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 2020, at 1,789. Gadsden, AL had the lowest, at 0. The median was 110 and the figure for Alabama was 19,982. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

Keep it in a collection in your library.
Highest1,789Huntsville, AL
Lowest0Gadsden, AL
Median11066 cities
Alabama19,982History

Top 40 cities, 2020

Huntsville, AL: 1,789 countHuntsville, AL1,789Auburn, AL: 1,521 countAuburn, AL1,521Tuscaloosa, AL: 1,024 countTuscaloosa, AL1,024Foley, AL: 751 countFoley, AL751Gulf Shores, AL: 521 countGulf Shores, AL521Daphne, AL: 515 countDaphne, AL515Madison, AL: 438 countMadison, AL438Athens, AL: 417 countAthens, AL417Opelika, AL: 409 countOpelika, AL409Hoover, AL: 399 countHoover, AL399Prattville, AL: 332 countPrattville, AL332Calera, AL: 322 countCalera, AL322Fairhope, AL: 308 countFairhope, AL308Montgomery, AL: 297 countMontgomery, AL297Gardendale, AL: 279 countGardendale, AL279Enterprise, AL: 259 countEnterprise, AL259Dothan, AL: 231 countDothan, AL231Birmingham, AL: 208 countBirmingham, AL208Helena, AL: 205 countHelena, AL205Chelsea, AL: 196 countChelsea, AL196Trussville, AL: 188 countTrussville, AL188Pike Road, AL: 187 countPike Road, AL187Muscle Shoals, AL: 163 countMuscle Shoals, AL163Alabaster, AL: 152 countAlabaster, AL152Pell City, AL: 146 countPell City, AL146Spanish Fort, AL: 140 countSpanish Fort, AL140Phenix City, AL: 139 countPhenix City, AL139Northport, AL: 135 countNorthport, AL135Cullman, AL: 127 countCullman, AL127Pelham, AL: 125 countPelham, AL125Mobile, AL: 119 countMobile, AL119Saraland, AL: 118 countSaraland, AL118Vestavia Hills, AL: 112 countVestavia Hills, AL112Moody, AL: 107 countMoody, AL107Decatur, AL: 100 countDecatur, AL100Irondale, AL: 95 countIrondale, AL95Millbrook, AL: 95 countMillbrook, AL95Oxford, AL: 67 countOxford, AL67Troy, AL: 64 countTroy, AL64Florence, AL: 63 countFlorence, AL63Huntsville, AL: 1,789 countHuntsville, AL1,789Auburn, AL: 1,521 countAuburn, AL1,521Tuscaloosa, AL: 1,024 countTuscaloosa, AL1,024Foley, AL: 751 countFoley, AL751Gulf Shores, AL: 521 countGulf Shores, AL521Daphne, AL: 515 countDaphne, AL515Madison, AL: 438 countMadison, AL438Athens, AL: 417 countAthens, AL417Opelika, AL: 409 countOpelika, AL409Hoover, AL: 399 countHoover, AL399Prattville, AL: 332 countPrattville, AL332Calera, AL: 322 countCalera, AL322Fairhope, AL: 308 countFairhope, AL308Montgomery, AL: 297 countMontgomery, AL297Gardendale, AL: 279 countGardendale, AL279Enterprise, AL: 259 countEnterprise, AL259Dothan, AL: 231 countDothan, AL231Birmingham, AL: 208 countBirmingham, AL208Helena, AL: 205 countHelena, AL205Chelsea, AL: 196 countChelsea, AL196Trussville, AL: 188 countTrussville, AL188Pike Road, AL: 187 countPike Road, AL187Muscle Shoals, AL: 163 countMuscle Shoals, AL163Alabaster, AL: 152 countAlabaster, AL152Pell City, AL: 146 countPell City, AL146Spanish Fort, AL: 140 countSpanish Fort, AL140Phenix City, AL: 139 countPhenix City, AL139Northport, AL: 135 countNorthport, AL135Cullman, AL: 127 countCullman, AL127Pelham, AL: 125 countPelham, AL125Mobile, AL: 119 countMobile, AL119Saraland, AL: 118 countSaraland, AL118Vestavia Hills, AL: 112 countVestavia Hills, AL112Moody, AL: 107 countMoody, AL107Decatur, AL: 100 countDecatur, AL100Irondale, AL: 95 countIrondale, AL95Millbrook, AL: 95 countMillbrook, AL95Oxford, AL: 67 countOxford, AL67Troy, AL: 64 countTroy, AL64Florence, AL: 63 countFlorence, AL63
count. Source: Invokely calculation with data from U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

