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

Cities in Alabama by housing units authorized by building permits

Auburn, AL had the highest housing units authorized by building permits of 66 cities in 2022, at 1,358. Sylacauga, AL had the lowest, at 0. The median was 76 and the figure for Alabama was 19,499. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

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Highest1,358Auburn, AL
Lowest0Sylacauga, AL
Median7666 cities
Alabama19,499History

Top 40 cities, 2022

Auburn, AL: 1,358 countAuburn, AL1,358Birmingham, AL: 1,211 countBirmingham, AL1,211Huntsville, AL: 1,130 countHuntsville, AL1,130Athens, AL: 844 countAthens, AL844Tuscaloosa, AL: 628 countTuscaloosa, AL628Foley, AL: 579 countFoley, AL579Opelika, AL: 562 countOpelika, AL562Fairhope, AL: 519 countFairhope, AL519Gulf Shores, AL: 513 countGulf Shores, AL513Hoover, AL: 314 countHoover, AL314Madison, AL: 293 countMadison, AL293Daphne, AL: 292 countDaphne, AL292Cullman, AL: 277 countCullman, AL277Montgomery, AL: 275 countMontgomery, AL275Phenix City, AL: 262 countPhenix City, AL262Dothan, AL: 224 countDothan, AL224Prattville, AL: 210 countPrattville, AL210Pike Road, AL: 208 countPike Road, AL208Trussville, AL: 203 countTrussville, AL203Chelsea, AL: 196 countChelsea, AL196Northport, AL: 190 countNorthport, AL190Enterprise, AL: 157 countEnterprise, AL157Irondale, AL: 156 countIrondale, AL156Florence, AL: 152 countFlorence, AL152Decatur, AL: 149 countDecatur, AL149Pell City, AL: 144 countPell City, AL144Pelham, AL: 138 countPelham, AL138Calera, AL: 125 countCalera, AL125Spanish Fort, AL: 115 countSpanish Fort, AL115Hartselle, AL: 98 countHartselle, AL98Mobile, AL: 84 countMobile, AL84Leeds, AL: 82 countLeeds, AL82Helena, AL: 81 countHelena, AL81Muscle Shoals, AL: 70 countMuscle Shoals, AL70Alabaster, AL: 67 countAlabaster, AL67Vestavia Hills, AL: 66 countVestavia Hills, AL66Millbrook, AL: 65 countMillbrook, AL65Troy, AL: 58 countTroy, AL58Albertville, AL: 55 countAlbertville, AL55Jasper, AL: 53 countJasper, AL53Auburn, AL: 1,358 countAuburn, AL1,358Birmingham, AL: 1,211 countBirmingham, AL1,211Huntsville, AL: 1,130 countHuntsville, AL1,130Athens, AL: 844 countAthens, AL844Tuscaloosa, AL: 628 countTuscaloosa, AL628Foley, AL: 579 countFoley, AL579Opelika, AL: 562 countOpelika, AL562Fairhope, AL: 519 countFairhope, AL519Gulf Shores, AL: 513 countGulf Shores, AL513Hoover, AL: 314 countHoover, AL314Madison, AL: 293 countMadison, AL293Daphne, AL: 292 countDaphne, AL292Cullman, AL: 277 countCullman, AL277Montgomery, AL: 275 countMontgomery, AL275Phenix City, AL: 262 countPhenix City, AL262Dothan, AL: 224 countDothan, AL224Prattville, AL: 210 countPrattville, AL210Pike Road, AL: 208 countPike Road, AL208Trussville, AL: 203 countTrussville, AL203Chelsea, AL: 196 countChelsea, AL196Northport, AL: 190 countNorthport, AL190Enterprise, AL: 157 countEnterprise, AL157Irondale, AL: 156 countIrondale, AL156Florence, AL: 152 countFlorence, AL152Decatur, AL: 149 countDecatur, AL149Pell City, AL: 144 countPell City, AL144Pelham, AL: 138 countPelham, AL138Calera, AL: 125 countCalera, AL125Spanish Fort, AL: 115 countSpanish Fort, AL115Hartselle, AL: 98 countHartselle, AL98Mobile, AL: 84 countMobile, AL84Leeds, AL: 82 countLeeds, AL82Helena, AL: 81 countHelena, AL81Muscle Shoals, AL: 70 countMuscle Shoals, AL70Alabaster, AL: 67 countAlabaster, AL67Vestavia Hills, AL: 66 countVestavia Hills, AL66Millbrook, AL: 65 countMillbrook, AL65Troy, AL: 58 countTroy, AL58Albertville, AL: 55 countAlbertville, AL55Jasper, AL: 53 countJasper, AL53
count. Source: Invokely calculation with data from U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

