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 2021, at 6,487. Elizabeth City, NC had the lowest, at 0. The median was 219 and the figure for North Carolina was 94,874. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

Highest6,487Raleigh, NC

Lowest0Elizabeth City, NC

Median21959 cities

North Carolina94,874History

All cities, 2021

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

Full ranking

Rank	Cities	2021 count	Change on 2020
1	Raleigh, NC Estimated	6,487	+86.5%
2	Durham, NC Estimated	3,321	-13.3%
3	Cary, NC Estimated	2,305	+52.1%
4	Greensboro, NC Estimated	1,892	+31.6%
5	Fuquay-Varina, NC Estimated	1,807	+74.6%
6	Apex, NC Estimated	1,444	+1.2%
7	Leland, NC Estimated	1,346	+28.6%
8	Winston-Salem, NC Estimated	1,087	-31.3%
9	Holly Springs, NC Estimated	1,056	+29.4%
10	Garner, NC Estimated	992	+111.5%
11	Gastonia, NC Estimated	924	+61.8%
12	Greenville, NC Estimated	843	+141.5%
13	Wake Forest, NC Estimated	753	-12.4%
14	Burlington, NC Estimated	623	-26.8%
15	Kernersville, NC Estimated	557	+121.9%
16	Monroe, NC Estimated	556	+118%
17	Asheville, NC Estimated	549	+15.8%
18	Mebane, NC Estimated	525	+66.7%
19	High Point, NC Estimated	524	+2.3%
20	Clayton, NC Estimated	513	-21.9%
21	Chapel Hill, NC Estimated	450	+198%
22	Wendell, NC Estimated	423	-39.7%
23	Fayetteville, NC Estimated	397	+36.4%
24	Graham, NC Estimated	388	+191.7%
25	Waxhaw, NC Estimated	344	-1.1%
26	Zebulon, NC Estimated	319	-21.6%
27	Waynesville, NC Estimated	262	+693.9%
28	Morrisville, NC Estimated	242	-63.4%
29	Southern Pines, NC Estimated	235	+21.8%
30	Rocky Mount, NC Estimated	219	+284.2%
31	Wilson, NC Estimated	201	-29%
32	Rolesville, NC Estimated	194	-2.5%
33	Kings Mountain, NC Estimated	162	+65.3%
34	Knightdale, NC Estimated	152	+18.8%
35	Tarboro, NC Estimated	130	+490.9%
36	Morehead City, NC Estimated	125	+66.7%
37	Sanford, NC Estimated	116	-20%
38	Morganton, NC Estimated	114	+26.7%
38	Pinehurst, NC Estimated	114	-33.3%
40	Thomasville, NC Estimated	97	+54%
41	Asheboro, NC Estimated	89	+4.7%
42	Aberdeen, NC Estimated	74	-63.5%
43	Goldsboro, NC Estimated	68	0%
44	Carrboro, NC Estimated	66	+200%
45	Winterville, NC Estimated	60	+15.4%
46	Shelby, NC Estimated	54	+100%
47	Boone, NC Estimated	40	+233.3%
48	Hope Mills, NC Estimated	37	+5.7%
49	Lexington, NC Estimated	21	-48.8%
50	New Bern, NC Estimated	18	-94.5%
51	Jacksonville, NC Estimated	17	-83.2%
52	Eden, NC Estimated	15	+650%
53	Reidsville, NC Estimated	13	+18.2%
54	Lumberton, NC Estimated	11	+22.2%
55	Kinston, NC Estimated	8	-20%
56	Roanoke Rapids, NC Estimated	6	-62.5%
57	Spring Lake, NC Estimated	5	+66.7%
58	Havelock, NC Estimated	1	-99%
59	Elizabeth City, 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 2021 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/so2021a.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. (2022). 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, 2021) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/South%20Region/so2021a.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, 2021. U.S. Census Bureau, 27 Apr. 2022, https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/South%20Region/so2021a.txt. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/north-carolina-cities?period=2021. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

U.S. Census Bureau. 2022. 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, 2021. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/South%20Region/so2021a.txt. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/north-carolina-cities?period=2021.

Harvard

U.S. Census Bureau (2022) 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, 2021 [Dataset]. Available at: https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/South%20Region/so2021a.txt, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/north-carolina-cities?period=2021 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX

@misc{census_cities_in_north_carolina_2021,
  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, 2021}},
  year = {2022},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/South%20Region/so2021a.txt},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/north-carolina-cities?period=2021. 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/so2021a.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, 2021
PY  - 2022
DA  - 2022/04/27
PB  - U.S. Census Bureau
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/South%20Region/so2021a.txt
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/north-carolina-cities?period=2021
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/north-carolina-cities?period=2021.
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/so2021a.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.

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Questions

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

Raleigh, NC, with 6,487 in 2021, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

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

Elizabeth City, NC, with 0 in 2021.

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 2021 and are not ranked.