Data / Rankings / Housing units authorized by building permits / Cities in Alabama

Cities in Alabama by housing units authorized by building permits

Huntsville, AL had the highest housing units authorized by building permits of 66 cities in 2018, at 1,312. Center Point, AL had the lowest, at 0. The median was 70 and the figure for Alabama was 14,824. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

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Highest1,312Huntsville, AL
Lowest0Center Point, AL
Median7066 cities
Alabama14,824History

Top 40 cities, 2018

Huntsville, AL: 1,312 countHuntsville, AL1,312Tuscaloosa, AL: 822 countTuscaloosa, AL822Foley, AL: 746 countFoley, AL746Auburn, AL: 678 countAuburn, AL678Madison, AL: 408 countMadison, AL408Fairhope, AL: 321 countFairhope, AL321Hoover, AL: 312 countHoover, AL312Gulf Shores, AL: 280 countGulf Shores, AL280Opelika, AL: 258 countOpelika, AL258Birmingham, AL: 250 countBirmingham, AL250Chelsea, AL: 246 countChelsea, AL246Montgomery, AL: 241 countMontgomery, AL241Trussville, AL: 234 countTrussville, AL234Dothan, AL: 231 countDothan, AL231Calera, AL: 203 countCalera, AL203Daphne, AL: 200 countDaphne, AL200Prattville, AL: 185 countPrattville, AL185Phenix City, AL: 165 countPhenix City, AL165Helena, AL: 158 countHelena, AL158Athens, AL: 155 countAthens, AL155Florence, AL: 150 countFlorence, AL150Pike Road, AL: 147 countPike Road, AL147Irondale, AL: 142 countIrondale, AL142Muscle Shoals, AL: 135 countMuscle Shoals, AL135Spanish Fort, AL: 129 countSpanish Fort, AL129Mobile, AL: 126 countMobile, AL126Northport, AL: 112 countNorthport, AL112Pelham, AL: 111 countPelham, AL111Cullman, AL: 101 countCullman, AL101Enterprise, AL: 90 countEnterprise, AL90Vestavia Hills, AL: 88 countVestavia Hills, AL88Pell City, AL: 80 countPell City, AL80Gardendale, AL: 75 countGardendale, AL75Alabaster, AL: 65 countAlabaster, AL65Decatur, AL: 58 countDecatur, AL58Saraland, AL: 56 countSaraland, AL56Troy, AL: 49 countTroy, AL49Oxford, AL: 46 countOxford, AL46Millbrook, AL: 45 countMillbrook, AL45Homewood, AL: 42 countHomewood, AL42Huntsville, AL: 1,312 countHuntsville, AL1,312Tuscaloosa, AL: 822 countTuscaloosa, AL822Foley, AL: 746 countFoley, AL746Auburn, AL: 678 countAuburn, AL678Madison, AL: 408 countMadison, AL408Fairhope, AL: 321 countFairhope, AL321Hoover, AL: 312 countHoover, AL312Gulf Shores, AL: 280 countGulf Shores, AL280Opelika, AL: 258 countOpelika, AL258Birmingham, AL: 250 countBirmingham, AL250Chelsea, AL: 246 countChelsea, AL246Montgomery, AL: 241 countMontgomery, AL241Trussville, AL: 234 countTrussville, AL234Dothan, AL: 231 countDothan, AL231Calera, AL: 203 countCalera, AL203Daphne, AL: 200 countDaphne, AL200Prattville, AL: 185 countPrattville, AL185Phenix City, AL: 165 countPhenix City, AL165Helena, AL: 158 countHelena, AL158Athens, AL: 155 countAthens, AL155Florence, AL: 150 countFlorence, AL150Pike Road, AL: 147 countPike Road, AL147Irondale, AL: 142 countIrondale, AL142Muscle Shoals, AL: 135 countMuscle Shoals, AL135Spanish Fort, AL: 129 countSpanish Fort, AL129Mobile, AL: 126 countMobile, AL126Northport, AL: 112 countNorthport, AL112Pelham, AL: 111 countPelham, AL111Cullman, AL: 101 countCullman, AL101Enterprise, AL: 90 countEnterprise, AL90Vestavia Hills, AL: 88 countVestavia Hills, AL88Pell City, AL: 80 countPell City, AL80Gardendale, AL: 75 countGardendale, AL75Alabaster, AL: 65 countAlabaster, AL65Decatur, AL: 58 countDecatur, AL58Saraland, AL: 56 countSaraland, AL56Troy, AL: 49 countTroy, AL49Oxford, AL: 46 countOxford, AL46Millbrook, AL: 45 countMillbrook, AL45Homewood, AL: 42 countHomewood, AL42
count. Source: Invokely calculation with data from U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

