Pool Construction Statistics: New Pool Permits in 14 US Markets, 2015 to 2026

The short version

• Nine Sun Belt cities issued 3,773 new residential pool permits in 2025, down from 7,213 in 2021 and 4,683 in 2019 (PC&S analysis of city permit data; sources: City of Austin, LA Department of Building and Safety, City of Las Vegas and six others).
• The 2020 to 2022 boom was real in permit data: the nine-city total rose 54.0% from 2019 to 2021, compared with a 46.3% rise in Pool Corporation national unit estimates over the same years.
• By 2025 the median city sat 45.5% below its own peak year, with Mesa, Arizona down 63.4% from 2020 (City of Mesa).
• Six of nine Sun Belt cities issued fewer pool permits in 2025 than in 2019; Austin (+23.0%) and Raleigh (+171.1%) were the clear exceptions (City of Austin, City of Raleigh).
• From January to August 2026, 7 of 13 jurisdictions issued more pool permits than a year earlier and 6 issued fewer; the 13 combined were +1.0% (PC&S analysis of city permit data).
• Cape Coral, Florida issued 1,229 new pool permits in 2025, or 148.2 per 10,000 households, about seven times the rate of the next-highest city, Las Vegas (21.3) (City of Cape Coral; US Census Bureau).
• Sun Belt pool permits are issued almost evenly through the year: March is busiest at 9.1% of 2019 to 2025 permits and November quietest at 7.2% (PC&S analysis of city permit data).

What the permit data shows

1. The nine-city total of new residential pool permits peaked at 7,213 in 2021, 54.0% above the 4,683 issued in 2019 (PC&S analysis of city permit data).
2. Average annual permits in the nine cities were 6,429 in 2020 to 2022, 38.4% above the 2017 to 2019 average of 4,645 (PC&S analysis of city permit data).
3. The nine-city total fell in each year after 2021, reaching 3,773 in 2025, an index of 80.6 on a 2019 = 100 base (PC&S analysis of city permit data).
4. Mesa, Arizona issued 329 new pool permits in 2025, 54.8% fewer than the 728 issued in 2019, the steepest 2019-to-2025 decline among the core cities (City of Mesa).
5. Las Vegas issued 527 residential pool permits in 2025, 54.1% below its 2021 peak of 1,148 (City of Las Vegas).
6. Los Angeles issued 1,093 new pool permits for one- and two-family homes in 2025, down 45.5% from 2,004 in 2021 (LA Department of Building and Safety).
7. Austin issued 648 new residential pool permits in 2025, 23.0% more than in 2019 but 36.9% fewer than at the 2021 peak of 1,027 (City of Austin).
8. San Antonio issued 346 swimming pool or spa permits in 2025, 51.3% below the 710 issued in 2021, the first full year of its published records (City of San Antonio).
9. Orlando was the only core Sun Belt city whose peak came after 2022: it issued 432 residential pool permits in 2023 and 259 in 2025 (City of Orlando).
10. Montgomery County, Maryland, the non-Sun Belt comparator, issued 111 in-ground pool permits in 2025, 63.2% more than in 2019 and close to its 2023 high of 114 (Montgomery County).
11. From January to August 2026, the nine Sun Belt cities issued 2,687 pool permits, 3.6% more than the 2,593 issued in the same months of 2025 (PC&S analysis of city permit data).
12. San Antonio pool and spa permits fell 28.6% from January to August 2026 versus the same period of 2025, the largest year-to-date decline among the 13 jurisdictions (City of San Antonio).
13. Cape Coral, Florida issued 1,229 new residential pool permits in 2025, more than Los Angeles (1,093) with about one-seventeenth as many households (City of Cape Coral; US Census Bureau ACS).
14. Pool Corporation estimates that new in-ground pool construction in the United States fell from 62,000 units in 2024 to just below 60,000 units in 2025 (Pool Corporation Form 10-K).
15. The NAHB Pool Construction Permit Index for December 2025 was 23.4% below its January 2020 base on a seasonally adjusted basis (NAHB Eye on Housing).

How this pool construction dataset was built from city permit records

National figures for new pools come from industry estimates, so this report counts pools where they are recorded: municipal building permits. We pulled raw permit records from 14 city and county open-data portals, kept only new residential in-ground pools, and removed duplicates.

The study screened 121,259 permit records issued from January 2015 to August 2026 and identified 65,037 as new residential in-ground pool permits; the analysis uses only the years with complete coverage in the methods table. Each city was filtered on its own permit type (for example ‘Swimming-Pool/Spa’ for one- and two-family homes in Los Angeles, or building permit class R-329 with a pool description in Austin). Where a city publishes a work description, the text was screened to drop remodels, replastering, supplemental permits, spas added to an existing pool, above-ground pools, pool removals and gas-line-only permits.

