U.S. Parking Requirements: A 100-City Comparative Analysis
- Alketa
- 5 hours ago
- 9 min read
The United States is in the midst of its most significant parking policy transformation in a century. At least 90 cities have fully eliminated parking minimums since Buffalo led the way in 2017, with five states now mandating reform statewide. Yet traditional Sun Belt municipalities still require 4–6 spaces per 1,000 SF of office or retail — ratios that add $50,000+ per housing unit in development costs and consume a median 26% of central-city land for vehicle storage. This report provides a comprehensive city-by-city database of parking ratios, reform timelines, cost impacts, and regional patterns across the nation's largest metros.
The reform wave: 90+ cities and five states have rewritten the rules
The pace of parking reform has accelerated dramatically. From a single major city (Buffalo) eliminating minimums in 2017, the movement now encompasses over 90 cities with full elimination and more than 3,000 jurisdictions with some form of reform tracked by the Parking Reform Network.
Citywide elimination timeline (major cities):
Year | Cities | Significance |
2017 | Buffalo NY, Hartford CT | First major U.S. cities to act |
2018–2019 | San Francisco CA, Emeryville CA, Portland OR (partial) | West Coast joins; SF adds maximums |
2021 | Minneapolis MN, Berkeley CA, Sacramento CA, South Bend IN, Alameda CA | First wave of accelerated adoption |
2022 | Raleigh NC, San Jose CA, Anchorage AK, Nashville TN (urban zone), Culver City CA, Charlotte NC (near transit) | 10+ cities in a single year; two state laws passed |
2023 | Austin TX, Richmond VA, Gainesville FL, 15+ Oregon cities (CFEC compliance), Portland OR (full) | Austin becomes largest U.S. city to eliminate |
2024 | Spokane WA, Longmont CO, New York City (Zone 1), Mountain View CA | NYC "City of Yes" partially eliminates; state laws expand |
2025 | Dallas TX (near-citywide), Denver CO, Boulder CO, Fort Collins CO, multiple Washington cities | State-level mandates drive compliance across CO and WA |
Five states have enacted sweeping legislation. Oregon's CFEC rules (2022) require cities over 50,000 to eliminate minimums or adopt alternative strategies. California's AB 2097 (2022) bars minimums within half a mile of major transit stops. Colorado's HB 24-1304 (2024) eliminates residential parking mandates near transit in metropolitan areas. Washington's SB 5184 (2025) — the strongest reform — caps what cities can require at 0.5 spaces per apartment and 2.0 per 1,000 SF commercial, with zero parking for units under 1,200 SF, affordable housing, and childcare. Montana passed caps of 1 space per home statewide in 2025. Bills are pending in Connecticut, North Carolina, Minnesota, Florida, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, and Texas.
City-by-city parking ratios across the top metros
The following tables compile specific numerical requirements across major property types for the largest U.S. metropolitan areas. Where cities have eliminated minimums, the pre-reform ratios are noted for reference.
Traditional-minimum cities: Sun Belt and interior metros
City | Office (per 1,000 SF) | Retail (per 1,000 SF) | Multifamily (per unit) | Hotel (per room) | Restaurant (per 1,000 SF) | Industrial (per 1,000 SF) | Medical Office (per 1,000 SF) |
Houston TX | 2.5 | 4.0 | 1.25–2.0 (by BR) | 0.5–1.0 (by size) | 8.0–10.0 | 0.14–0.5 | 3.5 |
Phoenix AZ | 3.33 | 4.0 | 1.3–2.0 (simplified to 1.5) | 1.0 + ancillary | 10.0 (dining area) | 0.4–1.0 (tiered) | 5.0 |
San Antonio TX | 3.33 (max 5.0) | 4.0 (max 6.67) | 1.5 (max 2.0) | 1.0 (max 1.5) | 10.0 (max 13.3) | 1.0 (max 2.0) | 5.0 (max 6.67) |
