Top Growth Counties: Where Construction Is Accelerating Fastest
Counties ranked by real month-over-month permit growth (50+ permit base, to filter small-county noise) — where construction demand is accelerating right now.
Which counties rank highest in this list?
As of April 2026, the fastest-growing construction markets by month-over-month building-permit change (50+ permit base) include Broward, Lubbock, Palm Beach, based on U.S. Census Building Permits Survey data. Updated monthly.
Rankings — April 2026
| # | County | Permits | MoM | YoY | Demand Index |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Broward County · FL | 396 | +224.6% | +62.5% | 71 |
| 2 | Lubbock County · TX | 461 | +172.8% | +29.4% | 68 |
| 3 | Palm Beach County · FL | 942 | +169.9% | +3.4% | 74 |
| 4 | Collier County · FL | 441 | +156.4% | -22.4% | 47 |
| 5 | Alachua County · FL | 242 | +130.5% | +90.6% | 67 |
| 6 | Lee County · FL | 1,382 | +120.4% | -12.1% | 79 |
| 7 | Martin County · FL | 97 | +106.4% | +30.8% | 63 |
| 8 | Comal County · TX | 301 | +106.2% | -49.7% | 35 |
| 9 | Duval County · FL | 956 | +104.3% | -7.4% | 69 |
| 10 | Dallas County · TX | 793 | +81.1% | -0.2% | 59 |
| 11 | Gulf County · FL | 64 | +77.8% | +0% | 47 |
| 12 | Orange County · FL | 797 | +74.4% | +63.2% | 83 |
| 13 | Potter County · TX | 189 | +67.3% | -28.7% | 34 |
| 14 | Taylor County · TX | 138 | +60.5% | +104.8% | 62 |
| 15 | Wise County · TX | 53 | +55.9% | -13.2% | 39 |
| 16 | Citrus County · FL | 174 | +51.3% | -14% | 43 |
| 17 | Denton County · TX | 1,043 | +46.9% | -2.8% | 62 |
| 18 | Osceola County · FL | 612 | +44% | -16.4% | 55 |
| 19 | Kendall County · TX | 67 | +39.6% | -37.3% | 31 |
| 20 | Leon County · FL | 153 | +34.2% | +16% | 57 |
| 21 | Liberty County · TX | 81 | +32.8% | -23.5% | 35 |
| 22 | Ellis County · TX | 284 | +32.7% | +23.8% | 62 |
| 23 | Cameron County · TX | 232 | +28.9% | +15.1% | 56 |
| 24 | San Patricio County · TX | 55 | +27.9% | -8.3% | 41 |
| 25 | Flagler County · FL | 213 | +23.1% | -0.1% | 48 |
Showing the top 25 of 78 ranked counties. Permits and month-over-month: U.S. Census Building Permits Survey (April 2026). Year-over-year: FRED. Demand Index is a modeled 0–100 composite. Dashes indicate a source did not report for that county this period.
Six-month trajectory
Total permits authorized across all tracked counties, Nov 2025 → April 2026.
| Nov | Dec | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr |
| 22,363 | 28,785 | 24,516 | 30,614 | 29,404 | 31,285 |
Market concentration
How concentrated demand is at the top of the ranking.
of permits in this ranking come from the top 5 counties.
Single-family share: 77% of authorized units (vs multifamily 5+).
Frequently asked questions
Which counties rank highest in this list?
As of April 2026, the fastest-growing construction markets by month-over-month building-permit change (50+ permit base) include Broward, Lubbock, Palm Beach, based on U.S. Census Building Permits Survey data. Updated monthly.
What is the top market right now?
Broward County (April 2026) leads this ranking with 396 permits authorized and a Construction Demand Index of 71/100 (modeled).
How often is this updated?
Every month, when new U.S. Census Building Permits Survey data is released. Rankings, charts, and figures regenerate automatically from the same dataset that powers PermitMap's county pages and monthly intelligence editions.
Methodology & sources
Permit counts and month-over-month change come from the U.S. Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (period 2026-04); year-over-year from FRED. The Construction Demand Index is a modeled 0–100 composite of volume, momentum, and year-over-year trend, labeled as modeled wherever it appears. This collection regenerates each month from the same dataset that powers PermitMap's county pages and monthly editions.
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