Cities in North Carolina by housing units authorized by building permits

Raleigh, NC had the highest housing units authorized by building permits of 59 cities in 2014, at 4,655. Reidsville, NC had the lowest, at 0. The median was 89 and the figure for North Carolina was 49,911. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

Highest4,655Raleigh, NC

Lowest0Reidsville, NC

Median8959 cities

North Carolina49,911History

All cities, 2014

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

Full ranking

Rank	Cities	2014 count	Change on 2013
1	Raleigh, NC Estimated	4,655	+22.5%
2	Cary, NC Estimated	1,676	+0.7%
3	Durham, NC Estimated	1,514	-59.6%
4	Greensboro, NC Estimated	1,229	+27%
5	Winston-Salem, NC Estimated	783	-19.9%
6	Greenville, NC Estimated	755	+79.3%
7	High Point, NC Estimated	594	+95.4%
8	Apex, NC Estimated	578	-6.9%
9	Wake Forest, NC Estimated	548	-24.7%
10	Fuquay-Varina, NC Estimated	499	-9.8%
11	Morrisville, NC Estimated	451	+21.2%
12	Fayetteville, NC Estimated	423	-41.7%
13	Leland, NC Estimated	415	0%
14	Holly Springs, NC Estimated	406	-4.7%
15	Asheville, NC Estimated	312	+32.8%
16	Clayton, NC Estimated	273	+7.9%
17	Waxhaw, NC Estimated	252	-49.7%
18	Gastonia, NC Estimated	243	+65.3%
19	Rolesville, NC Estimated	175	-55.7%
20	Knightdale, NC Estimated	152	-36.9%
21	Burlington, NC Estimated	147	+14.8%
21	Mebane, NC Estimated	147	+5.8%
23	Southern Pines, NC Estimated	137	+25.7%
24	Wilson, NC Estimated	134	+131%
25	Pinehurst, NC Estimated	121	+53.2%
26	Boone, NC Estimated	107	+1,088.9%
26	New Bern, NC Estimated	107	-3.6%
28	Aberdeen, NC Estimated	97	-1%
29	Garner, NC Estimated	94	-78.6%
30	Zebulon, NC Estimated	89	+34.8%
31	Monroe, NC Estimated	83	-21.7%
32	Kings Mountain, NC Estimated	74	+469.2%
33	Morehead City, NC Estimated	60	+50%
34	Goldsboro, NC Estimated	59	-9.2%
35	Chapel Hill, NC Estimated	51	-60.5%
36	Jacksonville, NC Estimated	48	-81.1%
37	Carrboro, NC Estimated	47	-32.9%
38	Sanford, NC Estimated	42	+40%
39	Wendell, NC Estimated	40	+110.5%
40	Elizabeth City, NC Estimated	39	-9.3%
41	Kernersville, NC Estimated	37	-31.5%
42	Thomasville, NC Estimated	35	+16.7%
43	Graham, NC Estimated	31	+24%
44	Kinston, NC Estimated	26	+1,200%
45	Asheboro, NC Estimated	24	+20%
46	Hope Mills, NC Estimated	18	-79.8%
47	Rocky Mount, NC Estimated	17	-34.6%
48	Lexington, NC Estimated	13	-92%
48	Waynesville, NC Estimated	13	+225%
50	Morganton, NC Estimated	9	+28.6%
50	Shelby, NC Estimated	9	-59.1%
52	Havelock, NC Estimated	8	+100%
53	Eden, NC Estimated	7	0%
53	Lumberton, NC Estimated	7	-46.2%
55	Roanoke Rapids, NC Estimated	6	-88%
55	Tarboro, NC Estimated	6	-91.3%
57	Spring Lake, NC Estimated	5	-73.7%
58	Winterville, NC Estimated	3	+50%
59	Reidsville, NC 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. 1 cities with data in other periods have no value for 2014 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/so2014a.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. (2016). 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, 2014) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/South%20Region/so2014a.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, 2014. U.S. Census Bureau, 30 Sept. 2016, https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/South%20Region/so2014a.txt. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/north-carolina-cities?period=2014. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

U.S. Census Bureau. 2016. 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, 2014. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/South%20Region/so2014a.txt. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/north-carolina-cities?period=2014.

Harvard

U.S. Census Bureau (2016) 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, 2014 [Dataset]. Available at: https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/South%20Region/so2014a.txt, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/north-carolina-cities?period=2014 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX

@misc{census_cities_in_north_carolina_2014,
  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, 2014}},
  year = {2016},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/South%20Region/so2014a.txt},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/north-carolina-cities?period=2014. 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/so2014a.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, 2014
PY  - 2016
DA  - 2016/09/30
PB  - U.S. Census Bureau
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/South%20Region/so2014a.txt
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/north-carolina-cities?period=2014
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/north-carolina-cities?period=2014.
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/so2014a.txt. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
ER  -

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Rank Cities in North Carolina by housing units authorized by building permits using official data, and cite the source.

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

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

Raleigh, NC, with 4,655 in 2014, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

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

Reidsville, NC, with 0 in 2014.

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. 1 cities have no value for 2014 and are not ranked.