What Is a Permit Lead Score? How PermitWire Ranks Leads
A permit lead score is a 0-100 rank that tells a contractor which new permits to call first. PermitWire's score is driven mostly by the declared project value, weighted by trade, with a few extra points for complete records.
By Matt K, Founder & CEO, PermitWire · Updated November 11, 2026
What goes into the score
Value: larger declared projects score higher on a log scale, so a $25,000 job scores well above a $5,000 one but a $5 million building doesn't drown out good residential work. When a city doesn't publish a value, the permit gets a neutral middle score instead of zero.
Trade weight: each trade has a weight reflecting how directly permits translate into work for it.
Completeness: a few extra points for an address, a real description and a named contractor of record.
How to use it
Work your list top-down. Scores above about 60 are usually worth a same-day touch; below 30 are often small or loosely matched. Your own results matter most: use the My Leads export to see which score bands convert for you.
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