Original data study · updated September 2026
The US Cities With the Most Code-Enforcement Activity
We aggregate public code-enforcement violations from US municipal open-data portals. Here are the cities with the most cited properties in our dataset, ranked by volume of open and recent violations.
| # | City | Records | Top trade needed |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Los Angeles, CA | 27,987+ | handyman |
| 2 | New York, NY | 18,663+ | handyman |
| 3 | Chicago, IL | 13,576+ | handyman |
| 4 | San Diego, CA | 7,021+ | handyman |
| 5 | Louisville, KY | 5,582+ | handyman |
| 6 | Charlotte, NC | 4,955+ | handyman |
| 7 | Cincinnati, OH | 4,813+ | handyman |
| 8 | Nashville, TN | 4,403+ | handyman |
| 9 | Austin, TX | 3,865+ | handyman |
| 10 | Seattle, WA | 3,136+ | handyman |
| 11 | Miami, FL | 2,700+ | handyman |
| 12 | Atlanta, GA | 2,611+ | handyman |
| 13 | Detroit, MI | 2,518+ | handyman |
| 14 | San Francisco, CA | 2,320+ | handyman |
| 15 | Norfolk, VA | 1,330+ | handyman |
| 16 | Cleveland, OH | 1,094+ | handyman |
| 17 | New Orleans, LA | 773+ | handyman |
| 18 | Kansas City, MO | 729+ | handyman |
| 19 | Long Beach, CA | 414+ | handyman |
| 20 | Hartford, CT | 228+ | cleaning |
| 21 | Las Vegas, NV | 136+ | handyman |
| 22 | Dorchester, MA | 92+ | handyman |
| 23 | Cambridge, MA | 51+ | handyman |
| 24 | Mattapan, MA | 32+ | handyman |
| 25 | Boston, MA | 30+ | handyman |
| 26 | Roxbury, MA | 26+ | handyman |
| 27 | Hyde Park, MA | 25+ | handyman |
What are US homeowners cited for most?
Across every city we track, these are the most common types of work homeowners are being ordered to do — it's more overgrown yards, junk, and pests than collapsing roofs.
Methodology
Counts reflect public code-enforcement violations — administrative hearing and fine dockets, failed inspections, and property-maintenance citations — published by each city's open-data portal, and are refreshed daily. “Top trade needed” is derived from the violation text (e.g. junk/debris, overgrowth, exterior-paint citations). Coverage expands as more municipal feeds are added, so rankings shift over time.
Cite this study
Free to cite and share with a link to this page. Download the full dataset (CSV) ↓
Suggested citation:
BellAveGo, "The US Cities With the Most Code-Enforcement Activity (2026)." https://www.bellavego.com/code-violations-by-city
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