Pool Removal Statistics: Permit Counts for US Cities, 2015 to 2026

The short version

• Los Angeles issued 392 residential pool removal permits in 2025, up 24.1% from 316 in 2019 (LADBS permit data).
• San Diego issued 84 pool demolition permits in 2025, up 27.3% from 66 in 2019; its peak was 91 in 2024 (San Diego DSD permit data).
• Austin issued 69 pool demolition permits in 2025, up 165.4% from 26 in 2019 (City of Austin permit data).
• In 2025 the three cities issued 27.6 pool removal permits for every 100 new pool permits, the highest ratio since at least 2015 (PC&S new pool permit counts).
• Pacific Palisades (ZIP 90272) accounted for 61 Los Angeles pool removals in 2025, against 7 in 2024; outside that ZIP, Los Angeles removals rose 11.4% from 2019 to 2025 (LADBS permit data).
• From January to August 2026 the three cities issued 377 removal permits, 3.3% more than the 365 issued in the same months of 2025.
• In Los Angeles, 27.7% of 2015 to 2025 pool backfill permits that stated a method left the shell in place; the rest removed it (LADBS rules).

What the permit data shows

1. Los Angeles, San Diego and Austin issued 4,481 residential pool removal permits from 2015 to 2025 (LADBS permit data, San Diego DSD permit data and City of Austin permit data).
2. Excluding Los Angeles ZIP 90272 (Pacific Palisades, burned in January 2025) in both years, the three cities issued 484 pool removal permits in 2025 against 389 in 2019, a 24.4% increase (PC&S analysis of Los Angeles, San Diego and Austin permit data).
3. The three-city total fell to 287 in 2020, then rose to 431 in 2024 and 545 in 2025, a 26.5% one-year jump.
4. Los Angeles pool removal permits fell to 211 in 2020, the lowest since at least 2015, and reached 392 in 2025, the highest (LADBS permit data).
5. Austin pool demolition permits rose from 25 in 2023 to 43 in 2024 and 69 in 2025 (City of Austin permit data).
6. Austin issued 68 pool demolition permits from January to August 2026, 74.4% more than the 39 in the same months of 2025 (City of Austin permit data).
7. Los Angeles pool removal permits fell 10.4% in January to August 2026 (240) compared with the same months of 2025 (268) (LADBS permit data).
8. From 2015 to 2025, Los Angeles issued 21.7 pool removal permits per 100 new pool permits and San Diego 19.7 (PC&S new pool permit counts).
9. In 2025, Los Angeles issued 35.9 removals per 100 new pool permits, up from 22 in 2019; San Diego rose from 19.5 to 36.2.
10. The three-city ratio bottomed at 10.3 removals per 100 new pool permits in 2021, when new pool permits peaked at 3,516.
11. Remove-and-replace permits, where an old pool is taken out and a new one built, added 577 permits in the three cities from 2015 to 2025, about 12.9 for every 100 pure removals.
12. Only 1.7% of core-city pool removal permits from 2015 to 2025 also demolished the house on the same permit.
13. Pool removal permits in the three cities showed little seasonality from 2015 to 2025: each quarter held between 24.1% and 26.3% of the total.
14. Los Angeles permits citing the 2025 wildfires or Executive Order 1 accounted for 66 pool removals from January 2025 to August 2026 (LADBS permit data).
15. The keyword classifier was correct on 96 of 100 hand-checked removal permits drawn at random from the final count.

How we counted pool removal permits in city open data

No public agency publishes a count of pool removals, so this report builds one from permit records. We pulled every permit whose description mentions a pool, in any permit type, from 13 city and county open-data portals, then classified each description.

The pull covered 134,925 permit records that mention a pool, issued from January 2015 to early October 2026, across 13 jurisdictions. Pool removals are rarely filed under a pool permit type: Los Angeles files them as grading permits for backfill, San Diego as Demolition/Removal permits, and Austin as residential demolition building permits.

