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 2020, at 11,647. Douglas, AZ had the lowest, at 11. The median was 485 and the figure for Arizona was 60,342. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

Highest11,647Phoenix, AZ

Lowest11Douglas, AZ

Median48544 cities

Arizona60,342History

All cities, 2020

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

Full ranking

Rank	Cities	2020 count	Change on 2019
1	Phoenix, AZ Estimated	11,647	+17.7%
2	Mesa, AZ Estimated	4,484	+125.9%
3	Buckeye, AZ Estimated	3,341	+26%
4	Scottsdale, AZ Estimated	3,086	+145.1%
5	Goodyear, AZ Estimated	2,760	+34.1%
6	Gilbert, AZ Estimated	2,630	+54.3%
7	Surprise, AZ Estimated	2,515	+29.4%
8	Queen Creek, AZ Estimated	2,001	+34.7%
9	Chandler, AZ Estimated	1,901	+84%
10	Tucson, AZ Estimated	1,755	-3.4%
11	Peoria, AZ Estimated	1,554	-21.9%
12	Maricopa, AZ Estimated	1,514	+50.9%
13	Tempe, AZ Estimated	1,339	-4.4%
14	Casa Grande, AZ Estimated	1,067	+88.2%
15	Marana, AZ Estimated	913	+13%
16	Avondale, AZ Estimated	903	+768.3%
17	Coolidge, AZ Estimated	697	+189.2%
18	Yuma, AZ Estimated	658	+22.8%
19	Prescott Valley, AZ Estimated	633	-12.1%
20	Flagstaff, AZ Estimated	588	+24.6%
21	Sahuarita, AZ Estimated	578	+69%
22	Glendale, AZ Estimated	548	-6%
23	Prescott, AZ Estimated	421	-22.3%
24	Lake Havasu City, AZ Estimated	420	+19%
25	Kingman, AZ Estimated	407	+38%
26	Florence, AZ Estimated	399	+3.6%
27	Oro Valley, AZ Estimated	385	+74.2%
28	San Luis, AZ Estimated	366	+8%
29	Bullhead City, AZ Estimated	305	+23%
30	Show Low, AZ Estimated	167	+45.2%
31	Apache Junction, AZ Estimated	153	+41.7%
32	Fountain Hills, AZ Estimated	133	+104.6%
33	Chino Valley, AZ Estimated	116	+48.7%
33	Eloy, AZ Estimated	116	-8.7%
35	Sierra Vista, AZ Estimated	97	+29.3%
36	Payson, AZ Estimated	90	+18.4%
37	Paradise Valley, AZ Estimated	81	-14.7%
38	Somerton, AZ Estimated	78	+100%
39	Cottonwood, AZ Estimated	66	-73.3%
39	Safford, AZ Estimated	66	+50%
41	El Mirage, AZ Estimated	44	-64.2%
42	Camp Verde, AZ Estimated	23	+9.5%
42	Nogales, AZ Estimated	23	+1,050%
44	Douglas, AZ Estimated	11	+22.2%

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/we2020a.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. (2021). 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, 2020) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/West%20Region/we2020a.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, 2020. U.S. Census Bureau, 3 May 2021, https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/West%20Region/we2020a.txt. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/arizona-cities?period=2020. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

U.S. Census Bureau. 2021. 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, 2020. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/West%20Region/we2020a.txt. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/arizona-cities?period=2020.

Harvard

U.S. Census Bureau (2021) 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, 2020 [Dataset]. Available at: https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/West%20Region/we2020a.txt, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/arizona-cities?period=2020 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX

@misc{census_cities_in_arizona_by_2020,
  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, 2020}},
  year = {2021},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/West%20Region/we2020a.txt},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/arizona-cities?period=2020. 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/we2020a.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, 2020
PY  - 2021
DA  - 2021/05/03
PB  - U.S. Census Bureau
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/West%20Region/we2020a.txt
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/arizona-cities?period=2020
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/arizona-cities?period=2020.
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/we2020a.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 11,647 in 2020, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

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

Douglas, AZ, with 11 in 2020.

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.