RankCities2020
count		Change on 2019
1Huntsville, AL Estimated1,789+11.6%
2Auburn, AL Estimated1,521+3%
3Tuscaloosa, AL Estimated1,024-12.1%
4Foley, AL Estimated751+45.8%
5Gulf Shores, AL Estimated521+13.3%
6Daphne, AL Estimated515+32.4%
7Madison, AL Estimated438+18.7%
8Athens, AL Estimated417+51.1%
9Opelika, AL Estimated409+23.9%
10Hoover, AL Estimated399-12.5%
11Prattville, AL Estimated332+37.2%
12Calera, AL Estimated322+51.2%
13Fairhope, AL Estimated308-31.3%
14Montgomery, AL Estimated297+12.9%
15Gardendale, AL Estimated279+481.3%
16Enterprise, AL Estimated259-10.7%
17Dothan, AL Estimated231-6.1%
18Birmingham, AL Estimated208+6.1%
19Helena, AL Estimated205+10.2%
20Chelsea, AL Estimated196+21.7%
21Trussville, AL Estimated188-7.4%
22Pike Road, AL Estimated187-2.1%
23Muscle Shoals, AL Estimated163+19%
24Alabaster, AL Estimated152+223.4%
25Pell City, AL Estimated146+44.6%
26Spanish Fort, AL Estimated140+9.4%
27Phenix City, AL Estimated139+139.7%
28Northport, AL Estimated135-17.7%
29Cullman, AL Estimated127-39.2%
30Pelham, AL Estimated125+21.4%
31Mobile, AL Estimated119-10.5%
32Saraland, AL Estimated118+187.8%
33Vestavia Hills, AL Estimated112+24.4%
34Moody, AL Estimated107+64.6%
35Decatur, AL Estimated100+35.1%
36Irondale, AL Estimated95-12%
36Millbrook, AL Estimated95+179.4%
38Oxford, AL Estimated67+1.5%
39Troy, AL Estimated64-28.1%
40Florence, AL Estimated63-35.1%
41Hartselle, AL Estimated56+86.7%
42Clay, AL Estimated54-32.5%
43Jasper, AL Estimated48+50%
44Albertville, AL Estimated45+32.4%
44Scottsboro, AL Estimated45+114.3%
46Homewood, AL Estimated44+2.3%
47Mountain Brook, AL Estimated37+8.8%
48Leeds, AL Estimated32-15.8%
49Boaz, AL Estimated30+42.9%
50Alexander City, AL Estimated28+64.7%
51Fort Payne, AL Estimated22+22.2%
52Rainbow City, AL Estimated21n/a
53Jacksonville, AL Estimated19-34.5%
53Valley, AL Estimated19-70.8%
55Russellville, AL Estimated15+7.1%
56Ozark, AL Estimated13+116.7%
57Eufaula, AL Estimated12+33.3%
58Bessemer, AL Estimated11-71.1%
59Talladega, AL Estimated8+166.7%
60Hueytown, AL Estimated70%
61Sylacauga, AL Estimated40%
62Anniston, AL Estimated3+50%
62Prichard, AL Estimated3+50%
64Center Point, AL Estimated2-88.9%
65Selma, AL Estimated10%
66Gadsden, AL Estimated0n/a

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/so2020a.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. (2021). 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, 2020) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/South%20Region/so2020a.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, 2020. U.S. Census Bureau, 3 May 2021, https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/South%20Region/so2020a.txt. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/alabama-cities?period=2020. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

U.S. Census Bureau. 2021. 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, 2020. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/South%20Region/so2020a.txt. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/alabama-cities?period=2020.

Harvard

U.S. Census Bureau (2021) 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, 2020 [Dataset]. Available at: https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/South%20Region/so2020a.txt, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/alabama-cities?period=2020 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{census_cities_in_alabama_by_2020,
  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, 2020}},
  year = {2021},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/South%20Region/so2020a.txt},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/alabama-cities?period=2020. 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/so2020a.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, 2020
PY  - 2021
DA  - 2021/05/03
PB  - U.S. Census Bureau
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/South%20Region/so2020a.txt
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/alabama-cities?period=2020
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/alabama-cities?period=2020.
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/so2020a.txt. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
ER  -
Embed this chart

Paste this code into a web page or a blog post. The chart shows the latest figures as they are published, with the source and a link back to this page.

Sites that read oEmbed links, such as WordPress, can show the chart when you paste the link to this page.

Use this data in your AI agent

Invokely serves this figure to AI assistants through MCP and to code through a REST API, with the source and citation attached. Ask your assistant:

Rank Cities in Alabama by housing units authorized by building permits using official data, and cite the source.
rank_places {"indicator":"building_permit_units","level":"municipality","within":"Alabama","limit":10}
GET https://invokely.ai/api/v1/rank?indicator=building_permit_units&level=municipality&within=Alabama&limit=10

Connect Claude, ChatGPT or Cursor in one step. The trial answers 25 calls a day without an account.

Questions

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

Huntsville, AL, with 1,789 in 2020, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

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

Gadsden, AL, with 0 in 2020.

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