Cities in Arizona by housing units authorized by building permits, 2025

Phoenix, AZ had the highest housing units authorized by building permits of 44 cities in 2025, at 10,395. El Mirage, AZ had the lowest, at 4. The median was 342 and the figure for Arizona was 51,532. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

Highest10,395Phoenix, AZ

Lowest4El Mirage, AZ

Median34244 cities

Arizona51,532History

All cities, 2025

count. Source: Invokely calculation with data from U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

Rank	Cities	2025 count	Change on 2024
1	Phoenix, AZ Estimated	10,395	+15.5%
2	Surprise, AZ Estimated	3,355	-3.9%
3	Goodyear, AZ Estimated	2,209	-30.9%
4	Buckeye, AZ Estimated	2,136	-31.3%
5	Scottsdale, AZ Estimated	2,061	+56.1%
6	Mesa, AZ Estimated	2,015	-26.3%
7	Queen Creek, AZ Estimated	1,571	-13.3%
8	Tucson, AZ Estimated	1,505	0%
9	Tempe, AZ Estimated	1,287	+19.7%
10	Maricopa, AZ Estimated	1,218	-38.8%
11	Peoria, AZ Estimated	1,184	-37.7%
12	Apache Junction, AZ Estimated	1,124	-1.4%
13	Gilbert, AZ Estimated	1,043	-43.9%
14	Avondale, AZ Estimated	950	-38.9%
15	Marana, AZ Estimated	918	-40.5%
16	Yuma, AZ Estimated	832	+21.3%
17	Chandler, AZ Estimated	719	-29.5%
18	Prescott, AZ Estimated	686	+56.3%
19	Flagstaff, AZ Estimated	485	-13.7%
20	Glendale, AZ Estimated	476	-65.4%
21	Oro Valley, AZ Estimated	423	+162.7%
22	Sahuarita, AZ Estimated	362	+16%
23	Casa Grande, AZ Estimated	322	-73.1%
24	Prescott Valley, AZ Estimated	291	-46.9%
25	Coolidge, AZ Estimated	289	+1.4%
26	Bullhead City, AZ Estimated	273	-34.2%
27	Lake Havasu City, AZ Estimated	270	+34.3%
28	Florence, AZ Estimated	258	-26.9%
29	Eloy, AZ Estimated	230	+52.3%
30	San Luis, AZ Estimated	175	-69.1%
31	Kingman, AZ Estimated	141	-28.1%
32	Show Low, AZ Estimated	135	+19.5%
33	Cottonwood, AZ Estimated	82	+34.4%
34	Paradise Valley, AZ Estimated	75	+1.4%
35	Payson, AZ Estimated	69	-11.5%
36	Fountain Hills, AZ Estimated	67	+9.8%
37	Chino Valley, AZ Estimated	56	-31.7%
38	Safford, AZ Estimated	47	+370%
39	Somerton, AZ Estimated	32	+220%
40	Camp Verde, AZ Estimated	30	-91.7%
41	Sierra Vista, AZ Estimated	25	+400%
42	Douglas, AZ Estimated	20	+42.9%
43	Nogales, AZ Estimated	8	-57.9%
44	El Mirage, AZ Estimated	4	+33.3%

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/West%20Region/we2025a.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. (2026). Building Permits Survey: final annual estimates of new privately owned housing units authorized by permit-issuing place, including imputation (Cities in Arizona by housing units authorized by building permits, 2025) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/West%20Region/we2025a.txt

MLA 9

Building Permits Survey: final annual estimates of new privately owned housing units authorized by permit-issuing place, including imputation, Cities in Arizona by housing units authorized by building permits, 2025. U.S. Census Bureau, 14 May 2026, https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/West%20Region/we2025a.txt. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/arizona-cities. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

U.S. Census Bureau. 2026. Building Permits Survey: final annual estimates of new privately owned housing units authorized by permit-issuing place, including imputation. Cities in Arizona by housing units authorized by building permits, 2025. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/West%20Region/we2025a.txt. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/arizona-cities.

Harvard

U.S. Census Bureau (2026) Building Permits Survey: final annual estimates of new privately owned housing units authorized by permit-issuing place, including imputation, Cities in Arizona by housing units authorized by building permits, 2025 [Dataset]. Available at: https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/West%20Region/we2025a.txt, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/arizona-cities (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX

@misc{census_cities_in_arizona_by_2025,
  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 Arizona by housing units authorized by building permits, 2025}},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/West%20Region/we2025a.txt},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/arizona-cities. 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/West\%20Region/we2025a.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 Arizona by housing units authorized by building permits, 2025
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/05/14
PB  - U.S. Census Bureau
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/West%20Region/we2025a.txt
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/arizona-cities
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/arizona-cities.
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/West%20Region/we2025a.txt. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
ER  -

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Questions

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

Phoenix, AZ, with 10,395 in 2025, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

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

El Mirage, AZ, with 4 in 2025.

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.