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 2022, at 14,598. Nogales, AZ had the lowest, at 12. The median was 373 and the figure for Arizona was 61,531. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

Highest14,598Phoenix, AZ

Lowest12Nogales, AZ

Median37344 cities

Arizona61,531History

All cities, 2022

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

Full ranking

Rank	Cities	2022 count	Change on 2021
1	Phoenix, AZ Estimated	14,598	+27%
2	Mesa, AZ Estimated	3,668	-20.9%
3	Surprise, AZ Estimated	3,026	+12.1%
4	Avondale, AZ Estimated	2,779	+274%
5	Buckeye, AZ Estimated	2,193	-16.2%
6	Maricopa, AZ Estimated	2,146	+16.3%
7	Queen Creek, AZ Estimated	2,044	-22.5%
8	Tucson, AZ Estimated	1,880	-10.2%
9	Tempe, AZ Estimated	1,745	-0.7%
10	Marana, AZ Estimated	1,601	+9.6%
11	Goodyear, AZ Estimated	1,526	-52.8%
12	Glendale, AZ Estimated	1,445	+102.7%
13	Gilbert, AZ Estimated	1,440	-25%
14	Casa Grande, AZ Estimated	1,179	-23.4%
15	Prescott Valley, AZ Estimated	1,012	+21.6%
16	Peoria, AZ Estimated	817	-57.1%
17	Scottsdale, AZ Estimated	799	-53%
18	Flagstaff, AZ Estimated	460	-30%
19	Sahuarita, AZ Estimated	452	-15.2%
20	Coolidge, AZ Estimated	444	-42.8%
21	Lake Havasu City, AZ Estimated	426	-8.2%
22	Yuma, AZ Estimated	419	-49.1%
23	Chandler, AZ Estimated	327	-84.3%
24	Bullhead City, AZ Estimated	325	-18.8%
25	El Mirage, AZ Estimated	271	+74.8%
26	Kingman, AZ Estimated	261	-30.2%
27	San Luis, AZ Estimated	237	-7.1%
28	Prescott, AZ Estimated	233	-49.5%
29	Eloy, AZ Estimated	223	-25.9%
30	Oro Valley, AZ Estimated	198	-41.8%
31	Apache Junction, AZ Estimated	175	-31.1%
31	Chino Valley, AZ Estimated	175	+94.4%
33	Show Low, AZ Estimated	174	-13%
34	Cottonwood, AZ Estimated	118	-56.3%
35	Fountain Hills, AZ Estimated	107	-44.3%
36	Payson, AZ Estimated	103	-3.7%
37	Florence, AZ Estimated	91	-76.4%
38	Paradise Valley, AZ Estimated	81	-27%
39	Sierra Vista, AZ Estimated	52	-5.5%
40	Somerton, AZ Estimated	48	+45.5%
41	Camp Verde, AZ Estimated	32	+23.1%
42	Safford, AZ Estimated	23	-23.3%
43	Douglas, AZ Estimated	14	+7.7%
44	Nogales, AZ Estimated	12	-7.7%

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/we2022a.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. (2024). 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, 2022) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/West%20Region/we2022a.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, 2022. U.S. Census Bureau, 2 Apr. 2024, https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/West%20Region/we2022a.txt. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/arizona-cities?period=2022. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

U.S. Census Bureau. 2024. 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, 2022. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/West%20Region/we2022a.txt. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/arizona-cities?period=2022.

Harvard

U.S. Census Bureau (2024) 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, 2022 [Dataset]. Available at: https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/West%20Region/we2022a.txt, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/arizona-cities?period=2022 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX

@misc{census_cities_in_arizona_by_2022,
  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, 2022}},
  year = {2024},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/West%20Region/we2022a.txt},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/arizona-cities?period=2022. 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/we2022a.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, 2022
PY  - 2024
DA  - 2024/04/02
PB  - U.S. Census Bureau
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/West%20Region/we2022a.txt
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/arizona-cities?period=2022
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/arizona-cities?period=2022.
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/we2022a.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 14,598 in 2022, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

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

Nogales, AZ, with 12 in 2022.

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.