• Counted as a removal: the description demolishes, removes, backfills, fills in, infills, buries or abandons an existing pool, and the same permit builds no new pool.
• Counted separately: remove-and-replace permits (old pool out, new pool in) and partial fills that shrink or reshape a pool.
• Excluded: cesspools, spas only, pool equipment, decks, fences, pool houses, trade permits (electrical, plumbing, mechanical), apartment, hotel, school and other non-residential sites.
• Deduplicated: a second removal permit at the same normalised address within 365 days is the same project (the rule used in the sibling new-pool report).
• Dated by permit issue date (Fort Worth: application date, the only date it publishes).

Pool removal statistics by city and year, 2015 to 2026

All three cities with continuous records issued more pool removal permits in 2025 than in 2019. Los Angeles is the largest by volume, Austin is growing fastest, and San Diego peaked in 2024.

Los Angeles issued between 315 and 340 pool removal permits a year from 2015 to 2019. Issuance fell to 211 in 2020, the lowest year in the series, and reached 392 in 2025 (LADBS permit data).

San Diego issued 43 pool demolition permits in 2021 and 91 in 2024 (San Diego DSD permit data). Austin issued 14 in 2017 and 69 in 2025 (City of Austin permit data).

Pool removals per 100 new pool permits

Comparing removals with new pool permits from the same city records shows how close each market is to replacing the pools it loses. In Los Angeles, San Diego and Austin combined the ratio rose from 10.3 in 2021 to 27.6 in 2025 because new pool permits fell while removals rose.

The three-city ratio was 21 in 2015 and 17.7 in 2019. It fell to 10.3 in 2021, when the three cities issued 3,516 new pool permits, and rose to 27.6 in 2025, when they issued 1,973 (PC&S new pool permit counts).

For comparison, the Arizona Municipal Water Users Association reported in 2016 that 3 residential pools were removed for every 5 built in Maricopa County from 2006 to 2013, equal to 60 per 100. AMWUA did not name the study, so the figure is context only.

Peak years, the 2025 vs 2019 change and the Palisades effect

2025 was the peak year for Los Angeles, Austin and the three-city total. Part of the Los Angeles jump sits in ZIP 90272, Pacific Palisades, where the January 2025 Palisades fire struck, but removals elsewhere in Los Angeles also rose.

ZIP 90272 (Pacific Palisades) recorded 7 pool removal permits in 2024 and 61 in 2025, 8.7 times as many, or 15.6% of the Los Angeles total in 2025 (LADBS permit data). The city lists its Palisades permitting support center in ZIP 90272 (LA Strong: Return and Rebuild). It recorded 35 from January to August 2026.

Outside ZIP 90272, Los Angeles issued 297 removal permits in 2019 and 331 in 2025, up 11.4%. The Mayor’s Emergency Executive Order No. 1 of 13 January 2025 set expedited rules for rebuilding after the Palisades, Hurst, Kenneth, Archer and Sunset fires; 66 pool removal permits from January 2025 to August 2026 cite the wildfires or the order in their description.

Pool removals in 2026 so far: January to August vs the same months of 2025

The three-city total is slightly ahead of 2025, but the cities are moving in different directions. Austin is well ahead, San Diego is up, and Los Angeles is down from its post-fire 2025 level.

San Diego issued 69 pool demolition permits from January to August 2026, against 58 a year earlier (San Diego DSD permit data). Cape Coral, FL issued 22, against 19 (City of Cape Coral permit data).

When pool removals happen: seasonality by month

Pool removal permits in Los Angeles, San Diego and Austin are spread almost evenly across the year. There is no clear autumn spike after the swimming season.

From 2015 to 2025, May held 9.4% of removal permits in the three cities and November 7.7%. January to March held 25.2%, April to June 26.3%, July to September 24.5% and October to December 24.1%.

New pool permits follow a similar flat pattern in the PC&S new pool permit series: 9% in May and 7.2% in November (ten jurisdictions, 2019 to 2025).

Fill in or remove completely: what Los Angeles permits show

Los Angeles is the one city whose permits state the backfill method. About seven in ten backfills that state a method remove the shell and use compacted structural fill; the rest leave the shell in place.

From 2015 to 2025, 2,144 Los Angeles backfill permits removed the shell and 822 left it in place; 457 did not say. The shell-left share of stated methods was 31.7% in 2015, 19.9% in 2022 and 25% in 2025.

