5.7M+ permits indexed — updated daily

Building permit data.
One API call.

Search 5.7 million+ building permits across 22 U.S. cities. Classified into 19 categories, geocoded with lat/lng, and ready for your app in minutes.

See it in action
5.7M
Permits
22
Cities
19
Categories
<200ms
Avg Response
curl
# Search solar permits in Austin, TX
curl "https://api.permit-stack.com/v1/permits/search?city=Austin&state=TX&category=solar" \
  -H "X-API-Key: pk_your_key_here"
// 13,604 solar permits found in 142ms
{
  "total": 13604,
  "results": [{
    "permit_number": "2026-040187 EP",
    "category": "SOLAR",
    "property_type": "RESIDENTIAL",
    "address_street": "2900 PECAN SPRINGS RD",
    "address_city": "AUSTIN",
    "address_zip": "78723",
    "description_raw": "Install new 5.76 kW rooftop solar system...",
    "latitude": 30.3009,
    "longitude": -97.6846
  }]
}
Features

Everything you need. Nothing you don't.

One endpoint to search millions of permits. No scraping, no PDFs, no FOIA requests, no stitching together data from 15 different city portals.

Powerful Filtering

Search by city, state, ZIP, permit category, status, date range, estimated value, contractor name, or radius from any lat/lng coordinate.

19 Auto-Classified Categories

Every permit is classified: solar, roofing, HVAC, electrical, plumbing, new construction, demolition, EV charger, pool, fence, and more.

Geocoded Coordinates

Most permits include latitude and longitude, enabling map visualization, radius search, and spatial analysis out of the box.

Contractor Intelligence

Search contractors by name, location, or specialty. View their permit history, project categories, and estimated project values.

Sub-200ms Responses

PostgreSQL + PostGIS backend with spatial indexes. Every query is fast, even across millions of records. Daily data refreshes from source portals.

Developer-First Design

Interactive OpenAPI docs, simple X-API-Key auth, clean JSON responses, and predictable pagination. Integrate in under 10 minutes.

Use Cases

Who uses building permit data?

Permit data is a leading indicator of construction activity. Dozens of industries rely on it.

Solar & Energy Companies

Find homeowners with recent roofing permits — ideal candidates for solar panel installations.

Insurance Underwriters

Verify roof age, electrical upgrades, and structural modifications for accurate risk assessment.

Contractors & Home Services

Identify active construction projects in your area. Generate leads from permit filings before competitors.

Real Estate Investors

Track renovation activity and new construction as a leading indicator of neighborhood growth.

PropTech & Fintech Startups

Enrich property profiles, improve automated valuations, and power lending decisions with permit history.

Market Research & Analytics

Analyze construction trends by category, geography, or time period across multiple cities.

Coverage

22 cities. 4 million permits. Growing.

Updated daily from official city and county open data portals. New cities added regularly.

New York City 411K
Chicago 500K
Los Angeles 500K
Austin 500K
San Francisco 444K
Honolulu 373K
Boston 284K
Fort Worth 261K
San Diego County 237K
Seattle 189K
New Orleans 141K
Baton Rouge 139K
Dallas 127K
Nashville 30K
Santa Rosa 15K
Pricing

Start free. Scale as you grow.

No credit card required. Upgrade when you need more capacity.

Free
$0/mo
Explore the data. No credit card required.
  • 1,000 requests/day
  • All endpoints
  • 30 requests/minute
  • Community support
Starter
$49/mo
For side projects and early-stage apps.
  • 10,000 requests/day
  • All endpoints
  • 60 requests/minute
  • Webhook alerts
  • Email support
Enterprise
Custom
Bulk data, SLAs, and dedicated support.
  • Unlimited requests
  • Bulk data exports
  • Custom integrations
  • Snowflake / BigQuery delivery
  • Dedicated account manager
  • 99.9% SLA
FAQ

Common questions.

What is PermitStack?

PermitStack is a REST API that gives developers access to over 4 million U.S. building permits across 22 cities. Every permit is classified into categories (solar, roofing, HVAC, etc.), geocoded with coordinates, and searchable by dozens of filters. Get an API key in 30 seconds and start querying immediately.

Where does the data come from?

All data is sourced from official city and county open data portals (Socrata/Tyler Data & Insights). We aggregate, normalize, and classify records from each city into a unified schema so you don't have to deal with 15 different APIs and data formats.

How often is the data updated?

Data is refreshed daily at 3 AM UTC. Each city's portal is polled for new and updated permits. Incremental updates ensure minimal lag between a permit being filed and appearing in our API.

What permit categories are available?

We classify permits into 19 categories: new construction, renovation, demolition, electrical, plumbing, mechanical, roofing, solar, EV charger, HVAC, fire alarm, sign, fence, pool, foundation, addition, interior remodel, grading, and other.

Can I use this for commercial applications?

Yes. All plans, including the free tier, allow commercial use. The underlying permit data is public government data. See our Terms of Service for details.

Do you offer bulk data exports?

Yes, on the Pro plan and above. Enterprise customers can receive data via Snowflake, BigQuery, or custom integrations. Contact us for details.

What cities are covered?

Currently: New York City, Chicago, Los Angeles, Austin, San Francisco, Honolulu, Boston, Fort Worth, San Diego County, Seattle, New Orleans, Baton Rouge, Dallas, Nashville, and Santa Rosa. We add new cities regularly.

Ship faster with real data.

Get your API key in 30 seconds. No credit card. No sales calls.