What a building permit actually costs, by city.
The permit is the most overlooked line on a remodel, and the most variable. The permit for HVAC alone runs $25 in Boston but $558 in Phoenix, a 22x difference for the same project scope. Here is the permit fee for the same projects across the metros we track, from city building departments.
Data verified Aug 2026 · v2026-08-28
The same project, every city.
| Metro | HVAC permit | Bath permit | Kitchen permit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Atlanta | $175 | $530 | $582 |
| Austin | $116 | $687 | $741 |
| Baltimore | $52 | $95 | $156 |
| Boise | $55 | $198 | $363 |
| Boston | $25 | $170 | $300 |
| Charlotte | $63 | $172 | $331 |
| Chicago | $75 | $602 | $602 |
| Columbus | $141 | $389 | $389 |
| Dallas | $175 | $181 | $181 |
| Denver | $83 | $115 | $219 |
| Detroit | $203 | $612 | $1,056 |
| Houston | $125 | $383 | $479 |
| Indianapolis | $185 | $390 | $390 |
| Jacksonville | $64 | $237 | $270 |
| Kansas City | $84 | $101 | $158 |
| Las Vegas | $238 | $690 | $777 |
| Los Angeles | $66 | $816 | $1,354 |
| Miami | $186 | $186 | $230 |
| Minneapolis | $218 | $518 | $966 |
| Nashville | $75 | $91 | $163 |
| New York | $140 | $193 | $227 |
| Orlando | $149 | $128 | $190 |
| Philadelphia | $77 | $276 | $345 |
| Phoenix | $558 | $646 | $906 |
| Pittsburgh | $142 | $142 | $162 |
| Portland | $187 | $710 | $1,079 |
| Raleigh | $129 | $129 | $129 |
| Richmond | $101 | $126 | $207 |
| Sacramento | $218 | $593 | $835 |
| Salt Lake City | $89 | $525 | $956 |
| San Antonio | $63 | $324 | $374 |
| San Diego | $150 | $411 | $411 |
| San Francisco | $290 | $948 | $1,429 |
| San Jose | $289 | $1,234 | $1,234 |
| Seattle | $63 | $743 | $1,049 |
| Springfield | $136 | $421 | $531 |
| St Louis | $94 | $208 | $232 |
| Tampa | $124 | $124 | $124 |
| Tucson | $169 | $876 | $1,071 |
Permit fees from each city's published building-department schedule, for a typical project scope. Source: TheFatBook's permit dataset behind PermitCalculator.com.
Citing these numbers? Here is the source line.
Free to cite with attribution. Copy a formatted citation, or grab the HTML credit line to link back to the live data.
APA
Olson, D. (2026). 2026 Permit Cost Study. TheFatBook. https://thefatbook.com/cost-index/permit-costs/
MLA
Olson, David. "2026 Permit Cost Study." TheFatBook, 2026, thefatbook.com/cost-index/permit-costs.
Chicago
Olson, David. "2026 Permit Cost Study." TheFatBook. Accessed September 23, 2026. https://thefatbook.com/cost-index/permit-costs/.
HTML credit (for blogs)
Source: <a href="https://thefatbook.com/cost-index/permit-costs/">2026 Permit Cost Study | TheFatBook</a>DO
Cost index built by David Olson, Creator of the Cost Index & Permit Dataset · Methodology reviewed by Leonard "Chuck" Thompson, LC Thompson Construction Co., Owner (retired) · 2026-08-28