisdiction — ZIP and city only (no street addresses).
| ZIP | Permit type | ADU type | Valuation | Applied |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01603 | Residential | — | — | Oct 17, 2026 |
| 01602 | Residential | — | — | Oct 22, 2026 |
| 01603 | Residential | — | — | Nov 2, 2026 |
| 01602 | Residential | — | — | Oct 29, 2026 |
| 01602 | Residential | — | — | Oct 30, 2026 |
| 01609 | Commercial | — | — | Oct 2, 2026 |
| 01603 | Residential | — | — | Oct 19, 2026 |
| 01602 | Residential | — | — | Oct 12, 2026 |
| 01602 | Residential | — | — | Oct 28, 2026 |
| 01604 | Residential | — | — | Oct 2, 2026 |
| 01604 | Residential | — | — | Oct 21, 2026 |
| 01603 | Residential | — | — | Oct 15, 2026 |
| 01605 | Residential | — | — | Oct 14, 2026 |
| 01603 | Residential | — | — | Sep 2, 2026 |
| 01605 | Commercial | — | — | Sep 23, 2026 |
| 01602 | Residential | — | — | Sep 30, 2026 |
| 01604 | Residential | — | — | Oct 20, 2026 |
| 01604 | Residential | — | — | Oct 18, 2026 |
| 01604 | Residential | — | — | Oct 13, 2026 |
| 01609 | Residential | — | — | Oct 15, 2026 |
Top ZIP codes by recent activity
Permit activity in Worcester
Igni counted 4,876 permits issued in Worcester over the last 12 months (Oct 2025 – Sep 2026) — roughly flat (+0.3%) on the 4,859 in the 12 months before. The forecast expects about 2,313 over the next 6 months.
Forecast: seasonal naive, typical error ±14% in backtests one to six months ahead. How we forecast
| Permit type | Last 12 months | Year over year | Forecast, next 6 months |
|---|---|---|---|
| All permits | 4,876 | Flat (+0.3%) | ≈ 2,313 |
| Residential building | 3,644 | Up 14.4% | ≈ 1,855 |
| Commercial building | 746 | Down 18.5% | ≈ 372 |
| Trade (electrical, plumbing, mechanical) | 486 | Down 36.0% | — |
| ADU | 25 | — | — |
Monthly figures
| Month | Permits | 10th–90th percentile |
|---|---|---|
| Oct 2023 | 543 | — |
| Nov 2023 | 464 | — |
| Dec 2023 | 404 | — |
| Jan 2024 | 360 | — |
| Feb 2024 | 310 | — |
| Mar 2024 | 416 | — |
| Apr 2024 | 460 | — |
| May 2024 | 473 | — |
| Jun 2024 | 417 | — |
| Jul 2024 | 461 | — |
| Aug 2024 | 451 | — |
| Sep 2024 | 510 | — |
| Oct 2024 | 504 | — |
| Nov 2024 | 363 | — |
| Dec 2024 | 358 | — |
| Jan 2025 | 345 | — |
| Feb 2025 | 357 | — |
| Mar 2025 | 404 | — |
| Apr 2025 | 487 | — |
| May 2025 | 392 | — |
| Jun 2025 | 327 | — |
| Jul 2025 | 342 | — |
| Aug 2025 | 509 | — |
| Sep 2025 | 471 | — |
| Oct 2025 | 480 | — |
| Nov 2025 | 431 | — |
| Dec 2025 | 471 | — |
| Jan 2026 | 310 | — |
| Feb 2026 | 293 | — |
| Mar 2026 | 319 | — |
| Apr 2026 | 415 | — |
| May 2026 | 396 | — |
| Jun 2026 | 351 | — |
| Jul 2026 | 374 | — |
| Aug 2026 | 465 | — |
| Sep 2026 | 571 | — |
| Oct 2026 (forecast) | ≈ 482 | 398–645 |
| Nov 2026 (forecast) | ≈ 433 | 357–579 |
| Dec 2026 (forecast) | ≈ 473 | 391–608 |
| Jan 2027 (forecast) | ≈ 311 | 264–401 |
| Feb 2027 (forecast) | ≈ 294 | 251–377 |
| Mar 2027 (forecast) | ≈ 320 | 274–413 |
Counts are permits issued per calendar month as Worcester publishes them to its open-data feed — not a complete census; a change in what the city publishes moves them too. The current month is left out, and the most recent months are provisional. A forecast is a statistical estimate with a range, not a prediction for any project. Informational only.
How long do permits take in Worcester?
Based on 13,532 Worcester permits applied for between Nov 2023 and Aug 2026, the typical (median) permit was issued 9 days after application, and the middle half of permits took 3–26 days. One in ten took longer than 55 days.
| Permit type | Median | Typical range | Permits |
|---|---|---|---|
| All permits | 9 days | 3–26 days | 13,532 |
| Residential building | 9 days | 3–24 days | 9,146 |
| Commercial building | 21 days | 7–46 days | 2,356 |
| Trade (electrical, plumbing, mechanical) | 5 days | 1–14 days | 2,029 |
| ADU | 49 days | 26–95 days | 52 |
Typical, not guaranteed: individual permits vary with project scope, application completeness and plan-review workload. Days are calendar days from application to issuance; applications still pending are counted as not-yet-issued rather than dropped. Informational only, not legal advice. How we calculate approval times.
Housing law — Massachusetts
Massachusetts legalized accessory dwelling units by right statewide through the Affordable Homes Act (2024); as of February 2025, an ADU up to 900 sq ft is allowed by right in single-family zoning districts in nearly every community, without an owner-occupancy requirement.
The MBTA Communities Act (2021) requires the 177 MBTA-served cities and towns to zone for multifamily housing as of right near transit; the state's highest court upheld the law as constitutional and enforceable in 2025.
Data source
Sourced from City of Worcester open data (ArcGIS). City of Worcester data licence (attribution required).
Attribution: © City of Worcester, MA (City of Worcester data licence)
Nearby cities — Massachusetts
Learn more about ADUs & building permits
Background reading on accessory dwelling units, building permits, and how Igni turns Worcester permit records into leads.
Worcester permit data — FAQ
Where does Igni get Worcester permit data?
How fresh is Worcester permit data?
How long does it take to get a building permit in Worcester?
Is construction activity growing in Worcester?
Does Worcester allow accessory dwelling units (ADUs)?
Get permit leads — Worcester
Fresh, filterable residential and ADU permit leads from Worcester — delivered before your competitors even know.
Informational only, not legal advice. Headline counts reflect all permits Igni has tracked for this jurisdiction; the table shows recent activity. Housing law changes — verify current statutes before relying on this.