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 2019, at 1,603. Rainbow City, AL had the lowest, at 0. The median was 77 and the figure for Alabama was 17,748. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

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Highest1,603Huntsville, AL
Lowest0Rainbow City, AL
Median7766 cities
Alabama17,748History

Top 40 cities, 2019

Huntsville, AL: 1,603 countHuntsville, AL1,603Auburn, AL: 1,477 countAuburn, AL1,477Tuscaloosa, AL: 1,165 countTuscaloosa, AL1,165Foley, AL: 515 countFoley, AL515Gulf Shores, AL: 460 countGulf Shores, AL460Hoover, AL: 456 countHoover, AL456Fairhope, AL: 448 countFairhope, AL448Daphne, AL: 389 countDaphne, AL389Madison, AL: 369 countMadison, AL369Opelika, AL: 330 countOpelika, AL330Enterprise, AL: 290 countEnterprise, AL290Athens, AL: 276 countAthens, AL276Montgomery, AL: 263 countMontgomery, AL263Dothan, AL: 246 countDothan, AL246Prattville, AL: 242 countPrattville, AL242Calera, AL: 213 countCalera, AL213Cullman, AL: 209 countCullman, AL209Trussville, AL: 203 countTrussville, AL203Birmingham, AL: 196 countBirmingham, AL196Pike Road, AL: 191 countPike Road, AL191Helena, AL: 186 countHelena, AL186Northport, AL: 164 countNorthport, AL164Chelsea, AL: 161 countChelsea, AL161Muscle Shoals, AL: 137 countMuscle Shoals, AL137Mobile, AL: 133 countMobile, AL133Spanish Fort, AL: 128 countSpanish Fort, AL128Irondale, AL: 108 countIrondale, AL108Pelham, AL: 103 countPelham, AL103Pell City, AL: 101 countPell City, AL101Florence, AL: 97 countFlorence, AL97Vestavia Hills, AL: 90 countVestavia Hills, AL90Troy, AL: 89 countTroy, AL89Clay, AL: 80 countClay, AL80Decatur, AL: 74 countDecatur, AL74Oxford, AL: 66 countOxford, AL66Moody, AL: 65 countMoody, AL65Valley, AL: 65 countValley, AL65Phenix City, AL: 58 countPhenix City, AL58Gardendale, AL: 48 countGardendale, AL48Alabaster, AL: 47 countAlabaster, AL47Huntsville, AL: 1,603 countHuntsville, AL1,603Auburn, AL: 1,477 countAuburn, AL1,477Tuscaloosa, AL: 1,165 countTuscaloosa, AL1,165Foley, AL: 515 countFoley, AL515Gulf Shores, AL: 460 countGulf Shores, AL460Hoover, AL: 456 countHoover, AL456Fairhope, AL: 448 countFairhope, AL448Daphne, AL: 389 countDaphne, AL389Madison, AL: 369 countMadison, AL369Opelika, AL: 330 countOpelika, AL330Enterprise, AL: 290 countEnterprise, AL290Athens, AL: 276 countAthens, AL276Montgomery, AL: 263 countMontgomery, AL263Dothan, AL: 246 countDothan, AL246Prattville, AL: 242 countPrattville, AL242Calera, AL: 213 countCalera, AL213Cullman, AL: 209 countCullman, AL209Trussville, AL: 203 countTrussville, AL203Birmingham, AL: 196 countBirmingham, AL196Pike Road, AL: 191 countPike Road, AL191Helena, AL: 186 countHelena, AL186Northport, AL: 164 countNorthport, AL164Chelsea, AL: 161 countChelsea, AL161Muscle Shoals, AL: 137 countMuscle Shoals, AL137Mobile, AL: 133 countMobile, AL133Spanish Fort, AL: 128 countSpanish Fort, AL128Irondale, AL: 108 countIrondale, AL108Pelham, AL: 103 countPelham, AL103Pell City, AL: 101 countPell City, AL101Florence, AL: 97 countFlorence, AL97Vestavia Hills, AL: 90 countVestavia Hills, AL90Troy, AL: 89 countTroy, AL89Clay, AL: 80 countClay, AL80Decatur, AL: 74 countDecatur, AL74Oxford, AL: 66 countOxford, AL66Moody, AL: 65 countMoody, AL65Valley, AL: 65 countValley, AL65Phenix City, AL: 58 countPhenix City, AL58Gardendale, AL: 48 countGardendale, AL48Alabaster, AL: 47 countAlabaster, AL47
count. Source: Invokely calculation with data from U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

