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 2015, at 3,958. Tarboro, NC had the lowest, at 2. The median was 108 and the figure for North Carolina was 54,757. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

Highest3,958Raleigh, NC

Lowest2Tarboro, NC

Median10859 cities

North Carolina54,757History

All cities, 2015

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

Full ranking

Rank	Cities	2015 count	Change on 2014
1	Raleigh, NC Estimated	3,958	-15%
2	Durham, NC Estimated	2,907	+92%
3	Cary, NC Estimated	1,058	-36.9%
4	Greensboro, NC Estimated	898	-26.9%
5	Fuquay-Varina, NC Estimated	780	+56.3%
6	Wake Forest, NC Estimated	754	+37.6%
7	Fayetteville, NC Estimated	724	+71.2%
8	Winston-Salem, NC Estimated	703	-10.2%
9	Apex, NC Estimated	683	+18.2%
10	Holly Springs, NC Estimated	657	+61.8%
11	Morrisville, NC Estimated	486	+7.8%
12	High Point, NC Estimated	449	-24.4%
13	Leland, NC Estimated	429	+3.4%
14	Mebane, NC Estimated	396	+169.4%
15	Greenville, NC Estimated	375	-50.3%
16	Gastonia, NC Estimated	363	+49.4%
17	Chapel Hill, NC Estimated	361	+607.8%
18	Clayton, NC Estimated	346	+26.7%
19	Asheville, NC Estimated	327	+4.8%
20	Garner, NC Estimated	311	+230.9%
21	Boone, NC Estimated	272	+154.2%
22	Waxhaw, NC Estimated	259	+2.8%
23	Burlington, NC Estimated	243	+65.3%
24	Rolesville, NC Estimated	242	+38.3%
25	Knightdale, NC Estimated	226	+48.7%
25	New Bern, NC Estimated	226	+111.2%
27	Wendell, NC Estimated	190	+375%
28	Monroe, NC Estimated	152	+83.1%
29	Southern Pines, NC Estimated	137	0%
30	Morganton, NC Estimated	108	+1,100%
31	Pinehurst, NC Estimated	95	-21.5%
32	Morehead City, NC Estimated	94	+56.7%
33	Jacksonville, NC Estimated	78	+62.5%
34	Zebulon, NC Estimated	75	-15.7%
35	Aberdeen, NC Estimated	72	-25.8%
36	Kernersville, NC Estimated	67	+81.1%
37	Wilson, NC Estimated	64	-52.2%
38	Eden, NC Estimated	63	+800%
39	Carrboro, NC Estimated	49	+4.3%
40	Elizabeth City, NC Estimated	42	+7.7%
40	Graham, NC Estimated	42	+35.5%
42	Goldsboro, NC Estimated	41	-30.5%
43	Asheboro, NC Estimated	38	+58.3%
44	Sanford, NC Estimated	36	-14.3%
45	Thomasville, NC Estimated	33	-5.7%
46	Rocky Mount, NC Estimated	32	+88.2%
47	Hope Mills, NC Estimated	28	+55.6%
48	Lexington, NC Estimated	17	+30.8%
49	Kings Mountain, NC Estimated	14	-81.1%
50	Havelock, NC Estimated	10	+25%
50	Lumberton, NC Estimated	10	+42.9%
52	Roanoke Rapids, NC Estimated	9	+50%
52	Shelby, NC Estimated	9	0%
52	Waynesville, NC Estimated	9	-30.8%
55	Reidsville, NC Estimated	7	n/a
56	Spring Lake, NC Estimated	6	+20%
57	Kinston, NC Estimated	4	-84.6%
58	Winterville, NC Estimated	3	0%
59	Tarboro, NC Estimated	2	-66.7%

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 2015 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/so2015a.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, 2015) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/South%20Region/so2015a.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, 2015. U.S. Census Bureau, 30 Sept. 2016, https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/South%20Region/so2015a.txt. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/north-carolina-cities?period=2015. 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, 2015. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/South%20Region/so2015a.txt. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/north-carolina-cities?period=2015.

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, 2015 [Dataset]. Available at: https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/South%20Region/so2015a.txt, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/north-carolina-cities?period=2015 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX

@misc{census_cities_in_north_carolina_2015,
  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, 2015}},
  year = {2016},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/South%20Region/so2015a.txt},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/north-carolina-cities?period=2015. 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/so2015a.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, 2015
PY  - 2016
DA  - 2016/09/30
PB  - U.S. Census Bureau
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/South%20Region/so2015a.txt
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/north-carolina-cities?period=2015
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/north-carolina-cities?period=2015.
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/so2015a.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 3,958 in 2015, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

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

Tarboro, NC, with 2 in 2015.

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 2015 and are not ranked.