Press kit: Los Angeles ADU data

A-du counts Accessory Dwelling Unit permits in the City of Los Angeles every month, straight from the Department of Building and Safety's public records, and publishes what it finds. Here are the current numbers, charts you can embed or download, the data behind them and how we counted. For anything else, including a count for one ZIP code, get in touch.

The numbers

• 35,533 ADU building permits issued in the City of Los Angeles from January 1, 2020 through August 29, 2026.
• 6,400 issued in 2025, the most in any full year since 2020.
• North Hollywood leads the neighborhoods with 1,628 permits across ZIP codes 91605 and 91606. The busiest single ZIP code is 91335 (Reseda), with 1,316.
• 16,424 ADU permits finaled with a Certificate of Occupancy, from the LA ADU Index.
• Median declared construction valuation: $45,000 for a garage or interior conversion and $110,000 for new construction.

Permits by year

Chart (PNG)Data (CSV)

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<figure style="margin:0">
  <a href="https://a-du.homes/press#permits-by-year"><img src="https://a-du.homes/press/charts/los-angeles-adu-permits-by-year.png" width="1000" height="792" style="max-width:100%;height:auto" alt="ADU permits issued in the City of Los Angeles, by year. Chart by A-du."></a>
  <figcaption>Source: <a href="https://a-du.homes/press">A-du Backyard Census</a>, from Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety permit records</figcaption>
</figure>

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2025 was the busiest full year in the data, with 6,400 permits. The 2026 figure runs through August 29 and is still growing.

The yearly and ZIP code counts add up to 35,532, not 35,533: 1 permit has no ZIP code in the city's records, so it counts toward the citywide total but not toward any year or ZIP code row.

The 20 neighborhoods with the most permits

Chart (PNG)Data (CSV)

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<figure style="margin:0">
  <a href="https://a-du.homes/press#top-20-neighborhoods"><img src="https://a-du.homes/press/charts/los-angeles-adu-permits-top-20-neighborhoods.png" width="1000" height="1060" style="max-width:100%;height:auto" alt="The 20 LA neighborhoods with the most ADU permits. Chart by A-du."></a>
  <figcaption>Source: <a href="https://a-du.homes/press">A-du Backyard Census</a>, from Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety permit records</figcaption>
</figure>

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Counts are for the City of Los Angeles portion of each ZIP code. Where ZIP codes share a neighborhood name they are combined into one row: North Hollywood is 91605 and 91606; Encino is 91316 and 91436. The monthly Backyard Census spotlights use the same rule, so the numbers here and on the census cards agree. Every ZIP code, including those below the top 20, is in the ZIP code file.

What permits declare, by type of work

Chart (PNG)Data (CSV)

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<figure style="margin:0">
  <a href="https://a-du.homes/press#valuation-by-type"><img src="https://a-du.homes/press/charts/los-angeles-adu-declared-valuation-by-type.png" width="1000" height="739" style="max-width:100%;height:auto" alt="What LA ADU permits declare, by type of work. Chart by A-du."></a>
  <figcaption>Source: <a href="https://a-du.homes/press">A-du, the LA ADU Index</a>, from Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety permit records</figcaption>
</figure>

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Declared valuation is the value of the construction work as entered on the permit application, and the building department uses it to compute plan check and permit fees. A builder's price is the delivered cost of the finished unit and includes design, permitting, utility connections, site work, finishes, overhead and profit, so the two are not the same number. What an ADU costs in Los Angeles sets them side by side.

The breakdown leaves out 1,249 permits recording more than 1,200 square feet, which usually reflects the whole building rather than the ADU, and 496 permits whose type of work could not be classified. Index updated September 22, 2026.

Using these charts and data

The charts and data files on this page are free to republish, in print or online. Please credit A-du and link to this page; the embed codes do both.

Embedded charts update each month when a new snapshot is published. To keep the exact version you wrote about, download the PNG instead. Counts can shift slightly from one monthly pull to the next as the city updates its records, so cite the date printed on the chart.

How we count

The source. Building permits issued by the Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety, published on LA City Open Data as dataset pi9x-tg5x. We count permits the department classifies as an Accessory Dwelling Unit, building permits only (electrical, plumbing and other sub-permits would count one project several times), issued on or after January 1, 2020, which is where the dataset begins.

Permits, not homes. A permit is issued before anything is built. Some are never built, and one property can pull more than one permit over the years, so we say permits issued and never ADUs built.

The City of Los Angeles only. The department permits the City of Los Angeles, not unincorporated Los Angeles County or cities such as Glendale, Burbank, Long Beach and Santa Monica. Where a ZIP code crosses a city line, the count is the City of Los Angeles part.

Neighborhood names. Each ZIP code carries one neighborhood label, checked against published references before we use it. A ZIP code we have not verified a name for appears in the data file without one.

Issued and finaled are different counts. The 35,533 figure counts permits issued. The LA ADU Index counts permits finaled with a Certificate of Occupancy, meaning the unit passed final inspection: 16,424. They come from the same city dataset on different pull dates, so each carries its own date.

When it updates. A new census snapshot is pulled on the 2nd of each month and these charts and files are rebuilt from it the next day. The LA ADU Index, which the valuation chart comes from, is rebuilt monthly. This page currently shows census data through August 29, 2026, pulled September 2, 2026.

Custom data

We can pull the same count, with its year by year series, for any ZIP code in the City of Los Angeles. Email us the ZIP code and your deadline.

About A-du

A-du, LLC builds software for Accessory Dwelling Units and nothing else: renting one, building one, managing one. Its marketplace covers permit-verified ADU rentals, pre-approved building plans, permit fee calculators and ADU services in Los Angeles County, with San Diego, San Francisco and New York City also supported. More about A-du.

Founder

Chris Koss, AIA, is a California-licensed architect (License #C 39677) and the founder of A-du. He can speak to ADU rules and permitting in Los Angeles, what ADUs cost to build, and renting one out.

Contact

Email press@a-du.homes.

More from A-du

• The LA ADU Index: every finaled ADU permit in the City of Los Angeles, with full methodology
• What an ADU costs in Los Angeles
• ADU permit fee calculator, with the code citation on every line
• How to build an ADU in Los Angeles