Jacksonville FL | 3.0 (max 6.0) | 3.0 (max 6.0) | 1.5–2.25 (by BR) | 1.0 | Per seats: 1/4 seats | 0.5 | 3.0 (max 6.0) |
Las Vegas NV | 3.33 | 4.0 | 2.0 | 1.0 | 6.67–10.0 | 1.0 | Per exam room |
Charlotte NC | 3.33 | 3.0–4.0 | 1.0–1.5 | 1.0 + ancillary | 13.3 | 2.5 | 5.0 |
Columbus OH | 2.22 (max 4.0) | 3.33–4.0 (max 5.0) | 1.5–2.0 | 1.0 | 5.7–13.3 | 0.33–1.33 (tiered) | 3.33 (max 5.0) |
Indianapolis IN | 2.86 (max 5.0) | 2.5–2.86 (max 5.0) | 0.75–1.0 | 1.0 (max 1.5) | 6.67 (max 10.0) | 0.67–1.0 | 3.33 (max 6.67) |
Nashville TN | 3.33 (UZO: 2.0) | 4.0–5.0 (UZO: reduced) | 1.0/BR (UZO: 1.0–1.5) | 1.0 | 13.3 (UZO: reduced) | 1.0–2.0 | 5.0 |
Los Angeles CA | 2.0–4.0 | 4.0 | 1.0–2.0 (by BR) | 1.0 | 4.0–10.0 | 1.0–2.0 | 4.0–5.0 |
Low-requirement and reform-leading cities
City | Office | Retail | Multifamily | Hotel | Restaurant | Industrial | Medical Office |
Washington DC | 0.5 (after 3K SF) | 1.33 (after 3K SF) | 0.33–0.5/unit | 0.5/1,000 SF | 1.33 (after 3K SF) | 0.33–1.0 | 1.0 (after 3K SF) |
Philadelphia PA | 0 (CMX zones) | 0 (CMX zones) | 0–1.0 | 0–0.33/room | 0–2.5 | 0.5–1.25 | 0 (CMX zones) |
Seattle WA | 0 (urban); 1.0 | 0 (urban); 2.0 | 0 (urban); 1.0 | 0.25 | 0 (urban); 4.0 | 0 (urban); 0.5 | 0 (urban); 2.0 |
Boston MA | 0.4–1.5 (by district) | 0.4–1.5 | 0.5–1.5 | 0.4 | 4.0 (some areas) | District-based | District-based |
NYC (Zone 1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | District-based | 0 | 0 | District-based |
NYC (Zone 2/3) | District-based | District-based | 0.25–1.0 | District-based | District-based | District-based | District-based |
Chicago IL | 0 (transit); 2.0–2.5 | 0 (transit); 2.0–2.5 | 0 (transit); 0.1–2.0 | Similar | Similar | Similar | Similar |
Cities that have fully eliminated all minimums
Austin TX, San Francisco CA, San Jose CA, Portland OR, Minneapolis MN, Buffalo NY, Hartford CT, Raleigh NC, Anchorage AK, Richmond VA, Berkeley CA, Sacramento CA, Cambridge MA, South Bend IN, Gainesville FL, Spokane WA, Longmont CO, Fayetteville AR, Champaign IL, and 70+ additional smaller cities now require zero off-street parking for any land use. Developers build what the market demands. Dallas (2025) eliminated requirements for most non-residential uses and reduced residential to 0.5–1.0 per unit. Denver is implementing citywide elimination in 2025.
What parking actually costs: the hidden tax on development
Parking requirements represent one of the largest hidden costs in American real estate development. The numbers are stark and well-documented.
Construction cost per parking space (2024 national data):
Parking Type | Cost Range | National Median |
Surface lot | $1,500–$10,000 | ~$5,000 |
Above-grade structure | $25,000–$35,000 | $29,900 (WGI 2024) |
Underground | $35,000–$120,000 | ~$50,000 |
These costs have risen steadily — the WGI national median for structured parking increased 3.1% year-over-year in 2024 to $29,900 per space, and soft costs (design, permits, financing) add another 30–40% on top. The Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles spent $100 million of its $274 million budget on its underground parking garage alone.
Impact on housing costs is enormous. Structured parking adds an average of $50,000–$56,000 per housing unit in total development cost, according to a GAO study of LIHTC (affordable housing tax credit) projects. One parking space per unit increases affordable housing costs by approximately 12.5%; two spaces can push that to 25%. UCLA researchers Manville and Shoup found that garage parking costs renters approximately $142 per month — a 17% rent premium. Todd Litman of the Victoria Transport Policy Institute estimates parking reforms can reduce basic housing costs by 10–20%.
