Cities in Arizona by housing units authorized by building permits

Phoenix, AZ had the highest housing units authorized by building permits of 44 cities in 2014, at 5,138. Nogales, AZ had the lowest, at 2. The median was 141 and the figure for Arizona was 26,997. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

Highest5,138Phoenix, AZ

Lowest2Nogales, AZ

Median14144 cities

Arizona26,997History

All cities, 2014

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

Full ranking

Rank	Cities	2014 count	Change on 2013
1	Phoenix, AZ Estimated	5,138	+64.1%
2	Scottsdale, AZ Estimated	2,517	-3.8%
3	Tempe, AZ Estimated	2,120	+123.6%
4	Chandler, AZ Estimated	1,683	+25.7%
5	Gilbert, AZ Estimated	1,484	-31.5%
6	Tucson, AZ Estimated	1,471	+6.2%
7	Peoria, AZ Estimated	1,039	+14.2%
8	Mesa, AZ Estimated	1,010	-10.7%
9	Goodyear, AZ Estimated	842	-9.1%
10	Buckeye, AZ Estimated	749	-3.1%
11	Queen Creek, AZ Estimated	693	+7.4%
12	Marana, AZ Estimated	639	-9%
13	Flagstaff, AZ Estimated	383	+54.4%
14	Prescott Valley, AZ Estimated	337	+16.6%
15	Surprise, AZ Estimated	320	-45.8%
16	Yuma, AZ Estimated	300	-6.5%
17	Maricopa, AZ Estimated	284	-36.3%
18	Lake Havasu City, AZ Estimated	246	+2.9%
19	Prescott, AZ Estimated	204	-12.8%
20	Sahuarita, AZ Estimated	183	-23.8%
21	Kingman, AZ Estimated	149	+39.3%
22	Florence, AZ Estimated	146	-19.8%
23	San Luis, AZ Estimated	136	+15.3%
24	Oro Valley, AZ Estimated	134	-14.6%
25	Casa Grande, AZ Estimated	106	-30.7%
26	Eloy, AZ Estimated	87	-16.3%
26	Sierra Vista, AZ Estimated	87	-3.3%
28	Douglas, AZ Estimated	76	+406.7%
29	El Mirage, AZ Estimated	69	+7.8%
30	Somerton, AZ Estimated	65	-19.8%
31	Payson, AZ Estimated	63	+80%
32	Bullhead City, AZ Estimated	61	+13%
33	Show Low, AZ Estimated	55	+57.1%
34	Paradise Valley, AZ Estimated	50	+22%
35	Fountain Hills, AZ Estimated	48	+41.2%
36	Avondale, AZ Estimated	42	-25%
37	Apache Junction, AZ Estimated	41	-52.9%
38	Chino Valley, AZ Estimated	29	+45%
38	Cottonwood, AZ Estimated	29	-3.3%
40	Safford, AZ Estimated	26	0%
41	Glendale, AZ Estimated	21	-91.2%
42	Camp Verde, AZ Estimated	9	-71%
43	Coolidge, AZ Estimated	5	+66.7%
44	Nogales, AZ Estimated	2	-66.7%

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/we2014a.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. (2016). 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, 2014) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/West%20Region/we2014a.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, 2014. U.S. Census Bureau, 30 Sept. 2016, https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/West%20Region/we2014a.txt. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/arizona-cities?period=2014. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

U.S. Census Bureau. 2016. 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, 2014. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/West%20Region/we2014a.txt. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/arizona-cities?period=2014.

Harvard

U.S. Census Bureau (2016) 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, 2014 [Dataset]. Available at: https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/West%20Region/we2014a.txt, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/arizona-cities?period=2014 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX

@misc{census_cities_in_arizona_by_2014,
  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, 2014}},
  year = {2016},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/West%20Region/we2014a.txt},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/arizona-cities?period=2014. 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/we2014a.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, 2014
PY  - 2016
DA  - 2016/09/30
PB  - U.S. Census Bureau
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/West%20Region/we2014a.txt
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/arizona-cities?period=2014
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/arizona-cities?period=2014.
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/we2014a.txt. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
ER  -

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Rank Cities in Arizona by housing units authorized by building permits using official data, and cite the source.

rank_places {"indicator":"building_permit_units","level":"municipality","within":"Arizona","limit":10}
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Questions

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

Phoenix, AZ, with 5,138 in 2014, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

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

Nogales, AZ, with 2 in 2014.

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.