Where Idaho is building
Two datasets, side by side. Growth ranks come from the U.S. Census Bureau Building Permits Survey — new privately-owned residential construction only, not total permit volume. The fee column is each city’s own published residential building-permit fee, shown verbatim for reference: it is never ranked, averaged, or presented as comparable across cities (why not →).
Census activity data covers 79 of the 80 Idaho jurisdictions PermitBase tracks.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Building Permits Survey (BPS) · data through 2026-08
Fastest-growing cities
Trailing-12-month units, ranked by year-over-year growth — each city’s residential permit fee sits alongside for reference, never part of the rank.
Trailing-12-month units, by growth
- Post Falls
- 911 units
- +153.8%
- Sandpoint
- 145 units
- +93.3%
- Garden City
- 100 units
- +72.4%
- Pocatello
- 447 units
- +63.1%
- Rexburg
- 593 units
- +30.3%
- Post Falls: residential permit fee $96.83†
- Sandpoint: residential permit fee $64.76†
- Garden City: residential permit fee $150.00
- Pocatello: residential permit fee $23.50
- Rexburg: residential permit fee $2,000.00
Eligible for a growth rank: fully-reported trailing-12 and prior-12 month windows, a prior-year total of at least 50 units, and place-level (non-county) records only.
Idaho cities by building-permit growth
Ranked by trailing-12-month Census units. The fee column is reference only — see how to read this table.
| # | Jurisdiction | Trailing-12 units | YoY growth | Residential permit fee * |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Unincorporated Ada Countycounty-wide totals | 5,791 | — county estimate | Valuation-based per Ada County 2025 Fee Schedule (Resolution 3149, effective November 2025); see Building-Fees.pdf at adacounty.id.gov/developmentservices/permitting-division/fees/†Verifieddetails → |
| 2 | Unincorporated Canyon Countycounty-wide totals | 3,651 | — county estimate | $280.00Verifieddetails → |
| 3 | Kootenai Countycounty-wide totals | 2,030 | — county estimate | $24.70Verifieddetails → |
| 4 | Meridian | 1,736 | +28.6% | $150Verifieddetails → |
| 5 | Caldwell | 1,475 | −6.0% | $34.00Verifieddetails → |
| 6 | Kuna | 1,368 | +20.4% | $70Verifieddetails → |
| 7 | Unincorporated Bonneville Countycounty-wide totals | 1,236 | — county estimate | $113details → |
| 8 | Post Falls | 911 | +153.8% | $96.83†Verifieddetails → |
| 9 | Star | 873 | — insufficient history | $100.00Verifieddetails → |
| 10 | Idaho Falls | 786 | −44.1% | $30.18Verifieddetails → |
| 11 | Unincorporated Madison Countycounty-wide totals | 769 | — county estimate | $500Verifieddetails → |
| 12 | Boise | 690(11 mo) | — insufficient history | $26.37†Verifieddetails → |
| 13 | Eagle | 662(9 mo) | — insufficient history | $20,000†Verifieddetails → |
| 14 | Unincorporated Bannock Countycounty-wide totals | 650 | — county estimate | $23.00Verifieddetails → |
| 15 | Nampa | 624(6 mo) | — insufficient history | $22.20Verifieddetails → |
| 16 | Rexburg | 593 | +30.3% | $2,000.00Verifieddetails → |
| 17 | Unincorporated Twin Falls Countycounty-wide totals | 499 | — county estimate | $82.65Verifieddetails → |
| 18 | Pocatello | 447 | +63.1% | $23.50Verifieddetails → |
| 19 | Middleton | 398 | +1.5% | $250.00Verifieddetails → |
| 20 | Twin Falls | 311 | +1.3% | $22.00Verifieddetails → |
| 21 | Unincorporated Jefferson Countycounty-wide totals | 309 | — county estimate | $26.46Verifieddetails → |
| 22 | Unincorporated Valley Countycounty-wide totals | 285 | — county estimate | $24.00details → |
| 23 | Unincorporated Latah Countycounty-wide totals | 217 | — county estimate | $50.00Verifieddetails → |
| 24 | Ammon | 201(11 mo) | — insufficient history | $40.00Verifieddetails → |
| 25 | Unincorporated Bingham Countycounty-wide totals | 180 | — county estimate | $1Verifieddetails → |
| 26 | Unincorporated Elmore Countycounty-wide totals | 180 | — county estimate | $100.00Verifieddetails → |
| 27 | Unincorporated Gem Countycounty-wide totals | 173 | — county estimate | $1†Verifieddetails → |
| 28 | Mountain Home | 157 | +4.7% | $24.00†details → |
| 29 | Unincorporated Nez Perce Countycounty-wide totals | 157 | — county estimate | $112.65Verifieddetails → |
| 30 | Sandpoint | 145 | +93.3% | $64.76†Verifieddetails → |