Under LADBS Information Bulletin P/BC 2026-111, both methods need a grading permit. Structural fill must reach 90% relative compaction and the shell must be removed from the site. A shell left in place with uncertified fill is limited to landscaping, needs drainage holes at least 12 inches wide no more than 8 feet apart, and is not allowed on ground steeper than 10%.

Maricopa County directive DD-5015-01 (adopted 21 November 2025) sets 3 methods for the county permitting area: full removal, partial removal and abandon in place. Abandoning a pool in place bars any new building or structure over or within 5 feet of it.

Permits, rebates, cost and home value context

Permit records show that cities require a permit to remove a pool and that some water utilities pay homeowners to do it. They do not record what removal costs or what it does to a home price, so those answers rely on secondary sources and carry wider uncertainty.

• Los Angeles: a grading permit is required for any pool backfill (LADBS P/BC 2026-111).
• San Diego: a Demolition/Removal Permit is required; a soils compaction report is required at final inspection for pools deeper than 5 feet (City of San Diego IB 710, September 2026).
• Austin: pool demolitions appear in the city data as residential demolition building permits (class R- 649) (City of Austin demolition permit process).
• Maricopa County, AZ: every one of the 3 demolition methods needs a demolition permit (DD-5015-01).
• Scottsdale, AZ: Scottsdale Water lists a pool removal rebate of up to $1,500 with an application deadline of 30 April 2027; a pool already removed is not eligible (City of Scottsdale).

Angi (page updated 8 July 2026) puts the average pool removal at $6,000, full demolition at $4,000 to $16,000 and a partial fill-in at $2,500 to $10,000, with permits around $200. These are marketplace estimates without a published method, not permit data.

Realtor.com Economic Research found listed homes with a pool priced 21.2% ($43) more per square foot than homes without in April 2025, down from a pandemic peak. That is an association across different homes, not the effect of removing a pool from a given home.

What pool removal permit counts cannot tell you

The counts are a floor for permitted removals in three cities, not a national total. Several gaps push in different directions.

• Unpermitted removals, and removals filed with no pool word in the description, are not counted.
• Text-based classification makes errors: a hand check found 4 false positives in 100 counted permits.
• The three core cities are Sun Belt and West Coast markets; they do not represent colder states where seasonal pools are more common.
• Removal and new-pool counts come from the same datasets but use different classifiers, so the ratio is indicative.
• The Los Angeles 2025 total includes fire-related demolitions; compare the ZIP 90272 split before reading it as a demand trend.
• For the national stock of pools see number of swimming pools in the US and percentage of homes with pools.

Measures we built from the data

Download the calculation sheet (CSV)

Latest data in this edition

• 2026-10First edition. Permit data pulled 2026-10-06; January to August 2026 compared with the same months of 2025 (377 vs 365 in the three core cities).
• 2026-06LADBS revised its pool backfill bulletin P/BC 2026-111 on 2 June 2026 (effective 1 January 2026); both backfill methods still need a grading permit (LADBS).
• 2025-11Maricopa County, AZ adopted directive DD-5015-01 on 21 November 2025, defining 3 permitted pool demolition methods (Maricopa County).
• 2025-01Los Angeles Emergency Executive Order No. 1 (13 January 2025) set expedited rebuilding rules after the January 2025 wildfires; Palisades pool removals rose to 61 that year (Office of the Mayor).

Quick answers

Questions and answers

How we graded sources

Tier 1: primary and government sources (21)

