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 2021, at 11,492. Nogales, AZ had the lowest, at 13. The median was 499 and the figure for Arizona was 65,334. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

Highest11,492Phoenix, AZ

Lowest13Nogales, AZ

Median49944 cities

Arizona65,334History

All cities, 2021

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

Full ranking

Rank	Cities	2021 count	Change on 2020
1	Phoenix, AZ Estimated	11,492	-1.3%
2	Mesa, AZ Estimated	4,635	+3.4%
3	Goodyear, AZ Estimated	3,233	+17.1%
4	Surprise, AZ Estimated	2,699	+7.3%
5	Queen Creek, AZ Estimated	2,639	+31.9%
6	Buckeye, AZ Estimated	2,618	-21.6%
7	Tucson, AZ Estimated	2,093	+19.3%
8	Chandler, AZ Estimated	2,083	+9.6%
9	Gilbert, AZ Estimated	1,919	-27%
10	Peoria, AZ Estimated	1,903	+22.5%
11	Maricopa, AZ Estimated	1,846	+21.9%
12	Tempe, AZ Estimated	1,758	+31.3%
13	Scottsdale, AZ Estimated	1,700	-44.9%
14	Casa Grande, AZ Estimated	1,539	+44.2%
15	Marana, AZ Estimated	1,461	+60%
16	Prescott Valley, AZ Estimated	832	+31.4%
17	Yuma, AZ Estimated	823	+25.1%
18	Coolidge, AZ Estimated	776	+11.3%
19	Avondale, AZ Estimated	743	-17.7%
20	Glendale, AZ Estimated	713	+30.1%
21	Flagstaff, AZ Estimated	657	+11.7%
22	Sahuarita, AZ Estimated	533	-7.8%
23	Lake Havasu City, AZ Estimated	464	+10.5%
24	Prescott, AZ Estimated	461	+9.5%
25	Bullhead City, AZ Estimated	400	+31.1%
26	Florence, AZ Estimated	386	-3.3%
27	Kingman, AZ Estimated	374	-8.1%
28	Oro Valley, AZ Estimated	340	-11.7%
29	Eloy, AZ Estimated	301	+159.5%
30	Cottonwood, AZ Estimated	270	+309.1%
31	San Luis, AZ Estimated	255	-30.3%
32	Apache Junction, AZ Estimated	254	+66%
33	Show Low, AZ Estimated	200	+19.8%
34	Fountain Hills, AZ Estimated	192	+44.4%
35	El Mirage, AZ Estimated	155	+252.3%
36	Paradise Valley, AZ Estimated	111	+37%
37	Payson, AZ Estimated	107	+18.9%
38	Chino Valley, AZ Estimated	90	-22.4%
39	Sierra Vista, AZ Estimated	55	-43.3%
40	Somerton, AZ Estimated	33	-57.7%
41	Safford, AZ Estimated	30	-54.5%
42	Camp Verde, AZ Estimated	26	+13%
43	Douglas, AZ Estimated	13	+18.2%
43	Nogales, AZ Estimated	13	-43.5%

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/we2021a.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. (2022). 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, 2021) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/West%20Region/we2021a.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, 2021. U.S. Census Bureau, 27 Apr. 2022, https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/West%20Region/we2021a.txt. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/arizona-cities?period=2021. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

U.S. Census Bureau. 2022. 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, 2021. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/West%20Region/we2021a.txt. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/arizona-cities?period=2021.

Harvard

U.S. Census Bureau (2022) 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, 2021 [Dataset]. Available at: https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/West%20Region/we2021a.txt, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/arizona-cities?period=2021 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX

@misc{census_cities_in_arizona_by_2021,
  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, 2021}},
  year = {2022},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/West%20Region/we2021a.txt},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/arizona-cities?period=2021. 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/we2021a.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, 2021
PY  - 2022
DA  - 2022/04/27
PB  - U.S. Census Bureau
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/West%20Region/we2021a.txt
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/arizona-cities?period=2021
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/arizona-cities?period=2021.
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/we2021a.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 11,492 in 2021, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

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

Nogales, AZ, with 13 in 2021.

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.