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 2024, at 8,997. El Mirage, AZ had the lowest, at 3. The median was 494 and the figure for Arizona was 59,616. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

Highest8,997Phoenix, AZ

Lowest3El Mirage, AZ

Median49444 cities

Arizona59,616History

All cities, 2024

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

Full ranking

Rank	Cities	2024 count	Change on 2023
1	Phoenix, AZ Estimated	8,997	-37.8%
2	Surprise, AZ Estimated	3,490	+25.9%
3	Goodyear, AZ Estimated	3,195	+28.4%
4	Buckeye, AZ Estimated	3,111	+29%
5	Mesa, AZ Estimated	2,735	+26.5%
6	Maricopa, AZ Estimated	1,991	+65.8%
7	Peoria, AZ Estimated	1,901	+74.4%
8	Gilbert, AZ Estimated	1,858	+15.9%
9	Queen Creek, AZ Estimated	1,812	-15.2%
10	Avondale, AZ Estimated	1,555	-17.9%
11	Marana, AZ Estimated	1,544	+0.8%
12	Tucson, AZ Estimated	1,505	-9.8%
13	Glendale, AZ Estimated	1,377	-24%
14	Scottsdale, AZ Estimated	1,320	+23.7%
15	Casa Grande, AZ Estimated	1,199	+9.3%
16	Apache Junction, AZ Estimated	1,140	+9.7%
17	Tempe, AZ Estimated	1,075	-28.1%
18	Chandler, AZ Estimated	1,020	+34.2%
19	Yuma, AZ Estimated	686	+55.2%
20	San Luis, AZ Estimated	567	+91.6%
21	Flagstaff, AZ Estimated	562	-35.7%
22	Prescott Valley, AZ Estimated	548	+13.9%
23	Prescott, AZ Estimated	439	+17.7%
24	Bullhead City, AZ Estimated	415	+41.6%
25	Camp Verde, AZ Estimated	361	+1,344%
26	Florence, AZ Estimated	353	+31.2%
27	Sahuarita, AZ Estimated	312	-17.2%
28	Coolidge, AZ Estimated	285	+93.9%
29	Lake Havasu City, AZ Estimated	201	-17.3%
30	Kingman, AZ Estimated	196	-10.5%
31	Oro Valley, AZ Estimated	161	+27.8%
32	Eloy, AZ Estimated	151	+57.3%
33	Show Low, AZ Estimated	113	+13%
34	Chino Valley, AZ Estimated	82	+141.2%
35	Payson, AZ Estimated	78	+6.8%
36	Paradise Valley, AZ Estimated	74	-6.3%
37	Cottonwood, AZ Estimated	61	-37.1%
37	Fountain Hills, AZ Estimated	61	-1.6%
39	Nogales, AZ Estimated	19	+18.8%
40	Douglas, AZ Estimated	14	0%
41	Safford, AZ Estimated	10	-56.5%
41	Somerton, AZ Estimated	10	+66.7%
43	Sierra Vista, AZ Estimated	5	-91.1%
44	El Mirage, AZ Estimated	3	-70%

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/we2024a.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. (2025). 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, 2024) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/West%20Region/we2024a.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, 2024. U.S. Census Bureau, 1 May 2025, https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/West%20Region/we2024a.txt. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/arizona-cities?period=2024. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

U.S. Census Bureau. 2025. 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, 2024. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/West%20Region/we2024a.txt. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/arizona-cities?period=2024.

Harvard

U.S. Census Bureau (2025) 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, 2024 [Dataset]. Available at: https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/West%20Region/we2024a.txt, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/arizona-cities?period=2024 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX

@misc{census_cities_in_arizona_by_2024,
  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, 2024}},
  year = {2025},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/West%20Region/we2024a.txt},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/arizona-cities?period=2024. 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/we2024a.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, 2024
PY  - 2025
DA  - 2025/05/01
PB  - U.S. Census Bureau
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/West%20Region/we2024a.txt
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/arizona-cities?period=2024
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/arizona-cities?period=2024.
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/we2024a.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 8,997 in 2024, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

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

El Mirage, AZ, with 3 in 2024.

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.