Real-world case studies confirm these figures. In Charlotte, a developer permitted to build 104 units without parking constructed 25% more units and charged $250 less per month in rent. In Aurora, Colorado, a city requirement for 95 excess parking spaces (485 required vs. 390 the developer projected needing) increased average monthly rent by $100. Denver modeling showed eliminating parking mandates would boost housing construction by roughly 12.5%, translating to approximately 460 additional homes per year. In Minneapolis, where minimums were eliminated citywide in 2021, rents rose only 1% between 2017 and 2023 compared to 14% across the rest of Minnesota, and new-build apartments were delivered for roughly 20% less than comparable mandated-parking projects.
Donald Shoup estimated the total cost of unpriced off-street parking in the U.S. at $127–$374 billion annually (in 2005 dollars; approximately $190–$560 billion in 2025 dollars). VTPI's current estimate exceeds $1 trillion per year in total parking costs nationally. Each additional residential parking space increases typical urban housing costs by $52,000–$117,000 per home.
America's parking landscape: supply, land use, and regional variation
The United States has between 700 million and 2 billion parking spaces — estimates vary because no comprehensive government inventory exists. At roughly 276 million registered vehicles, this works out to 2.5 to 7+ spaces per car. Specific city inventories confirm the scale: Des Moines has 19 spaces per household, Seattle has 5.2, Philadelphia has 3.7, and even New York City has 0.6 per household. The typical American vehicle sits parked 23 hours per day (95% of the time), and metro Boston research found that only 74% of multifamily residential parking spots were regularly used.
Land consumption is massive. The Parking Reform Network's analysis of 102 U.S. central cities found a median of 26% of central-city land dedicated to parking. The most parking-intensive downtowns include San Bernardino (49%), Arlington TX (42%), and Lexington KY (38%). At the other extreme, Chicago and San Francisco devote just 4%, Washington DC 3%, and New York City less than 1%. Surface parking alone covers more than 5% of all U.S. urban land — an area larger than Rhode Island and Delaware combined. In Phoenix, roads and parking together cover 36% of metropolitan land area (10% parking alone). LA County dedicates 14% of its land to parking, housing 18.6 million spaces.
Regional patterns are pronounced. Sun Belt cities historically maintain the highest parking ratios, driven by auto-oriented development patterns, abundant cheap land, and limited transit. The National Apartment Association documented that apartment parking ratios were "typically higher in the Sunbelt and lower for markets in the Northeast, upper Midwest, and Pacific Northwest." Phoenix requires 3.33–5.0 spaces per 1,000 SF for office and medical uses, while Washington DC requires just 0.5 per 1,000 SF (after the first 3,000 SF). Houston mandates 10.0 per 1,000 SF for sit-down restaurants; Philadelphia's commercial zones require zero.
Coastal cities generally have lower requirements and have been faster to reform. San Francisco, Portland, Seattle, Boston, and NYC all operate with ratios well below national averages or have eliminated minimums entirely. Interior metros like Las Vegas (2.0 per multifamily unit), Nashville (1.0 per bedroom), and Columbus (1.5–2.0 per unit) maintain traditional suburban-oriented standards, though Dallas's 2025 reform signals that even large interior cities are shifting.
Industry benchmarks versus municipal mandates
The gap between observed parking demand and what cities require reveals systematic oversupply. ITE Parking Generation Manual data (6th Edition, 2023) — the industry standard for measuring actual peak demand — consistently shows lower demand than what most zoning codes mandate.
Property Type | ITE Observed Peak Demand | Typical Municipal Minimum | Overshoot |
Office | ~3.0/1,000 SF | 3.0–5.0/1,000 SF (mode: 4.0) | 0–67% |
Retail | ~3.5–4.0/1,000 SF | 4.0–5.0/1,000 SF | 0–43% |
Multifamily | ~1.2/unit (avg); 1.46 (85th pctl) | 1.0–2.0/unit | Up to 67% |
Industrial | ~0.75–1.0/1,000 SF | 1.0–2.0/1,000 SF | 0–167% |
Hotel | ~0.9–1.0/room | 0.75–1.25/room | Modest |
Restaurant | ~10–15/1,000 SF | 8–18/1,000 SF | Variable |
Medical Office | ~4.5–5.0/1,000 SF | 4.0–6.0/1,000 SF | Up to 33% |
Donald Shoup documented that 54% of Southern California cities set office parking at exactly 4.0 per 1,000 SF — a figure that appears to have spread through municipal code copying rather than empirical analysis. He called minimums based on ITE data "closer to sorcery than to science." A study of 80 U.S. cities with rail transit found that 75% set TOD parking requirements exceeding ITE demand rates, with mean multifamily TOD requirements of 1.48 spaces per unit versus ITE's observed average of 1.2.