• LA Department of Building and Safety: Building and Safety: Building Permits Issued from 2020 to Present (N)
• LA Department of Building and Safety: Building and Safety: Building Permits Issued Between 2010 and 2019 (N)
• City of San Diego Development Services: Development permits: approvals issued
• City of Austin: Issued Construction Permits
• City of Orlando: Permit Applications
• City of Mesa: Building Permits
• City of Cape Coral: Building Permits (OpenData layer 1)
• City of New Orleans: Permits
• City of Raleigh: Building Permits
• Montgomery County Government, MD: Residential Permit
• City of Fort Worth: Development Permits
• Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County: Building Permits Issued
• City of Baton Rouge / Parish of East Baton Rouge: EBR Building Permits
• LA Department of Building and Safety: Information Bulletin P/BC 2026-111: Backfill of Swimming Pools
• Office of the Mayor, City of Los Angeles: Emergency Executive Order No. 1: Expedited Community Rebuilding and Recovery (revised 18 March 2025)
• City of San Diego Development Services: Information Bulletin 710: Permit Instructions, Procedures for Building Demolition/Removal (September 2026)
• City of Austin Development Services: Demolition Permit
• Maricopa County Planning & Development: Pool and Spa Demolition, Directive DD-5015-01
• City of Scottsdale (Scottsdale Water): Water conservation rebates
• Pool Construction & Service: Pool Construction Statistics (new pool permit counts by city)
• City of Los Angeles: LA Strong: Return and Rebuild, Rebuilding

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

• Realtor.com Economic Research: Swimming Pools in the Housing Market: A Cooling Trend in Premium, but Still a Hot Commodity (21 May 2025)
• Arizona Municipal Water Users Association: Scottsdale Offers Arizona's First Pool Removal Rebate (29 Aug 2016)

Tier 3: journalism and expert commentary (1)

• Angi: How Much Does Pool Removal Cost? [2026 Data] (updated 8 Jul 2026)

Sources

1. LA Department of Building and Safety. Building and Safety: Building Permits Issued from 2020 to Present (N). Accessed 2026-10-06.
2. LA Department of Building and Safety. Building and Safety: Building Permits Issued Between 2010 and 2019 (N). Accessed 2026-10-06.
3. City of San Diego Development Services. Development permits: approvals issued. Accessed 2026-10-03.
4. City of Austin. Issued Construction Permits. Accessed 2026-10-06.
5. City of Orlando. Permit Applications. Accessed 2026-10-06.
6. City of Mesa. Building Permits. Accessed 2026-10-06.
7. City of Cape Coral. Building Permits (OpenData layer 1). Accessed 2026-10-06.
8. City of New Orleans. Permits. Accessed 2026-10-06.
9. City of Raleigh. Building Permits. Accessed 2026-10-03.
10. Montgomery County Government, MD. Residential Permit. Accessed 2026-10-06.
11. City of Fort Worth. Development Permits. Accessed 2026-10-06.
12. Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County. Building Permits Issued. Accessed 2026-10-06.
13. City of Baton Rouge / Parish of East Baton Rouge. EBR Building Permits. Accessed 2026-10-06.
14. LA Department of Building and Safety. Information Bulletin P/BC 2026-111: Backfill of Swimming Pools. Accessed 2026-10-06.
15. Office of the Mayor, City of Los Angeles. Emergency Executive Order No. 1: Expedited Community Rebuilding and Recovery (revised 18 March 2025). Accessed 2026-10-06.
16. City of San Diego Development Services. Information Bulletin 710: Permit Instructions, Procedures for Building Demolition/Removal (September 2026). Accessed 2026-10-06.
17. City of Austin Development Services. Demolition Permit. Accessed 2026-10-06.
18. Maricopa County Planning & Development. Pool and Spa Demolition, Directive DD-5015-01. Accessed 2026-10-06.
19. City of Scottsdale (Scottsdale Water). Water conservation rebates. Accessed 2026-10-06.
20. Pool Construction & Service. Pool Construction Statistics (new pool permit counts by city). Accessed 2026-10-03.
21. Realtor.com Economic Research. Swimming Pools in the Housing Market: A Cooling Trend in Premium, but Still a Hot Commodity (21 May 2025). Accessed 2026-10-06.
22. Arizona Municipal Water Users Association. Scottsdale Offers Arizona's First Pool Removal Rebate (29 Aug 2016). Accessed 2026-10-06.
23. Angi. How Much Does Pool Removal Cost? [2026 Data] (updated 8 Jul 2026). Accessed 2026-10-06.
24. City of Los Angeles. LA Strong: Return and Rebuild, Rebuilding. Accessed 2026-10-06.