RankCities2018
count		Change on 2017
1Huntsville, AL Estimated1,312-13.9%
2Tuscaloosa, AL Estimated822-10.4%
3Foley, AL Estimated746+174.3%
4Auburn, AL Estimated678-29.6%
5Madison, AL Estimated408-26.9%
6Fairhope, AL Estimated321-39.4%
7Hoover, AL Estimated312+9.9%
8Gulf Shores, AL Estimated280+9.8%
9Opelika, AL Estimated258+21.7%
10Birmingham, AL Estimated250+142.7%
11Chelsea, AL Estimated246+20.6%
12Montgomery, AL Estimated241-7.3%
13Trussville, AL Estimated234+10.4%
14Dothan, AL Estimated231+24.2%
15Calera, AL Estimated203+7.4%
16Daphne, AL Estimated200-4.8%
17Prattville, AL Estimated185-1.6%
18Phenix City, AL Estimated165+21.3%
19Helena, AL Estimated158-21%
20Athens, AL Estimated155-2.5%
21Florence, AL Estimated150-74.7%
22Pike Road, AL Estimated147-32.6%
23Irondale, AL Estimated142+125.4%
24Muscle Shoals, AL Estimated135+7.1%
25Spanish Fort, AL Estimated129-8.5%
26Mobile, AL Estimated126-65.6%
27Northport, AL Estimated112-26.8%
28Pelham, AL Estimated111-5.1%
29Cullman, AL Estimated101+16.1%
30Enterprise, AL Estimated90+12.5%
31Vestavia Hills, AL Estimated88-21.4%
32Pell City, AL Estimated80+70.2%
33Gardendale, AL Estimated75-2.6%
34Alabaster, AL Estimated65-29.3%
35Decatur, AL Estimated58+23.4%
36Saraland, AL Estimated56+19.1%
37Troy, AL Estimated49-19.7%
38Oxford, AL Estimated46-4.2%
39Millbrook, AL Estimated45-18.2%
40Homewood, AL Estimated42+5%
41Clay, AL Estimated38+18.8%
42Bessemer, AL Estimated37-9.8%
43Albertville, AL Estimated34+47.8%
43Mountain Brook, AL Estimated34+21.4%
45Moody, AL Estimated33+17.9%
45Rainbow City, AL Estimated33+13.8%
47Scottsboro, AL Estimated31+121.4%
48Hartselle, AL Estimated23-39.5%
48Leeds, AL Estimated23-20.7%
50Russellville, AL Estimated17+13.3%
51Gadsden, AL Estimated16+33.3%
52Fort Payne, AL Estimated140%
52Valley, AL Estimated14n/a
54Alexander City, AL Estimated13-7.1%
55Jacksonville, AL Estimated9+12.5%
56Boaz, AL Estimated80%
57Eufaula, AL Estimated6+100%
58Hueytown, AL Estimated4+100%
58Jasper, AL Estimated4-55.6%
58Sylacauga, AL Estimated40%
61Ozark, AL Estimated3-66.7%
62Anniston, AL Estimated20%
62Prichard, AL Estimated20%
64Selma, AL Estimated10%
64Talladega, AL Estimated1-50%
66Center Point, AL Estimated0-100%

Other periods

About this ranking

Number of new privately owned housing units authorized by building permits in the year or month, from the US Census Bureau Building Permits Survey. Annual totals for the nation, states and counties; monthly counts for the nation and states.

