Data / Building Permit Cost
How much does a building permit cost? (2026)
A building permit usually costs $120 to $375, with the median around $150 to $219. Two things set the number: the value of the work and the city you build in. There is no national permit fee, because every city writes its own schedule. And this is the permit fee by itself, what the building department charges to issue it, not the labor and materials that run most of the bill.
New to permits? The plain-English walkthrough lives at how much does a building permit cost; this page is the data behind it.
$120–$375
Typical range
$150–$219
Median by project size
$62
Lowest (Charlotte)
$924
Highest (Seattle)
29
Cities verified
Building permit cost by project value
Most building departments scale the permit fee to the declared value of the work, either as a percentage or in flat tiers. Typical fee across the 29 cities we track:
| Project value | Typical range | Median | Across cities |
|---|---|---|---|
| $8K project | $120–$240 | $150 | $62 Charlotte to $924 Seattle |
| $12K project | $128–$298 | $170 | $62 Charlotte to $1,059 Seattle |
| $25K project | $163–$375 | $219 | $62 Charlotte to $1,495 Seattle |
Permit cost by trade
A building permit often pairs with separate trade permits. Typical fee for each, with the full breakdown on its own page:
| Permit type | Typical range | Median |
|---|---|---|
| Electrical permit | $70–$167 | $101 |
| Plumbing permit | $61–$126 | $75 |
| HVAC permit | $81–$168 | $116 |
| Roof replacement permit | $127–$289 | $153 |
| Demolition permit | $128–$274 | $184 |
| Fence permit | $77–$176 | $125 |
Building permit fee by city
Verified 2026 fee for a typical residential building permit, highest to lowest. Every fee links to its source city page.
| City | Building Permit Fee |
|---|---|
| Seattle, WA | $924 |
| Chicago, IL | $602 |
| Portland, OR | $577 |
| Phoenix, AZ | $558 |
| Minneapolis, MN | $380 |
| Austin, TX | $370 |
| Los Angeles, CA | $272 |
| Las Vegas, NV | $240 |
| Springfield, MO | $201 |
| St. Louis County, MO | $188 |
| Miami, FL | $184 |
| Atlanta, GA | $175 |
| Dallas, TX | $167 |
| Orlando, FL | $160 |
| San Antonio, TX | $150 |
| Houston, TX | $147 |
| Columbus, OH | $141 |
| New York, NY | $138 |
| Boston, MA | $130 |
| Raleigh, NC | $128 |
| Tampa, FL | $124 |
| San Diego, CA | $120 |
| City of St. Louis, MO | $105 |
| Richmond, VA | $101 |
| Kansas City, MO | $84 |
| Denver, CO | $83 |
| Philadelphia, PA | $72 |
| Nashville, TN | $69 |
| Charlotte, NC | $62 |
Cite This Data
Olson, D. (2026). Building Permit Cost by City. PermitCalculator. https://permitcalculator.com/data/building-permit-cost/
APA format
Olson, David. "Building Permit Cost by City." PermitCalculator, 2026, permitcalculator.com/data/building-permit-cost.
MLA format
Olson, David. "Building Permit Cost by City." PermitCalculator. Accessed July 12, 2026. https://permitcalculator.com/data/building-permit-cost/.
Chicago format
Link credit for blogs (HTML)
Method: each city fee verified from its published permit fee schedule for a typical residential building permit. See our methodology and press & data page. Permit fees are set by local government and change periodically.
Dataset compiled by David Olson, Creator of the Cost Index & Permit Dataset. Download the full dataset (CSV).
Building permit cost FAQ
How much does a building permit cost?
A building permit usually runs $120 to $375, with the median near $150 to $219. A small $8,000 job permits for about $150; a $25,000 project runs closer to $219. Those are the government fees, pulled from each city's published schedule, and they do not include labor or materials.
Why isn't there one flat national building permit fee?
Permits are a local matter, not a federal one. Each city writes its own schedule, sometimes a percentage of the project value, sometimes a flat tiered fee. That is why the same job can cost $62 in Charlotte, NC and $924 in Seattle, WA. The real answer is always the local number, which is why this page shows every city.
Which city has the cheapest and most expensive building permit?
Charlotte, NC is the cheapest at $62, and Seattle, WA the most expensive at $924, across the 29 cities we track for a typical residential permit.
Is the building permit fee the same as the total project cost?
No. The permit fee is just what the building department charges to issue the permit. Labor, materials, design, and contractor markup are all on top, and together they almost always run far higher than the permit itself.