RankCities2022
count		Change on 2021
1Auburn, AL Estimated1,358+65.6%
2Birmingham, AL Estimated1,211+90.1%
3Huntsville, AL Estimated1,130-59.8%
4Athens, AL Estimated844+35.3%
5Tuscaloosa, AL Estimated628-44.2%
6Foley, AL Estimated579-24.3%
7Opelika, AL Estimated562-11.1%
8Fairhope, AL Estimated519+80.2%
9Gulf Shores, AL Estimated513+8.9%
10Hoover, AL Estimated314-18.4%
11Madison, AL Estimated293-63.4%
12Daphne, AL Estimated292-34.1%
13Cullman, AL Estimated277+44.3%
14Montgomery, AL Estimated275-2.5%
15Phenix City, AL Estimated262+122%
16Dothan, AL Estimated224-10%
17Prattville, AL Estimated210-24.2%
18Pike Road, AL Estimated208-31.8%
19Trussville, AL Estimated203-0.5%
20Chelsea, AL Estimated196-3%
21Northport, AL Estimated190+8.6%
22Enterprise, AL Estimated157-5.4%
23Irondale, AL Estimated156+387.5%
24Florence, AL Estimated152+33.3%
25Decatur, AL Estimated149+36.7%
26Pell City, AL Estimated144-25.8%
27Pelham, AL Estimated138+6.2%
28Calera, AL Estimated125-42.1%
29Spanish Fort, AL Estimated115+8.5%
30Hartselle, AL Estimated98+60.7%
31Mobile, AL Estimated84-15.2%
32Leeds, AL Estimated82-25.5%
33Helena, AL Estimated81-47.4%
34Muscle Shoals, AL Estimated70-62%
35Alabaster, AL Estimated67-16.3%
36Vestavia Hills, AL Estimated66+94.1%
37Millbrook, AL Estimated65-31.6%
38Troy, AL Estimated58-28.4%
39Albertville, AL Estimated55+66.7%
40Jasper, AL Estimated53+43.2%
41Scottsboro, AL Estimated46+17.9%
42Saraland, AL Estimated39-60.2%
43Alexander City, AL Estimated33-66.3%
43Rainbow City, AL Estimated33-51.5%
45Jacksonville, AL Estimated30+30.4%
46Homewood, AL Estimated26+8.3%
46Mountain Brook, AL Estimated26-16.1%
46Oxford, AL Estimated26-10.3%
49Gardendale, AL Estimated23-17.9%
50Eufaula, AL Estimated20+66.7%
51Bessemer, AL Estimated19-20.8%
51Gadsden, AL Estimated19n/a
53Fort Payne, AL Estimated18-30.8%
54Clay, AL Estimated16-71.9%
55Valley, AL Estimated15+66.7%
56Ozark, AL Estimated140%
57Moody, AL Estimated13-84.9%
57Russellville, AL Estimated13-23.5%
59Boaz, AL Estimated11-8.3%
60Hueytown, AL Estimated10-58.3%
61Talladega, AL Estimated7+75%
62Anniston, AL Estimated5+66.7%
63Center Point, AL Estimated4-55.6%
64Prichard, AL Estimated0-100%
64Selma, AL Estimated0-100%
64Sylacauga, 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/so2022a.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. (2024). 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, 2022) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/South%20Region/so2022a.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, 2022. U.S. Census Bureau, 2 Apr. 2024, https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/South%20Region/so2022a.txt. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/alabama-cities?period=2022. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

U.S. Census Bureau. 2024. 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, 2022. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/South%20Region/so2022a.txt. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/alabama-cities?period=2022.

Harvard

U.S. Census Bureau (2024) 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, 2022 [Dataset]. Available at: https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/South%20Region/so2022a.txt, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/alabama-cities?period=2022 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{census_cities_in_alabama_by_2022,
  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, 2022}},
  year = {2024},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/South%20Region/so2022a.txt},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/alabama-cities?period=2022. 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/so2022a.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, 2022
PY  - 2024
DA  - 2024/04/02
PB  - U.S. Census Bureau
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/South%20Region/so2022a.txt
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/alabama-cities?period=2022
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/alabama-cities?period=2022.
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/so2022a.txt. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
ER  -
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Questions

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

Auburn, AL, with 1,358 in 2022, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

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

Sylacauga, AL, with 0 in 2022.

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