Counts housing units, not buildings, starts, completions or sales. Monthly counts are not seasonally adjusted and do not add up exactly to the annual total, which includes later corrections; the national seasonally adjusted annual rate in the monthly New Residential Construction release is a different measure.

Every value in the ranking comes from the same publisher and the same period, so the cities are compared on one definition. Equal values share a rank.

How to cite

U.S. Census Bureau. Building Permits Survey: final annual estimates of new privately owned housing units authorized by permit-issuing place, including imputation. https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/South%20Region/so2018a.txt. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Citation styles

The publisher is the author. Invokely is named only as the place the figures were read, where a style asks for it.

APA 7

U.S. Census Bureau. (2019). Building Permits Survey: final annual estimates of new privately owned housing units authorized by permit-issuing place, including imputation (Cities in Alabama by housing units authorized by building permits, 2018) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/South%20Region/so2018a.txt

MLA 9

Building Permits Survey: final annual estimates of new privately owned housing units authorized by permit-issuing place, including imputation, Cities in Alabama by housing units authorized by building permits, 2018. U.S. Census Bureau, 20 June 2019, https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/South%20Region/so2018a.txt. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/alabama-cities?period=2018. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

U.S. Census Bureau. 2019. Building Permits Survey: final annual estimates of new privately owned housing units authorized by permit-issuing place, including imputation. Cities in Alabama by housing units authorized by building permits, 2018. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/South%20Region/so2018a.txt. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/alabama-cities?period=2018.

Harvard

U.S. Census Bureau (2019) Building Permits Survey: final annual estimates of new privately owned housing units authorized by permit-issuing place, including imputation, Cities in Alabama by housing units authorized by building permits, 2018 [Dataset]. Available at: https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/South%20Region/so2018a.txt, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/alabama-cities?period=2018 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{census_cities_in_alabama_by_2018,
  author = {{U.S. Census Bureau}},
  title = {{Building Permits Survey: final annual estimates of new privately owned housing units authorized by permit-issuing place, including imputation: Cities in Alabama by housing units authorized by building permits, 2018}},
  year = {2019},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/South%20Region/so2018a.txt},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/alabama-cities?period=2018. Publisher attribution: U.S. Census Bureau. Building Permits Survey: final annual estimates of new privately owned housing units authorized by permit-issuing place, including imputation. https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/South\%20Region/so2018a.txt. Retrieved 2026-10-12.},
}
RIS
TY  - DATA
AU  - U.S. Census Bureau
TI  - Building Permits Survey: final annual estimates of new privately owned housing units authorized by permit-issuing place, including imputation: Cities in Alabama by housing units authorized by building permits, 2018
PY  - 2019
DA  - 2019/06/20
PB  - U.S. Census Bureau
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/South%20Region/so2018a.txt
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/alabama-cities?period=2018
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/alabama-cities?period=2018.
N1  - Publisher attribution: U.S. Census Bureau. Building Permits Survey: final annual estimates of new privately owned housing units authorized by permit-issuing place, including imputation. https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/South%20Region/so2018a.txt. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
ER  -
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Questions

Which city has the highest housing units authorized by building permits?

Huntsville, AL, with 1,312 in 2018, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Which city has the lowest housing units authorized by building permits?

Center Point, AL, with 0 in 2018.

Where does this ranking come from?

Every value comes from one source and one period, so the places are comparable: U.S. Census Bureau, Building Permits Survey: final annual estimates of new privately owned housing units authorized by permit-issuing place, including imputation. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Housing units authorized by building permits: other rankings

Cities in Alabama: more rankings