Finding · updated October 5, 2026
1% of LA's building permits carry half its construction value
Across 24,143 valued LA building permits, the richest 1% carry 77% of all the construction money. The median permit: $8,000.
Between May 7 and September 26, 2026, the LA Department of Building and Safety issued 25,637 building permits. 24,143 of them carry a declared dollar value, and together they add up to $5009M of construction. But that money is spread astonishingly unevenly.
The richest 1% of permits — just 241 of them — account for 77% of every declared construction dollar in the city. The top 10% account for 92%. The median permit, meanwhile, is worth just $8,000 — a re-roof, a water heater, a backyard wall. The single largest, a airport building in ZIP 90045, was declared at $1967M on its own.
| permit type | permits | declared value |
|---|---|---|
| Bldg-Addition | 1,893 (8%) | $2586M (52%) |
| Bldg-New | 1,769 (7%) | $1405M (28%) |
| Bldg-Alter/Repair | 16,021 (66%) | $886M (18%) |
| Nonbldg-New | 761 (3%) | $84.0M (2%) |
| Swimming-Pool/Spa | 965 (4%) | $29.0M (1%) |
| Sign | 513 (2%) | $6.9M (0%) |
The split by type tells the same story from another angle. Brand-new buildings (Bldg-New) are just 7% of the permits but 28% of the dollars. Alterations and repairs are 66% of the permits — the everyday churn of a built-out city fixing itself — yet only 18% of the declared value.