Data / Rankings / Housing units authorized by building permits / Cities in North Carolina

Cities in North Carolina by housing units authorized by building permits, 2025

Raleigh, NC had the highest housing units authorized by building permits of 58 cities in 2025, at 4,738. Havelock, NC had the lowest, at 4. The median was 274 and the figure for North Carolina was 86,167. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

Highest4,738Raleigh, NC
Lowest4Havelock, NC
Median27458 cities
North Carolina86,167History

All cities, 2025

Raleigh, NC: 4,738 countRaleigh, NC4,738Durham, NC: 4,483 countDurham, NC4,483Greensboro, NC: 1,972 countGreensboro, NC1,972Garner, NC: 1,512 countGarner, NC1,512Winston-Salem, NC: 1,376 countWinston-Salem, NC1,376Wendell, NC: 1,363 countWendell, NC1,363Apex, NC: 1,223 countApex, NC1,223Fayetteville, NC: 1,047 countFayetteville, NC1,047Wake Forest, NC: 908 countWake Forest, NC908Greenville, NC: 855 countGreenville, NC855Leland, NC: 830 countLeland, NC830Asheville, NC: 743 countAsheville, NC743Fuquay-Varina, NC: 715 countFuquay-Varina, NC715Mooresville, NC: 692 countMooresville, NC692Cary, NC: 687 countCary, NC687Rolesville, NC: 622 countRolesville, NC622Monroe, NC: 598 countMonroe, NC598Sanford, NC: 554 countSanford, NC554Zebulon, NC: 533 countZebulon, NC533Knightdale, NC: 527 countKnightdale, NC527Lexington, NC: 417 countLexington, NC417Burlington, NC: 412 countBurlington, NC412Clayton, NC: 389 countClayton, NC389Mebane, NC: 316 countMebane, NC316Holly Springs, NC: 310 countHolly Springs, NC310New Bern, NC: 309 countNew Bern, NC309Morrisville, NC: 307 countMorrisville, NC307Graham, NC: 303 countGraham, NC303Shelby, NC: 285 countShelby, NC285Boone, NC: 263 countBoone, NC263Kernersville, NC: 249 countKernersville, NC249Wilson, NC: 249 countWilson, NC249Aberdeen, NC: 235 countAberdeen, NC235High Point, NC: 229 countHigh Point, NC229Elizabeth City, NC: 185 countElizabeth City, NC185Chapel Hill, NC: 155 countChapel Hill, NC155Southern Pines, NC: 155 countSouthern Pines, NC155Waynesville, NC: 152 countWaynesville, NC152Goldsboro, NC: 134 countGoldsboro, NC134Lumberton, NC: 132 countLumberton, NC132Asheboro, NC: 122 countAsheboro, NC122Waxhaw, NC: 102 countWaxhaw, NC102Rocky Mount, NC: 99 countRocky Mount, NC99Pinehurst, NC: 93 countPinehurst, NC93Kings Mountain, NC: 89 countKings Mountain, NC89Morganton, NC: 88 countMorganton, NC88Hope Mills, NC: 87 countHope Mills, NC87Jacksonville, NC: 87 countJacksonville, NC87Winterville, NC: 71 countWinterville, NC71Thomasville, NC: 63 countThomasville, NC63Morehead City, NC: 52 countMorehead City, NC52Eden, NC: 51 countEden, NC51Spring Lake, NC: 34 countSpring Lake, NC34Tarboro, NC: 27 countTarboro, NC27Reidsville, NC: 23 countReidsville, NC23Roanoke Rapids, NC: 23 countRoanoke Rapids, NC23Carrboro, NC: 9 countCarrboro, NC9Havelock, NC: 4 countHavelock, NC4
count. Source: Invokely calculation with data from U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

