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 2017, at 3,216. Kinston, NC had the lowest, at 2. The median was 152 and the figure for North Carolina was 67,047. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

Highest3,216Raleigh, NC

Lowest2Kinston, NC

Median15259 cities

North Carolina67,047History

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	Raleigh, NC Estimated	3,216	-6.7%
2	Durham, NC Estimated	2,962	-0.6%
3	Winston-Salem, NC Estimated	1,960	+118.8%
4	Greensboro, NC Estimated	1,609	+6.6%
5	Apex, NC Estimated	1,388	+18.5%
6	Cary, NC Estimated	1,307	-20.1%
7	Leland, NC Estimated	1,045	+117.7%
8	Greenville, NC Estimated	839	+39.6%
9	Garner, NC Estimated	832	+914.6%
10	Wake Forest, NC Estimated	817	+0.6%
11	Knightdale, NC Estimated	708	+50.6%
12	Holly Springs, NC Estimated	633	-8.3%
13	Fuquay-Varina, NC Estimated	626	-24.6%
14	Clayton, NC Estimated	564	+9.7%
15	Chapel Hill, NC Estimated	548	+334.9%
16	Morrisville, NC Estimated	423	-41.7%
17	Asheville, NC Estimated	381	+9.2%
18	Waxhaw, NC Estimated	336	+0.6%
19	Gastonia, NC Estimated	315	-42.9%
20	Fayetteville, NC Estimated	313	+5.7%
21	High Point, NC Estimated	309	+56.1%
22	Burlington, NC Estimated	286	-34.6%
23	Wilson, NC Estimated	275	+409.3%
24	Mebane, NC Estimated	268	-33.8%
25	Wendell, NC Estimated	262	+13.9%
26	Morehead City, NC Estimated	225	+268.9%
27	Rolesville, NC Estimated	183	-22.5%
28	Zebulon, NC Estimated	168	+205.5%
29	Reidsville, NC Estimated	155	+84.5%
30	Pinehurst, NC Estimated	152	+18.8%
31	Southern Pines, NC Estimated	145	-21.6%
32	Lexington, NC Estimated	131	+495.5%
33	Graham, NC Estimated	129	+67.5%
34	Boone, NC Estimated	113	+68.7%
35	Sanford, NC Estimated	110	+223.5%
36	Winterville, NC Estimated	107	+11.5%
37	New Bern, NC Estimated	94	+16%
38	Monroe, NC Estimated	84	-38.7%
39	Jacksonville, NC Estimated	74	+236.4%
40	Asheboro, NC Estimated	62	+21.6%
41	Kings Mountain, NC Estimated	61	+56.4%
42	Aberdeen, NC Estimated	56	-22.2%
43	Elizabeth City, NC Estimated	55	+10%
44	Goldsboro, NC Estimated	47	+42.4%
44	Morganton, NC Estimated	47	-11.3%
46	Thomasville, NC Estimated	40	-11.1%
47	Carrboro, NC Estimated	37	-39.3%
48	Tarboro, NC Estimated	27	-65.8%
49	Waynesville, NC Estimated	25	+92.3%
50	Kernersville, NC Estimated	16	-78.4%
51	Havelock, NC Estimated	13	+18.2%
52	Rocky Mount, NC Estimated	8	0%
52	Shelby, NC Estimated	8	-27.3%
54	Lumberton, NC Estimated	7	+16.7%
55	Eden, NC Estimated	6	+50%
56	Hope Mills, NC Estimated	5	-94.8%
57	Roanoke Rapids, NC Estimated	4	+33.3%
57	Spring Lake, NC Estimated	4	+100%
59	Kinston, NC Estimated	2	-96.4%

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 2017 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/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 North Carolina 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 North Carolina 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/north-carolina-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 North Carolina 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/north-carolina-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 North Carolina 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/north-carolina-cities?period=2017 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX

@misc{census_cities_in_north_carolina_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 North Carolina 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/north-carolina-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 North Carolina 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/north-carolina-cities?period=2017
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/north-carolina-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":"North Carolina","limit":10}
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Questions

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

Raleigh, NC, with 3,216 in 2017, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

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

Kinston, NC, with 2 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. 1 cities have no value for 2017 and are not ranked.