Milwaukee building & ADU permits
Recent permit activity, updated continuously.
Milwaukee is Wisconsin's largest city, on the shore of Lake Michigan, and sets ADU rules locally. Its permit export is published under CC BY 4.0, so Igni surfaces it with the required © City of Milwaukee credit, recovering ZIP codes from the address where the structured field is absent.
Igni is tracking 685 residential and building permits in Milwaukee, WI. The most active ZIP is 53207. The most recent filing Igni tracked was Jun 15, 2026. All records come from data.milwaukee.gov (CKAN/CSV), an official government open-data feed, and are refreshed continuously.
685
Permits tracked
0
ADU permits
26
Distinct ZIP codes
Jun 15, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 53221 | Residential | — | $0 | May 26, 2026 |
| 53216 | Residential | — | $0 | May 26, 2026 |
| 53223 | Residential | — | $0 | May 22, 2026 |
| 53208 | Residential | — | $0 | May 4, 2026 |
| 53221 | Commercial | — | $62,500 | Apr 28, 2026 |
| 53221 | Commercial | — | $350,500 | Mar 2, 2026 |
| 53215 | Residential | — | $120,000 | Sep 12, 2025 |
| 53216 | Residential | — | $0 | Apr 28, 2026 |
| 53210 | Residential | — | $0 | Mar 30, 2026 |
| 53215 | Residential | — | $16,500 | May 28, 2026 |
| 53210 | Residential | — | $0 | May 28, 2026 |
| 53211 | Residential | — | $0 | May 21, 2026 |
| 53221 | Residential | — | $21,000 | May 18, 2026 |
| 53203 | Commercial | — | $10,000 | May 18, 2026 |
| 53222 | Commercial | — | $0 | May 15, 2026 |
| 53219 | Residential | — | $0 | May 15, 2026 |
| 53218 | Residential | — | $46,000 | May 7, 2026 |
| 53218 | Residential | — | $37,500 | May 7, 2026 |
| 53213 | Residential | — | $0 | Apr 23, 2026 |
| 53233 | Commercial | — | $124,380 | Apr 20, 2026 |
Top ZIP codes by recent activity
Permit activity in Milwaukee
Igni counted 1,479 permits issued in Milwaukee over the last 12 months (Jun 2025 – May 2026) — down 8.6% on the 1,618 in the 12 months before.
Not enough history for a seasonal forecast yet. How we forecast
| Permit type | Last 12 months | Year over year |
|---|---|---|
| All permits | 1,479 | Down 8.6% |
| Residential building | 783 | Down 14.6% |
| Commercial building | 696 | Flat (−0.7%) |
| Trade (electrical, plumbing, mechanical) | 0 | — |
| ADU | 0 | — |
Monthly figures
| Month | Permits | 10th–90th percentile |
|---|---|---|
| Jun 2023 | 162 | — |
| Jul 2023 | 123 | — |
| Aug 2023 | 147 | — |
| Sep 2023 | 120 | — |
| Oct 2023 | 128 | — |
| Nov 2023 | 100 | — |
| Dec 2023 | 99 | — |
| Jan 2024 | 95 | — |
| Feb 2024 | 141 | — |
| Mar 2024 | 130 | — |
| Apr 2024 | 189 | — |
| May 2024 | 178 | — |
| Jun 2024 | 163 | — |
| Jul 2024 | 156 | — |
| Aug 2024 | 176 | — |
| Sep 2024 | 130 | — |
| Oct 2024 | 170 | — |
| Nov 2024 | 97 | — |
| Dec 2024 | 117 | — |
| Jan 2025 | 100 | — |
| Feb 2025 | 106 | — |
| Mar 2025 | 127 | — |
| Apr 2025 | 129 | — |
| May 2025 | 147 | — |
| Jun 2025 | 156 | — |
| Jul 2025 | 139 | — |
| Aug 2025 | 146 | — |
| Sep 2025 | 151 | — |
| Oct 2025 | 158 | — |
| Nov 2025 | 107 | — |
| Dec 2025 | 78 | — |
| Jan 2026 | 82 | — |
| Feb 2026 | 113 | — |
| Mar 2026 | 94 | — |
| Apr 2026 | 122 | — |
| May 2026 | 133 | — |
Counts are permits issued per calendar month as Milwaukee 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 Milwaukee?
Based on 3,739 Milwaukee permits applied for between Nov 2023 and Aug 2026, the typical (median) permit was issued 24 days after application, and the middle half of permits took 5–63 days. One in ten took longer than 133 days.
| Permit type | Median | Typical range | Permits |
|---|---|---|---|
| All permits | 24 days | 5–63 days | 3,739 |
| Residential building | 13 days | 1–41 days | 2,048 |
| Commercial building | 43 days | 16–91 days | 1,691 |
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 — Wisconsin
Accessory dwelling units in Wisconsin are handled locally; with no statewide ADU mandate, requirements vary by city and county.
Wisconsin has no statewide upzoning law; residential density is set by local zoning.
Data source
Sourced from data.milwaukee.gov (CKAN/CSV). CC BY 4.0.
Attribution: © City of Milwaukee (CC BY 4.0)
Learn more about ADUs & building permits
Background reading on accessory dwelling units, building permits, and how Igni turns Milwaukee permit records into leads.
Milwaukee permit data — FAQ
Where does Igni get Milwaukee permit data?
How fresh is Milwaukee permit data?
How long does it take to get a building permit in Milwaukee?
Is construction activity growing in Milwaukee?
Does Milwaukee allow accessory dwelling units (ADUs)?
Get permit leads — Milwaukee
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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.