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 2016, at 6,972. Nogales, AZ had the lowest, at 2. The median was 190 and the figure for Arizona was 35,578. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

Highest6,972Phoenix, AZ

Lowest2Nogales, AZ

Median19044 cities

Arizona35,578History

All cities, 2016

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

Full ranking

Rank	Cities	2016 count	Change on 2015
1	Phoenix, AZ Estimated	6,972	+51.2%
2	Mesa, AZ Estimated	2,811	+4.4%
3	Gilbert, AZ Estimated	2,539	+30.3%
4	Chandler, AZ Estimated	2,215	+4.4%
5	Peoria, AZ Estimated	1,636	+2.3%
6	Tempe, AZ Estimated	1,585	+69%
7	Scottsdale, AZ Estimated	1,549	+111.3%
8	Buckeye, AZ Estimated	1,521	+37.5%
9	Goodyear, AZ Estimated	1,128	-5.5%
10	Queen Creek, AZ Estimated	1,096	+11%
11	Tucson, AZ Estimated	759	+35.5%
12	Prescott Valley, AZ Estimated	694	+64.8%
13	Surprise, AZ Estimated	623	+2.3%
14	Marana, AZ Estimated	596	-5.8%
15	Maricopa, AZ Estimated	524	+62.7%
16	Flagstaff, AZ Estimated	469	+18.4%
17	Yuma, AZ Estimated	456	+19.1%
18	Avondale, AZ Estimated	355	+188.6%
19	Prescott, AZ Estimated	343	-22.4%
20	Lake Havasu City, AZ Estimated	326	+12%
21	Sahuarita, AZ Estimated	250	-7.7%
22	San Luis, AZ Estimated	193	+32.2%
23	Florence, AZ Estimated	187	+5.6%
24	Kingman, AZ Estimated	185	-10.6%
25	Glendale, AZ Estimated	183	-59.1%
26	Oro Valley, AZ Estimated	176	+10.7%
27	Casa Grande, AZ Estimated	136	+52.8%
28	Paradise Valley, AZ Estimated	125	+92.3%
29	Somerton, AZ Estimated	109	-16.2%
30	Bullhead City, AZ Estimated	88	+11.4%
31	Eloy, AZ Estimated	87	+10.1%
32	Chino Valley, AZ Estimated	81	+138.2%
33	Payson, AZ Estimated	68	+6.3%
34	Show Low, AZ Estimated	66	+26.9%
35	Sierra Vista, AZ Estimated	60	+1.7%
36	Apache Junction, AZ Estimated	52	+30%
37	Fountain Hills, AZ Estimated	49	+6.5%
38	Cottonwood, AZ Estimated	45	-54.5%
39	Camp Verde, AZ Estimated	13	+18.2%
39	Safford, AZ Estimated	13	-40.9%
41	Coolidge, AZ Estimated	7	+75%
42	Douglas, AZ Estimated	5	-93.9%
43	El Mirage, AZ Estimated	3	0%
44	Nogales, AZ Estimated	2	0%

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/we2016a.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. (2017). 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, 2016) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/West%20Region/we2016a.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, 2016. U.S. Census Bureau, 1 May 2017, https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/West%20Region/we2016a.txt. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/arizona-cities?period=2016. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

U.S. Census Bureau. 2017. 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, 2016. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/West%20Region/we2016a.txt. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/arizona-cities?period=2016.

Harvard

U.S. Census Bureau (2017) 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, 2016 [Dataset]. Available at: https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/West%20Region/we2016a.txt, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/arizona-cities?period=2016 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX

@misc{census_cities_in_arizona_by_2016,
  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, 2016}},
  year = {2017},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/West%20Region/we2016a.txt},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/arizona-cities?period=2016. 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/we2016a.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, 2016
PY  - 2017
DA  - 2017/05/01
PB  - U.S. Census Bureau
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/West%20Region/we2016a.txt
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/arizona-cities?period=2016
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/arizona-cities?period=2016.
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/we2016a.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 6,972 in 2016, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

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

Nogales, AZ, with 2 in 2016.

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.