Cities in Arkansas by housing units authorized by building permits

Little Rock, AR had the highest housing units authorized by building permits of 39 cities in 2017, at 1,100. Forrest City, AR had the lowest, at 0. The median was 103 and the figure for Arkansas was 10,795. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

Highest1,100Little Rock, AR

Lowest0Forrest City, AR

Median10339 cities

Arkansas10,795History

All cities, 2017

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

Full ranking

Rank	Cities	2017 count	Change on 2016
1	Little Rock, AR Estimated	1,100	+32.4%
2	Bentonville, AR Estimated	903	-0.6%
3	Rogers, AR Estimated	671	+25%
4	Jonesboro, AR Estimated	651	-24.1%
5	Centerton, AR Estimated	607	+49.9%
6	North Little Rock, AR Estimated	576	+260%
7	Fayetteville, AR Estimated	457	-45.7%
8	Fort Smith, AR Estimated	375	+9%
9	Springdale, AR Estimated	353	+12.4%
10	Conway, AR Estimated	304	+15.6%
11	Sherwood, AR Estimated	258	+15.7%
12	Bella Vista, AR Estimated	194	+98%
13	Paragould, AR Estimated	181	+35.1%
14	Pea Ridge, AR Estimated	148	+12.1%
15	Benton, AR Estimated	146	-21.5%
16	Bryant, AR Estimated	127	-13%
17	Cabot, AR Estimated	112	+30.2%
18	Farmington, AR Estimated	107	+205.7%
18	Lowell, AR Estimated	107	+2.9%
20	Siloam Springs, AR Estimated	103	-30.9%
21	El Dorado, AR Estimated	88	+2.3%
22	Russellville, AR Estimated	85	+37.1%
23	Van Buren, AR Estimated	79	-3.7%
24	Batesville, AR Estimated	76	+137.5%
25	Mountain Home, AR Estimated	68	+325%
26	Jacksonville, AR Estimated	65	+66.7%
26	Searcy, AR Estimated	65	+18.2%
28	Maumelle, AR Estimated	61	0%
29	Marion, AR Estimated	38	0%
30	Hot Springs, AR Estimated	36	-20%
31	Texarkana, AR Estimated	29	-31%
32	Magnolia, AR Estimated	18	n/a
33	Harrison, AR Estimated	16	+300%
34	West Memphis, AR Estimated	10	-54.5%
35	Malvern, AR Estimated	9	n/a
36	Pine Bluff, AR Estimated	8	-20%
37	Blytheville, AR Estimated	5	-76.2%
37	Camden, AR Estimated	5	-16.7%
39	Forrest City, AR Estimated	0	-100%

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/South%20Region/so2017a.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. (2018). Building Permits Survey: final annual estimates of new privately owned housing units authorized by permit-issuing place, including imputation (Cities in Arkansas by housing units authorized by building permits, 2017) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/South%20Region/so2017a.txt

MLA 9

Building Permits Survey: final annual estimates of new privately owned housing units authorized by permit-issuing place, including imputation, Cities in Arkansas by housing units authorized by building permits, 2017. U.S. Census Bureau, 1 May 2018, https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/South%20Region/so2017a.txt. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/arkansas-cities?period=2017. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

U.S. Census Bureau. 2018. Building Permits Survey: final annual estimates of new privately owned housing units authorized by permit-issuing place, including imputation. Cities in Arkansas by housing units authorized by building permits, 2017. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/South%20Region/so2017a.txt. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/arkansas-cities?period=2017.

Harvard

U.S. Census Bureau (2018) Building Permits Survey: final annual estimates of new privately owned housing units authorized by permit-issuing place, including imputation, Cities in Arkansas by housing units authorized by building permits, 2017 [Dataset]. Available at: https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/South%20Region/so2017a.txt, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/arkansas-cities?period=2017 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX

@misc{census_cities_in_arkansas_by_2017,
  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 Arkansas by housing units authorized by building permits, 2017}},
  year = {2018},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/South%20Region/so2017a.txt},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/arkansas-cities?period=2017. 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/South\%20Region/so2017a.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 Arkansas by housing units authorized by building permits, 2017
PY  - 2018
DA  - 2018/05/01
PB  - U.S. Census Bureau
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/South%20Region/so2017a.txt
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/arkansas-cities?period=2017
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/arkansas-cities?period=2017.
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/South%20Region/so2017a.txt. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
ER  -

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rank_places {"indicator":"building_permit_units","level":"municipality","within":"Arkansas","limit":10}
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Questions

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

Little Rock, AR, with 1,100 in 2017, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

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

Forrest City, AR, with 0 in 2017.

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.