Cities in North Carolina by housing units authorized by building permits

Durham, NC had the highest housing units authorized by building permits of 59 cities in 2019, at 3,829. Spring Lake, NC had the lowest, at 5. The median was 153 and the figure for North Carolina was 71,307. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

Highest3,829Durham, NC

Lowest5Spring Lake, NC

Median15359 cities

North Carolina71,307History

All cities, 2019

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

Full ranking

Rank	Cities	2019 count	Change on 2018
1	Durham, NC Estimated	3,829	+18.5%
2	Apex, NC Estimated	1,918	-14.4%
3	Cary, NC Estimated	1,523	-2.5%
4	Raleigh, NC Estimated	1,207	-71.3%
5	Winston-Salem, NC Estimated	1,185	-11.2%
6	Leland, NC Estimated	993	+23.7%
7	Greensboro, NC Estimated	933	+10.3%
8	Fuquay-Varina, NC Estimated	764	+26.9%
9	Holly Springs, NC Estimated	755	+47.5%
10	Greenville, NC Estimated	701	-1.8%
11	Morrisville, NC Estimated	686	+14.3%
12	Wake Forest, NC Estimated	681	-10.9%
13	Burlington, NC Estimated	670	+90.3%
14	Clayton, NC Estimated	590	-5.4%
15	Fayetteville, NC Estimated	522	+116.6%
16	Asheville, NC Estimated	428	+5.9%
17	High Point, NC Estimated	407	+52.4%
18	Garner, NC Estimated	366	-32.5%
19	Gastonia, NC Estimated	352	+3.8%
20	Wendell, NC Estimated	344	-4.7%
21	Boone, NC Estimated	299	+118.2%
22	Waxhaw, NC Estimated	289	-18.6%
23	Zebulon, NC Estimated	263	+77.7%
24	Waynesville, NC Estimated	258	+1,021.7%
25	Mebane, NC Estimated	246	-13.4%
26	New Bern, NC Estimated	202	+39.3%
27	Kernersville, NC Estimated	199	+1,005.6%
28	Aberdeen, NC Estimated	182	+54.2%
29	Southern Pines, NC Estimated	176	+8.6%
30	Pinehurst, NC Estimated	153	+22.4%
31	Rolesville, NC Estimated	146	-18.9%
32	Knightdale, NC Estimated	139	-46.5%
33	Lexington, NC Estimated	113	+303.6%
34	Sanford, NC Estimated	102	+37.8%
35	Wilson, NC Estimated	101	-21.1%
36	Graham, NC Estimated	97	-64.7%
36	Morehead City, NC Estimated	97	+83%
38	Havelock, NC Estimated	90	+542.9%
39	Morganton, NC Estimated	86	+22.9%
40	Winterville, NC Estimated	84	+40%
41	Monroe, NC Estimated	76	-13.6%
42	Elizabeth City, NC Estimated	66	+8.2%
43	Chapel Hill, NC Estimated	65	-90.9%
44	Asheboro, NC Estimated	52	-49%
45	Carrboro, NC Estimated	46	-70.1%
45	Thomasville, NC Estimated	46	+43.8%
47	Goldsboro, NC Estimated	41	-30.5%
48	Kings Mountain, NC Estimated	40	+21.2%
49	Jacksonville, NC Estimated	24	+4.3%
50	Reidsville, NC Estimated	18	+63.6%
51	Rocky Mount, NC Estimated	10	0%
52	Shelby, NC Estimated	9	+12.5%
52	Tarboro, NC Estimated	9	-10%
54	Hope Mills, NC Estimated	8	-33.3%
54	Kinston, NC Estimated	8	-87.1%
54	Lumberton, NC Estimated	8	+14.3%
57	Eden, NC Estimated	7	-12.5%
58	Roanoke Rapids, NC Estimated	5	-89.6%
58	Spring Lake, NC Estimated	5	n/a

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 2019 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/so2019a.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. (2020). 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, 2019) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/South%20Region/so2019a.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, 2019. U.S. Census Bureau, 1 May 2020, https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/South%20Region/so2019a.txt. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/north-carolina-cities?period=2019. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

U.S. Census Bureau. 2020. 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, 2019. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/South%20Region/so2019a.txt. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/north-carolina-cities?period=2019.

Harvard

U.S. Census Bureau (2020) 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, 2019 [Dataset]. Available at: https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/South%20Region/so2019a.txt, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/north-carolina-cities?period=2019 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX

@misc{census_cities_in_north_carolina_2019,
  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, 2019}},
  year = {2020},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/South%20Region/so2019a.txt},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/north-carolina-cities?period=2019. 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/so2019a.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, 2019
PY  - 2020
DA  - 2020/05/01
PB  - U.S. Census Bureau
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/South%20Region/so2019a.txt
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/north-carolina-cities?period=2019
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/north-carolina-cities?period=2019.
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/so2019a.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?

Durham, NC, with 3,829 in 2019, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

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

Spring Lake, NC, with 5 in 2019.

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 2019 and are not ranked.