RankCities2019
count		Change on 2018
1Huntsville, AL Estimated1,603+22.2%
2Auburn, AL Estimated1,477+117.8%
3Tuscaloosa, AL Estimated1,165+41.7%
4Foley, AL Estimated515-31%
5Gulf Shores, AL Estimated460+64.3%
6Hoover, AL Estimated456+46.2%
7Fairhope, AL Estimated448+39.6%
8Daphne, AL Estimated389+94.5%
9Madison, AL Estimated369-9.6%
10Opelika, AL Estimated330+27.9%
11Enterprise, AL Estimated290+222.2%
12Athens, AL Estimated276+78.1%
13Montgomery, AL Estimated263+9.1%
14Dothan, AL Estimated246+6.5%
15Prattville, AL Estimated242+30.8%
16Calera, AL Estimated213+4.9%
17Cullman, AL Estimated209+106.9%
18Trussville, AL Estimated203-13.2%
19Birmingham, AL Estimated196-21.6%
20Pike Road, AL Estimated191+29.9%
21Helena, AL Estimated186+17.7%
22Northport, AL Estimated164+46.4%
23Chelsea, AL Estimated161-34.6%
24Muscle Shoals, AL Estimated137+1.5%
25Mobile, AL Estimated133+5.6%
26Spanish Fort, AL Estimated128-0.8%
27Irondale, AL Estimated108-23.9%
28Pelham, AL Estimated103-7.2%
29Pell City, AL Estimated101+26.3%
30Florence, AL Estimated97-35.3%
31Vestavia Hills, AL Estimated90+2.3%
32Troy, AL Estimated89+81.6%
33Clay, AL Estimated80+110.5%
34Decatur, AL Estimated74+27.6%
35Oxford, AL Estimated66+43.5%
36Moody, AL Estimated65+97%
36Valley, AL Estimated65+364.3%
38Phenix City, AL Estimated58-64.8%
39Gardendale, AL Estimated48-36%
40Alabaster, AL Estimated47-27.7%
41Homewood, AL Estimated43+2.4%
42Saraland, AL Estimated41-26.8%
43Bessemer, AL Estimated38+2.7%
43Leeds, AL Estimated38+65.2%
45Albertville, AL Estimated340%
45Millbrook, AL Estimated34-24.4%
45Mountain Brook, AL Estimated340%
48Jasper, AL Estimated32+700%
49Hartselle, AL Estimated30+30.4%
50Jacksonville, AL Estimated29+222.2%
51Boaz, AL Estimated21+162.5%
51Scottsboro, AL Estimated21-32.3%
53Center Point, AL Estimated18n/a
53Fort Payne, AL Estimated18+28.6%
55Alexander City, AL Estimated17+30.8%
56Russellville, AL Estimated14-17.6%
57Eufaula, AL Estimated9+50%
58Hueytown, AL Estimated7+75%
59Ozark, AL Estimated6+100%
60Sylacauga, AL Estimated40%
61Talladega, AL Estimated3+200%
62Anniston, AL Estimated20%
62Prichard, AL Estimated20%
64Selma, AL Estimated10%
65Gadsden, AL Estimated0-100%
65Rainbow City, 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/so2019a.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. (2020). 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, 2019) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/South%20Region/so2019a.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, 2019. U.S. Census Bureau, 1 May 2020, https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/South%20Region/so2019a.txt. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/alabama-cities?period=2019. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

U.S. Census Bureau. 2020. 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, 2019. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/South%20Region/so2019a.txt. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/alabama-cities?period=2019.

Harvard

U.S. Census Bureau (2020) 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, 2019 [Dataset]. Available at: https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/South%20Region/so2019a.txt, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/alabama-cities?period=2019 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{census_cities_in_alabama_by_2019,
  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, 2019}},
  year = {2020},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/South%20Region/so2019a.txt},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/alabama-cities?period=2019. 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/so2019a.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, 2019
PY  - 2020
DA  - 2020/05/01
PB  - U.S. Census Bureau
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/South%20Region/so2019a.txt
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/alabama-cities?period=2019
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/alabama-cities?period=2019.
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/so2019a.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 1,603 in 2019, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

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

Rainbow City, AL, with 0 in 2019.

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