Dates are permit issue dates, except Fort Worth, which publishes only the application filing date. Every issued permit counts, even if it now shows a later status such as cancelled or expired, because later status changes pile up over time and would make older years look smaller.

Pool construction statistics by city, 2015 to 2025

Most cities in the core sample show the same shape: a jump in 2020 or 2021, then a slide through 2024 or 2025. The nine-city total went from 4,683 permits in 2019 to 7,213 in 2021 and 3,773 in 2025.

Indexed to 2019 = 100, the nine-city total reached 154.0 in 2021 and fell to 80.6 in 2025. The median city index in 2025 was 85.5, meaning the typical Sun Belt city in the study issued about 14.5% fewer pool permits in 2025 than in 2019 (PC&S analysis of city permit data).

Los Angeles is the largest single market in the core sample by count, with 1,093 permits in 2025 (LA Department of Building and Safety). Austin (648), Las Vegas (527) and Fort Worth (408) follow.

The 2020 to 2022 pool boom in permit data

City permits confirm a pool boom that began in 2020 and peaked in 2021. The timing closely matches national company estimates, although permit records alone cannot show why households built pools.

The nine cities issued an average of 6,429 new pool permits a year in 2020 to 2022, against 4,645 a year in 2017 to 2019, an increase of 38.4% (PC&S analysis of city permit data).

The boom did not start smoothly everywhere. Los Angeles issued 31 pool permits in April 2020, against 158 in April 2019, and its 2020 total of 1,198 was below 2019 before 2021 reached 2,004 (LA Department of Building and Safety).

Pool Corporation estimated about 80,000 new pools in 2019, and later filings put 2021 at 117,000 units. That is a 46.3% rise, against 54.0% in the nine-city permit total. From 2021 to 2025 the national estimate fell at least 48.7% and the nine-city total fell 47.7%.

How far new pool permits have fallen from the peak, by city

Every jurisdiction with a measurable peak issued fewer pool permits in 2025 than in its peak year. The median decline across the nine Sun Belt cities was 45.5%, but the spread runs from 8.3% in Raleigh to 63.4% in Mesa.

Arizona and Nevada show the deepest falls. Mesa issued 329 pool permits in 2025 against 899 in 2020 (City of Mesa), and Las Vegas issued 527 against 1,148 in 2021 (City of Las Vegas). Fort Worth (-52.7%) and San Diego (-52.2%) also lost more than half of their peak volume.

Measured against 2019 instead of the peak, the picture is milder. The median Sun Belt city was 14.5% below 2019 in 2025, and three of nine cities (Austin, New Orleans and Raleigh) were at or above their 2019 level (PC&S analysis of city permit data).

Pool permits in 2026 so far: January to August versus 2025

The decline paused in the aggregate in 2026, but not everywhere. The nine Sun Belt cities are +3.6% for January to August 2026, with Los Angeles, New Orleans and Nashville up and San Antonio, Mesa and Las Vegas still falling.

Texas cities split. Austin issued 476 permits from January to August 2026, +8.7% on 2025 (City of Austin), while San Antonio issued 175, -28.6% (City of San Antonio). The direction matches HBW metro data for the first half of 2026: Austin metro +14% and San Antonio metro -24%.

National trackers read the same way. The Pool & Hot Tub Alliance counted 5,499 pool permits over $30,000 in June 2026, 2.5% above June 2025, with the rolling 12-month total down 3.5%. Pool Corporation built its 2026 outlook on new construction units consistent with 2025, and Latham Group projected 2026 US in-ground pool starts roughly in line with 2025.

Which cities build the most pools: totals and permits per 10,000 households

By raw count, Cape Coral, Los Angeles and Austin issued the most new pool permits in 2025. Adjusted for the number of households, Cape Coral is in a category of its own, followed by Las Vegas, Orlando and Mesa.

Cape Coral issued 148.2 new pool permits per 10,000 households in 2025 (City of Cape Coral; ACS). Las Vegas issued 21.3, Orlando 19.7 and Mesa 16.6. Los Angeles, the largest city by count, issued 7.6 per 10,000 households, and San Diego 4.4.

The Cape Coral figure is consistent with industry data: HBW counted 2,568 new pool permits in Lee County, which contains Cape Coral, in 2025, and NAHB reports that almost one-third of US pool permits in 2025 were in Florida.

Which months pool permits are issued

In the Sun Belt, pool permits are not concentrated in spring. Pooling 36,165 permits from 2019 to 2025, no month took more than 9.1% or less than 7.2% of the year.

March (9.1%) and May (9.0%) are the busiest months, and November (7.2%), December (7.3%) and January (7.7%) the quietest. The busiest month is only 1.26 times the quietest. Peak months differ by city: Mesa and Las Vegas peak in March, Orlando and New Orleans in May, and Austin and San Diego in October (PC&S analysis of city permit data).

