SOCDS Building Permits Database

This database contains data on permits for residential construction issued by about 21,000 jurisdictions collected in the Census Bureau's Building Permits Survey. (Documentation available here.) You can create output tables at the State, County, MSA, CBSA (1999 MSA/PMSA and 2003 CBSA definitions.) or permit-issuing jurisdiction level. Monthly data are available from January 1997 through July 2008 for about 9,000 jurisdictions that respond to the monthly survey. The remaining jursidictions report annual data only. Annual data are available from 1980 through 2006. State and metropolitan area monthly data do not include imputations of data, created by the Census Bureau, for the jurisdictions within them that report only annual data.

Data are provided initially in tabular form, but a button at the bottom of the output page enables you to access the same data in comma-delimited form.

Data may not be available for all jurisdictions for all years.

To retrieve jurisdiction-level data:



  • Summary tables are also available:


  • State


    CBSA/MSA




    Previous summary files:


    State
    Year-To-Date
    		 Past 12 Months
    CBSA
    Year-To-Date (CBSA data begins in January 2004)
    		 Past 12 months (Available from December 2004)
    Metropolitan Areas
    Past 12 months Year-to-Date (Available up to December 2003)
    		 Past 12 months (Available up to December 2003)


    SOCDS Home

    Send comments or report errors to: Lynn_A._Rodgers@hud.gov