| 31 | Rathdrum | 142(8 mo) | — insufficient history | $170.80Verifieddetails → |
| 32 | Moscow | 132(10 mo) | — insufficient history | $27.50Verifieddetails → |
| 33 | Lewiston | 129 | −47.1% | $28.14Verifieddetails → |
| 34 | Unincorporated Cassia Countycounty-wide totals | 120 | — county estimate | Calculated based on square footage using the IBC 2003 Valuation Table 1†Verifieddetails → |
| 35 | Jerome | 114 | +17.5% | $23.50Verifieddetails → |
| 36 | Minidoka County (Building Authority for Unincorporated County and the Cities of Acequia, Minidoka, Paul, and Rupert)county-wide totals | 112 | — county estimate | — |
| 37 | Victor | 108(9 mo) | — insufficient history | $22.50Verifieddetails → |
| 38 | Hayden | 101 | −38.4% | $50.00†Verifieddetails → |
| 39 | Garden City | 100 | +72.4% | $150.00Verifieddetails → |
| 40 | Payette | 96(8 mo) | — insufficient history | $24Verifieddetails → |
| 41 | Rupert | 62 | — insufficient history | Calculated from Project Value using the Building Department's fee schedule; no dollar-per-valuation-bracket table was found published online†Verifieddetails → |
| 42 | Unincorporated Franklin Countycounty-wide totals | 59 | — county estimate | 1% of the assessed value of the proposed building†Verifieddetails → |
| 43 | Emmett | 56(7 mo) | — insufficient history | — |
| 44 | Shelley | 56(10 mo) | — insufficient history | $21.00Verifieddetails → |
| 45 | Burley | 53 | — below floor | $200.00Verifieddetails → |
| 46 | Wilder | 47 | — insufficient history | $24.00Verifieddetails → |
| 47 | Kimberly | 38(8 mo) | — insufficient history | $150.00Verifieddetails → |
| 48 | Fruitland | 34 | — below floor | $23.50Verifieddetails → |
| 49 | Blackfoot | 31 | −58.7% | $100Verifieddetails → |
| 50 | Ketchum | 14 | — insufficient history | $24.75†Verifieddetails → |
| 51 | Spirit Lake | 7 | — below floor | $150.00details → |
| 52 | Buhl | 6(4 mo) | — insufficient history | $23.50Verifieddetails → |
| 53 | Idaho City | 5 | — below floor | $23.50Verifieddetails → |
| 54 | American Falls | 3 | — below floor | — |
| 55 | Unincorporated Power Countycounty-wide totals | 3 | — county estimate | $24†Verifieddetails → |
| 56 | Heyburn | 2(2 mo) | — insufficient history | — |
| — | Cascade | no data reported | — insufficient history | 40% of the building permit fee (65% of the building permit fee if an outside plan reviewer is used)†Verifieddetails → |
| — | Chubbuck | no data reported | — insufficient history | $27.00Verifieddetails → |
| — | Coeur d'Alene | no data reported | — insufficient history | $69.25Verifieddetails → |
| — | Donnelly | no data reported | — insufficient history | $24.00Verifieddetails → |
| — | Driggs | no data reported | — insufficient history | $305Verifieddetails → |
| — | Grangeville | no data reported | — insufficient history | $15.00Verifieddetails → |
| — | Greenleaf | no data reported | — insufficient history | $50.00Verifieddetails → |
| — | Hailey | no data reported | — insufficient history | $27.78Verifieddetails → |
| — | Harrison | no data reported | — insufficient history | Per Table 1-A of the 1997 Uniform Building Code, applied to project valuation determined from ICBO Building Valuation Data (or the most recent available data if that publication has been discontinued)†Verifieddetails → |
| — | Kellogg | no data reported | — insufficient history | — |
| — | Malad City | no data reported | — insufficient history | Determined case-by-case based on project valuation and square footage; entered manually on the permit application by the City ("Building Permit Fee ____" / "Approved / Disapproved" sign-off by the Building Inspector and City Superintendent)†details → |
| — | McCall | no data reported | — insufficient history | — |
| — | Melba | no data reported | — insufficient history | Unpublished — the Building Permit Application leaves the "Permit Fee" line blank for hand-filling, and Melba City Code §9-2-1(B) states the fee schedule is on file with the City as Exhibit A. That Exhibit A fee schedule does not appear on the City's website, its linked Google Drive document library, Municode or AmLegal codification, or in archived captures of cityofmelba.org.details → |
| — | Notus | no data reported | — insufficient history | — |
| — | Osburn | no data reported | — insufficient history | $140.00†Verifieddetails → |
