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 2019, at 9,898. Nogales, AZ had the lowest, at 2. The median was 348 and the figure for Arizona was 46,580. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

Highest9,898Phoenix, AZ

Lowest2Nogales, AZ

Median34844 cities

Arizona46,580History

All cities, 2019

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

Full ranking

Rank	Cities	2019 count	Change on 2018
1	Phoenix, AZ Estimated	9,898	+36.3%
2	Buckeye, AZ Estimated	2,652	+20.9%
3	Goodyear, AZ Estimated	2,058	+54.5%
4	Peoria, AZ Estimated	1,990	+39.4%
5	Mesa, AZ Estimated	1,985	-32%
6	Surprise, AZ Estimated	1,944	+37.4%
7	Tucson, AZ Estimated	1,816	+17.9%
8	Gilbert, AZ Estimated	1,705	-4.7%
9	Queen Creek, AZ Estimated	1,485	+14.6%
10	Tempe, AZ Estimated	1,401	-20.4%
11	Scottsdale, AZ Estimated	1,259	+6.8%
12	Chandler, AZ Estimated	1,033	-22.4%
13	Maricopa, AZ Estimated	1,003	+1.5%
14	Marana, AZ Estimated	808	-27.1%
15	Prescott Valley, AZ Estimated	720	+33.3%
16	Glendale, AZ Estimated	583	+205.2%
17	Casa Grande, AZ Estimated	567	+125%
18	Prescott, AZ Estimated	542	-21.7%
19	Yuma, AZ Estimated	536	+10.1%
20	Flagstaff, AZ Estimated	472	+25.9%
21	Florence, AZ Estimated	385	+65.2%
22	Lake Havasu City, AZ Estimated	353	-16.9%
23	Sahuarita, AZ Estimated	342	-6.6%
24	San Luis, AZ Estimated	339	+15.3%
25	Kingman, AZ Estimated	295	+7.7%
26	Bullhead City, AZ Estimated	248	+54%
27	Cottonwood, AZ Estimated	247	+243.1%
28	Coolidge, AZ Estimated	241	+402.1%
29	Oro Valley, AZ Estimated	221	-33.2%
30	Eloy, AZ Estimated	127	-5.9%
31	El Mirage, AZ Estimated	123	+2,975%
32	Show Low, AZ Estimated	115	-2.5%
33	Apache Junction, AZ Estimated	108	-33.7%
34	Avondale, AZ Estimated	104	-55.2%
35	Paradise Valley, AZ Estimated	95	-23.4%
36	Chino Valley, AZ Estimated	78	-58.1%
37	Payson, AZ Estimated	76	-19.1%
38	Sierra Vista, AZ Estimated	75	+10.3%
39	Fountain Hills, AZ Estimated	65	-24.4%
40	Safford, AZ Estimated	44	+46.7%
41	Somerton, AZ Estimated	39	-7.1%
42	Camp Verde, AZ Estimated	21	+5%
43	Douglas, AZ Estimated	9	-47.1%
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/we2019a.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. (2020). 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, 2019) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/West%20Region/we2019a.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, 2019. U.S. Census Bureau, 1 May 2020, https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/West%20Region/we2019a.txt. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/arizona-cities?period=2019. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

U.S. Census Bureau. 2020. 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, 2019. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/West%20Region/we2019a.txt. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/arizona-cities?period=2019.

Harvard

U.S. Census Bureau (2020) 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, 2019 [Dataset]. Available at: https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/West%20Region/we2019a.txt, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/arizona-cities?period=2019 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX

@misc{census_cities_in_arizona_by_2019,
  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, 2019}},
  year = {2020},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/West%20Region/we2019a.txt},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/arizona-cities?period=2019. 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/we2019a.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, 2019
PY  - 2020
DA  - 2020/05/01
PB  - U.S. Census Bureau
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/West%20Region/we2019a.txt
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/arizona-cities?period=2019
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/arizona-cities?period=2019.
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/we2019a.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 9,898 in 2019, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

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

Nogales, AZ, with 2 in 2019.

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.