National data look more seasonal. NAHB notes that most pool permits nationally are submitted in warmer months such as May and June, a national mix that includes northern states this Sun Belt sample does not cover.

How many pools are built in the US each year: national estimates

The most cited national figure for new pools comes from Pool Corporation, which describes itself as the world’s largest wholesale distributor of swimming pool supplies and estimates new in-ground units each year from industry data.

• 2025: just below 60,000 new in-ground pools, down 3% to 5% from 62,000 in 2024 (Pool Corporation Form 10-K, fiscal 2025).
• 2023: 72,000 units (Pool Corporation Form 10-K, fiscal 2024).
• 2022: about 98,000 units (Pool Corporation Form 10-K, fiscal 2023).
• 2021: 117,000 units (Pool Corporation Form 10-K, fiscal 2022).
• 2020: 96,000 units (Pool Corporation Form 10-K, fiscal 2021).
• 2019: about 80,000 units (Pool Corporation Form 10-K, fiscal 2020).

Latham Group estimates that Florida, Texas, Arizona and California accounted for approximately two-thirds of US pool starts in 2025. The 13 jurisdictions in this study with valid 2025 data issued 5,707 new residential pool permits that year (PC&S analysis of city permit data).

This report measures new construction only. For the total number of pools in use, see the number of swimming pools in the US.

Where city pool permit counts can mislead

Permit records capture what each city approves, but cities differ in how they record pools. These are the points most likely to change a reading of the numbers.

• Cities, not metros: Las Vegas covers the City of Las Vegas only, not Henderson or unincorporated Clark County; Fort Worth and Mesa are city limits only.
• Type-only cities: Las Vegas, San Antonio and part of Fort Worth publish no work description, so spa-only permits cannot always be removed. 11,503 of the 65,037 counted permits rely on permit type alone.
• A permit is not a finished pool: some permitted pools are never built, and Fort Worth is dated by application, not issuance.
• Replacement pools are excluded where the text says an existing pool is demolished, so counts slightly understate total pool-building work.
• Small samples: Raleigh, New Orleans and Montgomery County issue a few hundred or fewer pool permits a year, so single-year percentages swing widely.

Many permit descriptions in this dataset list safety items such as a required enclosure device or pool alarm (Austin descriptions often read “w/ reqd enclosure device”). For safety outcomes see pool drowning statistics by state.

Measures we built from the data

Download the calculation sheet (CSV)

Latest data in this edition

• 2026-10This report adds January to August 2026 permits for 13 jurisdictions: the nine Sun Belt core cities are +3.6% year to date, and all 13 combined are +1.0%.
• 2026-09The Pool & Hot Tub Alliance reported 5,499 national pool permits for June 2026, up 2.5% from June 2025, while the rolling 12-month total was down 3.5%.
• 2026-08Latham Group reported second-quarter 2026 in-ground pool sales up 22.5% (13.6% organically), a company sales figure rather than a market count.
• 2026-08HBW reported 2,916 new pool permits in Texas for the first half of 2026, down 11% from the first half of 2025.
• 2026-07Pool Corporation reported building-materials sales, used mainly in new construction and remodeling, up about 5% in the first half of 2026.
• 2026-03Latham Group estimated that the US in-ground pool market declined by a low- to mid-single-digit rate in 2025 and projected 2026 starts roughly in line with 2025.
• 2026-02Pool Corporation estimated 2025 US new in-ground pool construction at just below 60,000 units and assumed consistent new construction units in 2026.
• 2026-01NAHB reported that December 2025 pool permits were the lowest in its Pool Construction Permit Index series.

Quick answers

Questions and answers

How we graded sources

Tier 1: primary and government sources (17)

• City of Austin: Issued Construction Permits (3syk-w9eu)
• City of Los Angeles, Department of Building and Safety: Building and Safety: Building Permits Issued from 2020 to Present (pi9x-tg5x)
• City of Los Angeles, Department of Building and Safety: Building and Safety: Building Permits Issued Between 2010 and 2019 (dyxf-7hc4)
• City of San Diego, Development Services Department: Approvals for development projects
• City of Orlando: Permit Applications (ryhf-m453)
• City of Mesa: Building Permits (dzpk-hxfb)
• City of Las Vegas: Building Permits (OpenData_Building_Permits_)
• City of Fort Worth: CFW Open Data Development Permits
• City of San Antonio: Building Permits: Permits Issued
• City of New Orleans: Permits (rcm3-fn58)
• City of Baton Rouge / Parish of East Baton Rouge: EBR Building Permits (7fq7-8j7r)
• City of Raleigh: Building Permits
• Montgomery County, Maryland: Residential Permit (m88u-pqki)
• Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County: Building Permits Issued
• City of Cape Coral: Building Permits (OpenData layer 1)
• US Census Bureau: American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates, Table B11001 Household Type
• Pool Construction & Service (PC&S Research Desk): New residential pool permits by city and year, compiled from references r1 to r15 (CSV)