RankCities2025
count		Change on 2024
1Raleigh, NC Estimated4,738-6.1%
2Durham, NC Estimated4,483+60.5%
3Greensboro, NC Estimated1,972+0.9%
4Garner, NC Estimated1,512+27.1%
5Winston-Salem, NC Estimated1,376-35.5%
6Wendell, NC Estimated1,363+6.7%
7Apex, NC Estimated1,223-40.4%
8Fayetteville, NC Estimated1,047+99.4%
9Wake Forest, NC Estimated908+21.6%
10Greenville, NC Estimated855+1.4%
11Leland, NC Estimated830-10.2%
12Asheville, NC Estimated743+0.5%
13Fuquay-Varina, NC Estimated715-33.2%
14Mooresville, NC Estimated692n/a
15Cary, NC Estimated687-34.7%
16Rolesville, NC Estimated622+67.7%
17Monroe, NC Estimated598-46.2%
18Sanford, NC Estimated554+27.4%
19Zebulon, NC Estimated533-16.6%
20Knightdale, NC Estimated527-14.6%
21Lexington, NC Estimated417+148.2%
22Burlington, NC Estimated412+18.7%
23Clayton, NC Estimated389-6.9%
24Mebane, NC Estimated316-53.2%
25Holly Springs, NC Estimated310-59.1%
26New Bern, NC Estimated309+2%
27Morrisville, NC Estimated307+597.7%
28Graham, NC Estimated303-41.4%
29Shelby, NC Estimated285+2.5%
30Boone, NC Estimated263+1,778.6%
31Kernersville, NC Estimated249-32.5%
31Wilson, NC Estimated249-34.6%
33Aberdeen, NC Estimated235+11.9%
34High Point, NC Estimated229-82.5%
35Elizabeth City, NC Estimated185+150%
36Chapel Hill, NC Estimated155-2.5%
36Southern Pines, NC Estimated155-5.5%
38Waynesville, NC Estimated152-35%
39Goldsboro, NC Estimated134+13.6%
40Lumberton, NC Estimated132+180.9%
41Asheboro, NC Estimated122+45.2%
42Waxhaw, NC Estimated102+142.9%
43Rocky Mount, NC Estimated99-1%
44Pinehurst, NC Estimated93+14.8%
45Kings Mountain, NC Estimated89-4.3%
46Morganton, NC Estimated88-9.3%
47Hope Mills, NC Estimated87-41.6%
47Jacksonville, NC Estimated87+8.8%
49Winterville, NC Estimated71+44.9%
50Thomasville, NC Estimated63-7.4%
51Morehead City, NC Estimated52-87.3%
52Eden, NC Estimated51+27.5%
53Spring Lake, NC Estimated34-49.3%
54Tarboro, NC Estimated27-6.9%
55Reidsville, NC Estimated23+4.5%
55Roanoke Rapids, NC Estimated23+360%
57Carrboro, NC Estimated9-70%
58Havelock, NC Estimated40%

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. 2 cities with data in other periods have no value for 2025 and are left out rather than filled from another source. 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/so2025a.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. (2026). Building Permits Survey: final annual estimates of new privately owned housing units authorized by permit-issuing place, including imputation (Cities in North Carolina by housing units authorized by building permits, 2025) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/South%20Region/so2025a.txt

MLA 9

Building Permits Survey: final annual estimates of new privately owned housing units authorized by permit-issuing place, including imputation, Cities in North Carolina by housing units authorized by building permits, 2025. U.S. Census Bureau, 14 May 2026, https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/South%20Region/so2025a.txt. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/north-carolina-cities. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

U.S. Census Bureau. 2026. Building Permits Survey: final annual estimates of new privately owned housing units authorized by permit-issuing place, including imputation. Cities in North Carolina by housing units authorized by building permits, 2025. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/South%20Region/so2025a.txt. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/north-carolina-cities.

Harvard

U.S. Census Bureau (2026) Building Permits Survey: final annual estimates of new privately owned housing units authorized by permit-issuing place, including imputation, Cities in North Carolina by housing units authorized by building permits, 2025 [Dataset]. Available at: https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/South%20Region/so2025a.txt, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/north-carolina-cities (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{census_cities_in_north_carolina_2025,
  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 North Carolina by housing units authorized by building permits, 2025}},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/South%20Region/so2025a.txt},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/north-carolina-cities. 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/so2025a.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 North Carolina by housing units authorized by building permits, 2025
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/05/14
PB  - U.S. Census Bureau
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/South%20Region/so2025a.txt
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/north-carolina-cities
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/north-carolina-cities.
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/so2025a.txt. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
ER  -
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Questions

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

Raleigh, NC, with 4,738 in 2025, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

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

Havelock, NC, with 4 in 2025.

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. 2 cities have no value for 2025 and are not ranked.

Housing units authorized by building permits: other rankings

Cities in North Carolina: more rankings