Get The Turnover

Playbook · Chicago, Austin, Marin County, Campbell, San Francisco

EV-charger permits, Q3 2026 vs Q3 2025: how to read them city by city

Five places, one permit type, the same quarter a year apart. Each city is compared only with its own past, because cities count and date permits differently. Here is how to read the numbers without over-reading them.

116 to 100Chicago, Q3 2025 to Q3 2026
32 to 16Austin (commercial only)
2 of 5Places with enough counts for a % change
Only itselfCompare a city with

EV-charger permits, Q3 2025 vs Q3 2026

What this is: permits whose record mentions EV chargers or charging stations. What it isn't: the number of chargers installed.

Chicago
116
100
-14%
Austincommercial only
32
16
-50%, we don't know why yet
Marin Countycounty's construction-type field
19
41
too few to compare
Campbell
15
24
too few to compare
San Franciscoapplications filed
14
36
too few to compare
Q3 2025Q3 2026
Each city's bars are scaled to that city alone. Compare a city only with itself.

The whole path at a glance

Flowchart: Pick the permit type and the same quarter in each year; Do both quarters have 20 or more permits? (if not: Show the counts only, no percentage); Is the date the city uses the same in both years? (if not: Not comparable: skip); Read the change for that city alonePick the permit type andthe same quarter in eachyearDo both quarters have 20or more permits?No: Show thecounts only,nopercentageYesIs the date the city usesthe same in both years?No: Notcomparable:skipYesRead the change for thatcity alone
Every step is explained below, with the official source for each fact.

Step by step

  1. Know what the count is and isn't

    • The count is permits whose record mentions EV chargers or charging stations.
    • It is not the number of chargers installed. One permit can cover many chargers, and some records don't use the words.
    Watch out: A permit can sit in more than one category, so category counts don't add up to a city total.
    Sources

    Picker's Desk Trends methodology

  2. Use counts only where there are enough of them

    • With 20 or more permits in the earlier quarter, we show a percentage. With fewer, we show the two counts and nothing more.
    • Chicago: 116 to 100 (-14%). Austin, commercial permits only: 32 to 16 (-50%, we don't know why yet).
    • Too few to compare: Marin County 19 to 41, Campbell 15 to 24, San Francisco 14 to 36 (applications filed).
    • Marin County: the county stopped publishing a work description for most 2026 permits (about 74% of Q3 2026 records have none), so its count comes from the county's own construction-type field, not from description text.
    Watch out: Small counts swing widely. A rise from 14 to 36 is real in the records, but it is not a trend.
    Sources

    Picker's Desk Trends methodology · City of Chicago data portal: Building Permits

  3. Check which date each city counts

    • Most places are counted by the date the permit was issued. San Francisco is counted by the date the application was filed, and the Trends page labels it that way.
    • A filed date and an issued date are different moments, so do not set one city's number beside another's.
    Sources

    Picker's Desk Trends methodology · City of Austin open data: Issued Construction Permits

  4. Read the change, then stop

    • Say what the records show and no more. A fall in one city's EV-charger permits does not say why, and it says nothing about another city.
    • When a move is large and the reason is unknown, say "we don't know why yet." Our companion playbook walks through the checks.
    Sources

    Picker's Desk Trends methodology

Honest effort and what goes wrong

About twenty minutes if you start from the Trends page and check one city's data notes. The comparison itself is quick; the work is making sure the quarters, dates and counts line up.

Next steps

See this week's commercial jobs by trade

See this week's commercial jobs by trade: pickersdesk.com/permits.html

See Permit Watch

Educational only: not legal, tax or financial advice. Source: city permit records, Picker's Desk Trends, data as of October 17, 2026. Chicago: this report uses data modified for use from its original source, www.cityofchicago.org; the City of Chicago makes no claims as to the content, accuracy, timeliness or completeness of the data. Austin: City of Austin Development Services Department. Marin County: County of Marin, Open Database License (ODbL 1.0). Last checked against the sources October 22, 2026. Spot something out of date? Email roger@pickersdesk.com.