The 2026 State of Building Permits Across America

Key Findings

• National average initial permit review time: 22.9 days. Median: 14 days.
• Texas is the fastest major state for permits, averaging 17.4 days across 81 cities analyzed.
• The fastest cities show 1-day published timelines. 20 cities — mostly in Texas, Florida, and Arizona — list initial intake at 1 day. These typically represent over-the-counter permits for simple projects or same-day application intake.
• The slowest cities list 6-month timelines. 18 cities have initial review times of 120–180 days in published guidelines.
• California averages 21.1 days across 160 cities — faster than its reputation suggests, but with extreme variance (1 day in some cities, 180 in others).
• Chicago is the slowest major metro at 92 days for initial review.
• San Francisco and Portland are the slowest West Coast metros at 60 and 51 days respectively.
• Denver is the fastest major metro at just 2 days for initial intake, followed by Houston (2 days) and Miami (2 days).

How We Collected This Data

PermitPlace’s Permit Time Tool is the largest public database of building permit review timelines in the United States. We collect and verify data from official city and county building department websites, published fee schedules, and direct experience from our expediting team’s work across 2,000+ jurisdictions.

This report analyzes 741 cities where we were able to extract specific day-count timelines from our database of 2,261 tracked jurisdictions. Review times represent the typical initial plan review period — the time from a complete application submission to the first set of comments or approval from the building department.

National Overview

The 8.9-day gap between mean and median reveals a significant right skew — a small number of extremely slow jurisdictions pull the national average up. Half of all cities process initial permit reviews in 14 days or less.

Search your city: Look up permit review times for any of 642+ cities in our free Permit Time Tool.

Major Metro Comparison

How long does it take to get a building permit in America’s largest cities? These are published initial review timelines — actual commercial project timelines are typically longer due to corrections cycles and multi-department routing.

State-by-State Rankings

States with Significant Data (10+ Cities)

These states have enough data points to provide meaningful averages. They represent the core of U.S. commercial construction activity.

Limited Data States

The Big 4 States (Where Most Commercial Construction Happens)

What Makes Fast Cities Fast?

Based on PermitPlace’s 20 years of expediting permits across 2,000+ jurisdictions, the fastest cities share these characteristics:

1. Electronic plan review systems. Cities with online portals (Accela, AMANDA, Bluebeam) consistently process faster. Dallas‘s DallasNow portal (launched May 2025) has already reduced commercial review times.
2. Dedicated commercial permitting tracks. Cities that separate residential from commercial reviews process both faster. Houston‘s Permitting Center and Phoenix‘s tiered system by project size are examples.
3. Over-the-counter permits for simple projects. Cities like Richardson, TX (4-day average) allow simple projects to be reviewed and approved at the counter, same-day.
4. Adequate staffing levels. The slowest cities are almost always understaffed relative to their permit volume. This is a budget decision, not a regulatory one.
5. Clear submission requirements. Incomplete applications are the #1 cause of delays. Cities that publish detailed checklists and pre-application guides have shorter review cycles.

What These Numbers Don’t Tell You

Published permit timelines are a useful starting point, but they leave out critical factors that determine how long your project will actually take. After managing thousands of commercial projects, here is what we see in practice:

The Cost of Slow Permits

For commercial projects, every day of permit delay has a direct cost:

• Carrying costs: Interest on construction loans, lease obligations on vacant spaces
• Lost revenue: Delayed store openings, missed seasonal launches
• Contractor scheduling: Crews reassigned, subcontractor rebooking fees
• Material price escalation: Construction materials typically increase 3–5% annually

This is why companies like Target, Raising Cane’s, and McDonald’s use permit expediting services. The ROI isn’t the expediter’s fee — it’s the weeks or months saved on every project.

How PermitPlace Uses This Data

Our Permit Time Tool provides free, searchable access to permit timeline data for 642+ cities. National program clients use it for:

• Site selection: Comparing permit timelines across potential locations before committing to a market
• Project scheduling: Setting realistic timelines based on actual jurisdiction performance
• Budget planning: Accounting for holding costs based on expected permit duration
• Expediting strategy: Identifying which locations need expediting support vs. self-filing

For jurisdictions where timeline data alone isn’t enough, PermitPlace’s expediting team has direct relationships with building departments across 2,000+ jurisdictions in 23 states, turning our data advantage into an operational one.

Methodology

About PermitPlace

PermitPlace is the nation’s leading permit expediting firm, with over 20 years of experience across 2,000+ jurisdictions in 23 states. We serve national brands including McDonald’s, Target, Raising Cane’s, Brinker International (Chili’s/Maggiano’s), and J.Crew, managing over 1,281 commercial projects through 21 national program partnerships.

Unlike software-only solutions, PermitPlace combines proprietary data (like this report) with boots-on-the-ground relationships at Authority Having Jurisdiction (AHJ) offices nationwide. Our team knows the plan reviewers by name, understands each jurisdiction’s quirks, and delivers results that no technology platform can replicate.

San Jose Express Plan Check: PermitPlace holds exclusive Thursday appointments with the San Jose building department for expedited plan review. Learn more about Express Plan Check.

Frequently Asked Questions