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 2022, at 8,635. Spring Lake, NC had the lowest, at 1. The median was 200 and the figure for North Carolina was 94,118. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

Highest8,635Raleigh, NC

Lowest1Spring Lake, NC

Median20059 cities

North Carolina94,118History

All cities, 2022

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

Full ranking

Rank	Cities	2022 count	Change on 2021
1	Raleigh, NC Estimated	8,635	+33.1%
2	Durham, NC Estimated	4,366	+31.5%
3	Winston-Salem, NC Estimated	2,721	+150.3%
4	Fuquay-Varina, NC Estimated	2,132	+18%
5	Cary, NC Estimated	1,468	-36.3%
6	Greensboro, NC Estimated	1,143	-39.6%
7	Leland, NC Estimated	1,080	-19.8%
8	Apex, NC Estimated	1,079	-25.3%
9	Wendell, NC Estimated	941	+122.5%
10	Garner, NC Estimated	891	-10.2%
11	Wake Forest, NC Estimated	754	+0.1%
12	High Point, NC Estimated	666	+27.1%
13	Monroe, NC Estimated	655	+17.8%
14	Fayetteville, NC Estimated	649	+63.5%
15	Greenville, NC Estimated	542	-35.7%
16	Gastonia, NC Estimated	538	-41.8%
17	Asheville, NC Estimated	511	-6.9%
18	Holly Springs, NC Estimated	488	-53.8%
19	Burlington, NC Estimated	434	-30.3%
20	Knightdale, NC Estimated	405	+166.4%
21	Zebulon, NC Estimated	393	+23.2%
22	Morrisville, NC Estimated	373	+54.1%
23	Wilson, NC Estimated	364	+81.1%
24	New Bern, NC Estimated	355	+1,872.2%
25	Mebane, NC Estimated	323	-38.5%
26	Clayton, NC Estimated	303	-40.9%
26	Rolesville, NC Estimated	303	+56.2%
28	Graham, NC Estimated	227	-41.5%
29	Boone, NC Estimated	217	+442.5%
30	Chapel Hill, NC Estimated	200	-55.6%
31	Sanford, NC Estimated	186	+60.3%
32	Southern Pines, NC Estimated	173	-26.4%
33	Kernersville, NC Estimated	171	-69.3%
34	Goldsboro, NC Estimated	161	+136.8%
35	Waxhaw, NC Estimated	143	-58.4%
36	Morganton, NC Estimated	140	+22.8%
37	Kinston, NC Estimated	128	+1,500%
38	Aberdeen, NC Estimated	111	+50%
39	Jacksonville, NC Estimated	102	+500%
40	Hope Mills, NC Estimated	99	+167.6%
41	Shelby, NC Estimated	93	+72.2%
42	Elizabeth City, NC Estimated	88	n/a
43	Rocky Mount, NC Estimated	83	-62.1%
44	Kings Mountain, NC Estimated	81	-50%
45	Lexington, NC Estimated	76	+261.9%
46	Asheboro, NC Estimated	74	-16.9%
47	Morehead City, NC Estimated	73	-41.6%
48	Thomasville, NC Estimated	72	-25.8%
49	Tarboro, NC Estimated	66	-49.2%
50	Havelock, NC Estimated	64	+6,300%
50	Pinehurst, NC Estimated	64	-43.9%
52	Winterville, NC Estimated	49	-18.3%
53	Carrboro, NC Estimated	43	-34.8%
53	Waynesville, NC Estimated	43	-83.6%
55	Reidsville, NC Estimated	28	+115.4%
56	Roanoke Rapids, NC Estimated	13	+116.7%
57	Lumberton, NC Estimated	12	+9.1%
58	Eden, NC Estimated	7	-53.3%
59	Spring Lake, NC Estimated	1	-80%

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 2022 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/so2022a.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. (2024). 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, 2022) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/South%20Region/so2022a.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, 2022. U.S. Census Bureau, 2 Apr. 2024, https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/South%20Region/so2022a.txt. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/north-carolina-cities?period=2022. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

U.S. Census Bureau. 2024. 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, 2022. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/South%20Region/so2022a.txt. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/north-carolina-cities?period=2022.

Harvard

U.S. Census Bureau (2024) 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, 2022 [Dataset]. Available at: https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/South%20Region/so2022a.txt, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/north-carolina-cities?period=2022 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX

@misc{census_cities_in_north_carolina_2022,
  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, 2022}},
  year = {2024},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/South%20Region/so2022a.txt},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/north-carolina-cities?period=2022. 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/so2022a.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, 2022
PY  - 2024
DA  - 2024/04/02
PB  - U.S. Census Bureau
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/South%20Region/so2022a.txt
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/north-carolina-cities?period=2022
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/north-carolina-cities?period=2022.
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/so2022a.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 8,635 in 2022, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

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

Spring Lake, NC, with 1 in 2022.

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 2022 and are not ranked.