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 2023, at 14,468. Somerton, AZ had the lowest, at 6. The median was 375 and the figure for Arizona was 58,433. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

Highest14,468Phoenix, AZ

Lowest6Somerton, AZ

Median37544 cities

Arizona58,433History

All cities, 2023

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

Full ranking

Rank	Cities	2023 count	Change on 2022
1	Phoenix, AZ Estimated	14,468	-0.9%
2	Surprise, AZ Estimated	2,772	-8.4%
3	Goodyear, AZ Estimated	2,488	+63%
4	Buckeye, AZ Estimated	2,411	+9.9%
5	Mesa, AZ Estimated	2,162	-41.1%
6	Queen Creek, AZ Estimated	2,136	+4.5%
7	Avondale, AZ Estimated	1,893	-31.9%
8	Glendale, AZ Estimated	1,813	+25.5%
9	Tucson, AZ Estimated	1,668	-11.3%
10	Gilbert, AZ Estimated	1,603	+11.3%
11	Marana, AZ Estimated	1,532	-4.3%
12	Tempe, AZ Estimated	1,496	-14.3%
13	Maricopa, AZ Estimated	1,201	-44%
14	Casa Grande, AZ Estimated	1,097	-7%
15	Peoria, AZ Estimated	1,090	+33.4%
16	Scottsdale, AZ Estimated	1,067	+33.5%
17	Apache Junction, AZ Estimated	1,039	+493.7%
18	Flagstaff, AZ Estimated	874	+90%
19	Chandler, AZ Estimated	760	+132.4%
20	Prescott Valley, AZ Estimated	481	-52.5%
21	Yuma, AZ Estimated	442	+5.5%
22	Sahuarita, AZ Estimated	377	-16.6%
23	Prescott, AZ Estimated	373	+60.1%
24	San Luis, AZ Estimated	296	+24.9%
25	Bullhead City, AZ Estimated	293	-9.8%
26	Florence, AZ Estimated	269	+195.6%
27	Lake Havasu City, AZ Estimated	243	-43%
28	Kingman, AZ Estimated	219	-16.1%
29	Coolidge, AZ Estimated	147	-66.9%
30	Oro Valley, AZ Estimated	126	-36.4%
31	Show Low, AZ Estimated	100	-42.5%
32	Cottonwood, AZ Estimated	97	-17.8%
33	Eloy, AZ Estimated	96	-57%
34	Paradise Valley, AZ Estimated	79	-2.5%
35	Payson, AZ Estimated	73	-29.1%
36	Fountain Hills, AZ Estimated	62	-42.1%
37	Sierra Vista, AZ Estimated	56	+7.7%
38	Chino Valley, AZ Estimated	34	-80.6%
39	Camp Verde, AZ Estimated	25	-21.9%
40	Safford, AZ Estimated	23	0%
41	Nogales, AZ Estimated	16	+33.3%
42	Douglas, AZ Estimated	14	0%
43	El Mirage, AZ Estimated	10	-96.3%
44	Somerton, AZ Estimated	6	-87.5%

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/we2023a.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, 2023) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/West%20Region/we2023a.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, 2023. U.S. Census Bureau, 24 Apr. 2024, https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/West%20Region/we2023a.txt. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/arizona-cities?period=2023. 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, 2023. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/West%20Region/we2023a.txt. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/arizona-cities?period=2023.

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, 2023 [Dataset]. Available at: https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/West%20Region/we2023a.txt, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/arizona-cities?period=2023 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX

@misc{census_cities_in_arizona_by_2023,
  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, 2023}},
  year = {2024},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/West%20Region/we2023a.txt},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/arizona-cities?period=2023. 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/we2023a.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, 2023
PY  - 2024
DA  - 2024/04/24
PB  - U.S. Census Bureau
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/West%20Region/we2023a.txt
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/arizona-cities?period=2023
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/arizona-cities?period=2023.
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/we2023a.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 14,468 in 2023, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

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

Somerton, AZ, with 6 in 2023.

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.