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Kentucky new construction report — Q1 2026

The bottom line

Kentucky's residential permit volume is up 12% quarter-on-quarter — a strong signal of demand acceleration. Trade contractors and suppliers serving this state should expect builder accounts to scale upward in the next 12 months. The state's top markets are visibly heating up.

Top movers this quarter

The Kentucky counties with the biggest quarter-on-quarter permit-volume change. Click any county for the full local market dashboard.

1. Franklin County: 69 permits this quarter (+62 vs 7 prior quarter).
2. Jessamine County: 45 permits this quarter (-49 vs 94 prior quarter).
3. Fayette County: 149 permits this quarter (+44 vs 105 prior quarter).
4. Campbell County: 71 permits this quarter (+37 vs 34 prior quarter).
5. Jefferson County: 292 permits this quarter (+35 vs 257 prior quarter).
6. Kenton County: 122 permits this quarter (+35 vs 87 prior quarter).

Most-active builders

Licensed home builders in Kentucky ranked by Q1 2026 permit count. Click any name for the builder's full profile, permit history, and county footprint.

Per-permit builder attribution for Kentucky is limited this quarter. Per-permit feeds outside Florida are added quarterly — Kentucky will deepen as we add county portals.

What this means for trade operators

If you're an LBM operator, roofing contractor, HVAC company, plumber, concrete crew, or any trade serving Kentucky's new single-family construction market, this quarter's data points to a few practical actions:

• If you're not actively quoting the top 6 builders listed above, that's the call list for this week.
• If your service area covers any of the top-mover counties, you have leverage right now — builders there are scaling and looking for capacity.
• If you're considering expansion into Kentucky, the Kentucky dashboard has all counties scored against the trade you select. Drive-time analysis from your existing yard tells you which counties are reachable today.

This report is automatically refreshed every quarter from Census Bureau Building Permits Survey data plus county public records. The methodology is documented in our Census BPS data explainer.