The average number of parking spots per new residential unit peaked at 1.7 in 1998 and declined to 1.1 by 2022, reflecting both reform momentum and market-driven right-sizing. For office, the ratio peaked at 3.75 per 1,000 SF in 1999 and fell to 2.25 by 2022. ULI's Shared Parking methodology demonstrates that mixed-use developments can reduce total parking by 20–40% compared to single-use calculations because different uses peak at different times.
What happened when cities removed mandates
The most compelling evidence comes from cities with several years of post-reform data. Buffalo, NY (eliminated 2017) saw mixed-use developments provide 53% fewer parking spaces than previously required in the first two years — but critically, development accelerated rather than stalling. Sixty-eight percent of new homes permitted after the Green Code would have been illegal under prior parking requirements. One-third of developments that included parking unbundled it as a separate amenity, and adaptive reuse of historic buildings surged because parking variances were no longer needed. The city's population increased for the first time in decades.
Minneapolis (phased elimination 2009–2021) offers the longest dataset. Average parking per new unit fell from roughly 1.0 to under 0.75 after full elimination. Multifamily housing permits more than doubled after 2015 reductions. The city increased its housing stock by 12% versus 4% for the rest of Minnesota, and rents rose just 1% versus 14% statewide over a six-year period. A growing share of new buildings include very little or zero parking — the 23-unit "Solstice" certified passive house building was constructed with no parking spaces at all.
Seattle's experience (2012 reforms) shows that 60–70% of new homes permitted used the flexibility provided by parking reforms — projects that would have been illegal under prior rules. In Portland, reducing parking requirements for the Kafoury Court senior housing project from 5 to 2 spaces allowed a redesign from 5 stories to 4 stories that made the project financially feasible.
Transit proximity adjustments remain the most common reform mechanism for cities not ready for full elimination. Reductions range from under 10% to 100%, with a national mean of 22.8% in cities with rail transit. California, Oregon, and Colorado have now mandated 100% elimination near transit statewide, and Washington state's 2025 law effectively caps what any city in the state can require.
Conclusion: the emerging national picture
The U.S. parking landscape is bifurcating. A growing coalition of reform cities and states — now encompassing the largest metros on both coasts and increasingly the Sun Belt — is dismantling a 70-year regime of minimum parking mandates. The data consistently shows these mandates increase housing costs by 10–25%, consume a quarter or more of central-city land, and produce systematic oversupply far exceeding observed demand.
Three insights stand out from this comparative analysis. First, the reform movement has reached a tipping point at the state level — with Oregon, California, Colorado, Washington, and Montana all acting between 2022 and 2025, individual city holdouts face pressure from above regardless of local politics. Second, post-reform cities have not experienced the parking chaos opponents predicted — Buffalo, Minneapolis, and Seattle all show developers right-sizing parking to market demand rather than abandoning it. Third, the cost differential between reform and traditional cities is enormous: a developer in Washington DC (0.5 spaces per 1,000 SF of office after the first 3,000 SF) faces radically different economics than one in Phoenix (3.33 per 1,000 SF) or Charlotte (3.33 per 1,000 SF with a restaurant requirement of 13.3 per 1,000 SF). As structured parking approaches $30,000 per space nationally, these differences translate directly into housing costs, commercial rents, and the financial feasibility of new development.
Sources:
Parking Reform Network — Mandates Map
Victoria Transport Policy Institute (VTPI) — Parking Supply, Cost & Price Analysis
WGI — Parking Structure Cost Outlook 2024
Brookings Institution — Parking Requirements Driving Up Multifamily Costs
Local Housing Solutions — Rethinking Minimum Parking Requirements
University of Denver — Denver Parking Requirements Study
Eliminating Parking Minimums Works: Minneapolis and Buffalo
Sightline Institute — Parking Reform Legalized Most New Homes in Buffalo and Seattle
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