Tier 2: trade bodies, public companies, market research (15)

• Pool Corporation: Form 10-K for fiscal year 2025
• Pool Corporation: Form 10-K for fiscal year 2024
• Pool Corporation: Form 10-K for fiscal year 2023
• Pool Corporation: Form 10-K for fiscal year 2022
• Pool Corporation: Form 10-K for fiscal year 2021
• Pool Corporation: Form 10-K for fiscal year 2020
• Pool Corporation: Form 10-K for fiscal year 2019
• Pool Corporation: Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2026
• Latham Group, Inc.: Fourth quarter and full year 2025 results (Form 8-K Exhibit 99)
• Latham Group, Inc.: Form 10-K for fiscal year 2025
• Latham Group, Inc.: Second quarter 2026 results (Form 8-K Exhibit 99)
• National Association of Home Builders: Pool Permitting Falls Lower in 2025 (Eye on Housing)
• Pool & Hot Tub Alliance: Market Intelligence Report: Pool Permit Activity Improves in June
• HBW, Inc.: Texas Swimming Pool Construction: Mid-Year Market Review
• HBW, Inc.: Florida Swimming Pool Construction Activity: 2025 Market Review

Sources

1. City of Austin. Issued Construction Permits (3syk-w9eu). Accessed 2026-10-03.
2. City of Los Angeles, Department of Building and Safety. Building and Safety: Building Permits Issued from 2020 to Present (pi9x-tg5x). Accessed 2026-10-03.
3. City of Los Angeles, Department of Building and Safety. Building and Safety: Building Permits Issued Between 2010 and 2019 (dyxf-7hc4). Accessed 2026-10-03.
4. City of San Diego, Development Services Department. Approvals for development projects. Accessed 2026-10-03.
5. City of Orlando. Permit Applications (ryhf-m453). Accessed 2026-10-03.
6. City of Mesa. Building Permits (dzpk-hxfb). Accessed 2026-10-03.
7. City of Las Vegas. Building Permits (OpenData_Building_Permits_). Accessed 2026-10-03.
8. City of Fort Worth. CFW Open Data Development Permits. Accessed 2026-10-03.
9. City of San Antonio. Building Permits: Permits Issued. Accessed 2026-10-03.
10. City of New Orleans. Permits (rcm3-fn58). Accessed 2026-10-03.
11. City of Baton Rouge / Parish of East Baton Rouge. EBR Building Permits (7fq7-8j7r). Accessed 2026-10-03.
12. City of Raleigh. Building Permits. Accessed 2026-10-03.
13. Montgomery County, Maryland. Residential Permit (m88u-pqki). Accessed 2026-10-03.
14. Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County. Building Permits Issued. Accessed 2026-10-03.
15. City of Cape Coral. Building Permits (OpenData layer 1). Accessed 2026-10-03.
16. US Census Bureau. American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates, Table B11001 Household Type. Accessed 2026-10-03.
17. Pool Corporation. Form 10-K for fiscal year 2025. Accessed 2026-10-03.
18. Pool Corporation. Form 10-K for fiscal year 2024. Accessed 2026-10-03.
19. Pool Corporation. Form 10-K for fiscal year 2023. Accessed 2026-10-03.
20. Pool Corporation. Form 10-K for fiscal year 2022. Accessed 2026-10-03.
21. Pool Corporation. Form 10-K for fiscal year 2021. Accessed 2026-10-03.
22. Pool Corporation. Form 10-K for fiscal year 2020. Accessed 2026-10-03.
23. Pool Corporation. Form 10-K for fiscal year 2019. Accessed 2026-10-03.
24. Pool Corporation. Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2026. Accessed 2026-10-03.
25. Latham Group, Inc.. Fourth quarter and full year 2025 results (Form 8-K Exhibit 99). Accessed 2026-10-03.
26. Latham Group, Inc.. Form 10-K for fiscal year 2025. Accessed 2026-10-03.
27. Latham Group, Inc.. Second quarter 2026 results (Form 8-K Exhibit 99). Accessed 2026-10-03.
28. National Association of Home Builders. Pool Permitting Falls Lower in 2025 (Eye on Housing). Accessed 2026-10-03.
29. Pool & Hot Tub Alliance. Market Intelligence Report: Pool Permit Activity Improves in June. Accessed 2026-10-03.
30. HBW, Inc.. Texas Swimming Pool Construction: Mid-Year Market Review. Accessed 2026-10-03.
31. HBW, Inc.. Florida Swimming Pool Construction Activity: 2025 Market Review. Accessed 2026-10-03.
32. Pool Construction & Service (PC&S Research Desk). New residential pool permits by city and year, compiled from references r1 to r15 (CSV). Accessed 2026-10-03.