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 2017, at 6,832. Nogales, AZ had the lowest, at 2. The median was 287 and the figure for Arizona was 39,472. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

Highest6,832Phoenix, AZ

Lowest2Nogales, AZ

Median28744 cities

Arizona39,472History

All cities, 2017

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

Full ranking

Rank	Cities	2017 count	Change on 2016
1	Phoenix, AZ Estimated	6,832	-2%
2	Mesa, AZ Estimated	3,014	+7.2%
3	Peoria, AZ Estimated	2,391	+46.1%
4	Chandler, AZ Estimated	2,230	+0.7%
5	Buckeye, AZ Estimated	2,195	+44.3%
6	Tucson, AZ Estimated	2,047	+169.7%
7	Gilbert, AZ Estimated	1,709	-32.7%
8	Goodyear, AZ Estimated	1,434	+27.1%
9	Queen Creek, AZ Estimated	1,076	-1.8%
10	Surprise, AZ Estimated	951	+52.6%
11	Prescott Valley, AZ Estimated	937	+35%
12	Maricopa, AZ Estimated	844	+61.1%
13	Marana, AZ Estimated	788	+32.2%
14	Tempe, AZ Estimated	708	-55.3%
15	Glendale, AZ Estimated	643	+251.4%
16	Scottsdale, AZ Estimated	632	-59.2%
17	Yuma, AZ Estimated	614	+34.6%
18	Flagstaff, AZ Estimated	499	+6.4%
19	Lake Havasu City, AZ Estimated	341	+4.6%
20	Oro Valley, AZ Estimated	335	+90.3%
20	Prescott, AZ Estimated	335	-2.3%
22	Sahuarita, AZ Estimated	287	+14.8%
23	Kingman, AZ Estimated	286	+54.6%
24	Avondale, AZ Estimated	252	-29%
25	San Luis, AZ Estimated	248	+28.5%
26	Florence, AZ Estimated	218	+16.6%
27	Bullhead City, AZ Estimated	143	+62.5%
28	Chino Valley, AZ Estimated	139	+71.6%
29	Eloy, AZ Estimated	117	+34.5%
30	Casa Grande, AZ Estimated	114	-16.2%
30	Somerton, AZ Estimated	114	+4.6%
32	Show Low, AZ Estimated	113	+71.2%
33	Payson, AZ Estimated	88	+29.4%
34	Paradise Valley, AZ Estimated	86	-31.2%
35	Fountain Hills, AZ Estimated	82	+67.3%
36	Sierra Vista, AZ Estimated	63	+5%
37	Cottonwood, AZ Estimated	50	+11.1%
38	Apache Junction, AZ Estimated	42	-19.2%
39	Safford, AZ Estimated	19	+46.2%
40	Camp Verde, AZ Estimated	16	+23.1%
41	Douglas, AZ Estimated	12	+140%
42	Coolidge, AZ Estimated	11	+57.1%
43	El Mirage, AZ Estimated	9	+200%
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/we2017a.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. (2018). 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, 2017) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/West%20Region/we2017a.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, 2017. U.S. Census Bureau, 1 May 2018, https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/West%20Region/we2017a.txt. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/arizona-cities?period=2017. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

U.S. Census Bureau. 2018. 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, 2017. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/West%20Region/we2017a.txt. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/arizona-cities?period=2017.

Harvard

U.S. Census Bureau (2018) 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, 2017 [Dataset]. Available at: https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/West%20Region/we2017a.txt, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/arizona-cities?period=2017 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX

@misc{census_cities_in_arizona_by_2017,
  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, 2017}},
  year = {2018},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/West%20Region/we2017a.txt},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/arizona-cities?period=2017. 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/we2017a.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, 2017
PY  - 2018
DA  - 2018/05/01
PB  - U.S. Census Bureau
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/West%20Region/we2017a.txt
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/arizona-cities?period=2017
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/arizona-cities?period=2017.
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/we2017a.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.

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Questions

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

Phoenix, AZ, with 6,832 in 2017, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

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

Nogales, AZ, with 2 in 2017.

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.