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 2016, at 3,448. Spring Lake, NC had the lowest, at 2. The median was 84 and the figure for North Carolina was 60,550. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

Highest3,448Raleigh, NC

Lowest2Spring Lake, NC

Median8459 cities

North Carolina60,550History

All cities, 2016

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

Full ranking

Rank	Cities	2016 count	Change on 2015
1	Raleigh, NC Estimated	3,448	-12.9%
2	Durham, NC Estimated	2,979	+2.5%
3	Cary, NC Estimated	1,635	+54.5%
4	Greensboro, NC Estimated	1,509	+68%
5	Apex, NC Estimated	1,171	+71.4%
6	Winston-Salem, NC Estimated	896	+27.5%
7	Fuquay-Varina, NC Estimated	830	+6.4%
8	Wake Forest, NC Estimated	812	+7.7%
9	Morrisville, NC Estimated	726	+49.4%
10	Holly Springs, NC Estimated	690	+5%
11	Greenville, NC Estimated	601	+60.3%
12	Gastonia, NC Estimated	552	+52.1%
13	Clayton, NC Estimated	514	+48.6%
14	Leland, NC Estimated	480	+11.9%
15	Knightdale, NC Estimated	470	+108%
16	Burlington, NC Estimated	437	+79.8%
17	Mebane, NC Estimated	405	+2.3%
18	Asheville, NC Estimated	349	+6.7%
19	Waxhaw, NC Estimated	334	+29%
20	Fayetteville, NC Estimated	296	-59.1%
21	Rolesville, NC Estimated	236	-2.5%
22	Wendell, NC Estimated	230	+21.1%
23	High Point, NC Estimated	198	-55.9%
24	Southern Pines, NC Estimated	185	+35%
25	Monroe, NC Estimated	137	-9.9%
26	Pinehurst, NC Estimated	128	+34.7%
27	Chapel Hill, NC Estimated	126	-65.1%
28	Hope Mills, NC Estimated	97	+246.4%
29	Winterville, NC Estimated	96	+3,100%
30	Reidsville, NC Estimated	84	+1,100%
31	Garner, NC Estimated	82	-73.6%
32	New Bern, NC Estimated	81	-64.2%
33	Tarboro, NC Estimated	79	+3,850%
34	Graham, NC Estimated	77	+83.3%
35	Kernersville, NC Estimated	74	+10.4%
36	Aberdeen, NC Estimated	72	0%
37	Boone, NC Estimated	67	-75.4%
38	Carrboro, NC Estimated	61	+24.5%
38	Morehead City, NC Estimated	61	-35.1%
40	Kinston, NC Estimated	55	+1,275%
40	Zebulon, NC Estimated	55	-26.7%
42	Wilson, NC Estimated	54	-15.6%
43	Morganton, NC Estimated	53	-50.9%
44	Asheboro, NC Estimated	51	+34.2%
45	Elizabeth City, NC Estimated	50	+19%
46	Thomasville, NC Estimated	45	+36.4%
47	Kings Mountain, NC Estimated	39	+178.6%
48	Sanford, NC Estimated	34	-5.6%
49	Goldsboro, NC Estimated	33	-19.5%
50	Jacksonville, NC Estimated	22	-71.8%
50	Lexington, NC Estimated	22	+29.4%
52	Waynesville, NC Estimated	13	+44.4%
53	Havelock, NC Estimated	11	+10%
53	Shelby, NC Estimated	11	+22.2%
55	Rocky Mount, NC Estimated	8	-75%
56	Lumberton, NC Estimated	6	-40%
57	Eden, NC Estimated	4	-93.7%
58	Roanoke Rapids, NC Estimated	3	-66.7%
59	Spring Lake, 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 2016 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/so2016a.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. (2017). 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, 2016) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/South%20Region/so2016a.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, 2016. U.S. Census Bureau, 1 May 2017, https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/South%20Region/so2016a.txt. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/north-carolina-cities?period=2016. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

U.S. Census Bureau. 2017. 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, 2016. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/South%20Region/so2016a.txt. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/north-carolina-cities?period=2016.

Harvard

U.S. Census Bureau (2017) 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, 2016 [Dataset]. Available at: https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/South%20Region/so2016a.txt, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/north-carolina-cities?period=2016 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX

@misc{census_cities_in_north_carolina_2016,
  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, 2016}},
  year = {2017},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/South%20Region/so2016a.txt},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/north-carolina-cities?period=2016. 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/so2016a.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, 2016
PY  - 2017
DA  - 2017/05/01
PB  - U.S. Census Bureau
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/South%20Region/so2016a.txt
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/north-carolina-cities?period=2016
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/north-carolina-cities?period=2016.
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/so2016a.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 3,448 in 2016, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

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

Spring Lake, NC, with 2 in 2016.

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 2016 and are not ranked.