| — | Plummer | no data reported | — insufficient history | $23.50Verifieddetails → |
| — | Priest River | no data reported | — insufficient history | Per Table 1-A of the 1997 Uniform Building Code (valuation-based)†Verifieddetails → |
| — | Rigby | no data reported | — insufficient history | $26.46Verifieddetails → |
| — | Salmon | no data reported | — insufficient history | $24Verifieddetails → |
| — | Soda Springs | no data reported | — insufficient history | $25.00Verifieddetails → |
| — | City of St. Maries | no data reported | — insufficient history | $24.00Verifieddetails → |
| — | Wallace | no data reported | — insufficient history | Not publisheddetails → |
| — | Worley | no data reported | — insufficient history | $16.45†Verifieddetails → |
How to read this table
Rows are ranked only by Census building-activity units — the one figure that’s measured the same way in every city. The fee column is never ranked, averaged, or sorted, because permit fees aren’t measured the same way from city to city: some jurisdictions charge a flat fee, others price on a sliding scale tied to construction valuation, others per square foot, others as a percentage of the building permit fee. Averaging or sorting those numbers together would compare figures that don’t measure the same thing — a “cheapest city” ranking built on that mix would be a misleading metric, so we don’t build one.
A dagger (†) next to a fee means it’s the starting tier from a valuation-based or sliding-scale schedule per the jurisdiction’s own published fee table — not a final total for every project. Open the linked permit page for the complete schedule.
The growth percentage only appears when a jurisdiction’s trailing-12-month and prior-12-month windows were both fully reported to the Census Bureau, and the prior-year total was at least 50 units. Below that floor a percentage swings too wildly on a small base to be meaningful, so we withhold it rather than publish a misleading rate. County-level rows never get a growth rank, since county totals can include Census imputation for non-reporting offices.
Two provenance regimes are stacked on this page: Census activity figures are self-reported by jurisdictions to the Bureau on a monthly cadence, while permit fees are independently verified by PermitBase against each department’s own published schedule (see the confidence badge and source link on each fee). A jurisdiction shown as “no data reported” did not report to the Census Bureau for that period — that is never the same as zero activity.
Frequently asked questions
- Why don't you rank cities by permit cost?
- Permit fees aren't measured the same way from city to city — one jurisdiction charges a flat fee, another prices on a sliding scale tied to construction valuation, another per square foot, another as a percentage of the building permit fee. Sorting those numbers together and calling the smallest one "cheapest" would compare figures that don't measure the same thing, which is a misleading metric dressed up as a ranking. So this page ranks only what's genuinely comparable across cities — Census building-activity units — and shows each city's own published fee next to it, verbatim, for reference only.
- What does the growth percentage measure?
- Year-over-year change in trailing-12-month housing units authorized for new privately-owned residential construction, per the Census Bureau Building Permits Survey. It only appears when both the current and prior 12-month windows were fully reported and the prior-year total meets a minimum reporting floor — otherwise a percentage would be either impossible to compute or too volatile to be meaningful.
- What does the dagger (†) next to a fee mean?
- It marks a fee that's a starting tier from a valuation-based or sliding-scale schedule, not a flat final total. Open the city's permit page for the complete fee table.
- Why do some cities show “no data reported” instead of a number?
- That jurisdiction didn't report to the Census Bureau for that period. We show it as unreported, never as zero — assuming zero activity for a non-reporting jurisdiction would be inventing a data point that doesn't exist.
See full Idaho building-activity detail →·Look up a specific Idaho permit fee →
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