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 2024, at 5,044. Mooresville, NC had the lowest, at 0. The median was 278 and the figure for North Carolina was 95,163. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

Highest5,044Raleigh, NC

Lowest0Mooresville, NC

Median27859 cities

North Carolina95,163History

All cities, 2024

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

Full ranking

Rank	Cities	2024 count	Change on 2023
1	Raleigh, NC Estimated	5,044	-21%
2	Durham, NC Estimated	2,793	-36%
3	Winston-Salem, NC Estimated	2,134	-0.3%
4	Apex, NC Estimated	2,051	+35.2%
5	Greensboro, NC Estimated	1,954	+10.6%
6	High Point, NC Estimated	1,310	+174.6%
7	Wendell, NC Estimated	1,277	+21.2%
8	Garner, NC Estimated	1,190	-37.6%
9	Monroe, NC Estimated	1,111	+31.5%
10	Fuquay-Varina, NC Estimated	1,070	-1.7%
11	Cary, NC Estimated	1,052	-17.5%
12	Leland, NC Estimated	924	-51%
13	Greenville, NC Estimated	843	-16.9%
14	Holly Springs, NC Estimated	758	-17.4%
15	Wake Forest, NC Estimated	747	-32.4%
16	Asheville, NC Estimated	739	+72.3%
17	Mebane, NC Estimated	675	+145.5%
18	Zebulon, NC Estimated	639	+34.5%
19	Knightdale, NC Estimated	617	-5.9%
20	Fayetteville, NC Estimated	525	+1.9%
21	Graham, NC Estimated	517	-5.3%
22	Sanford, NC Estimated	435	+22.2%
23	Clayton, NC Estimated	418	-17.1%
24	Morehead City, NC Estimated	408	+527.7%
25	Wilson, NC Estimated	381	+112.8%
26	Rolesville, NC Estimated	371	+87.4%
27	Kernersville, NC Estimated	369	-7.5%
28	Burlington, NC Estimated	347	-58.9%
29	New Bern, NC Estimated	303	+26.8%
30	Shelby, NC Estimated	278	-37.1%
31	Waynesville, NC Estimated	234	+229.6%
32	Aberdeen, NC Estimated	210	+328.6%
33	Lexington, NC Estimated	168	+112.7%
34	Southern Pines, NC Estimated	164	0%
35	Chapel Hill, NC Estimated	159	-78.5%
36	Hope Mills, NC Estimated	149	+115.9%
37	Goldsboro, NC Estimated	118	-22.4%
38	Rocky Mount, NC Estimated	100	+2%
39	Morganton, NC Estimated	97	-11.8%
40	Kings Mountain, NC Estimated	93	+244.4%
41	Asheboro, NC Estimated	84	-29.4%
42	Pinehurst, NC Estimated	81	+37.3%
43	Jacksonville, NC Estimated	80	+90.5%
44	Elizabeth City, NC Estimated	74	+15.6%
45	Thomasville, NC Estimated	68	+6.3%
46	Spring Lake, NC Estimated	67	+45.7%
47	Winterville, NC Estimated	49	+4.3%
48	Lumberton, NC Estimated	47	+370%
49	Morrisville, NC Estimated	44	-87.1%
50	Waxhaw, NC Estimated	42	+200%
51	Eden, NC Estimated	40	+300%
52	Carrboro, NC Estimated	30	0%
53	Tarboro, NC Estimated	29	-21.6%
54	Reidsville, NC Estimated	22	+46.7%
55	Boone, NC Estimated	14	+75%
56	Roanoke Rapids, NC Estimated	5	+25%
57	Havelock, NC Estimated	4	+100%
58	Kinston, NC Estimated	0	-100%
58	Mooresville, NC Estimated	0	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 2024 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/so2024a.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. (2025). 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, 2024) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/South%20Region/so2024a.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, 2024. U.S. Census Bureau, 1 May 2025, https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/South%20Region/so2024a.txt. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/north-carolina-cities?period=2024. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

U.S. Census Bureau. 2025. 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, 2024. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/South%20Region/so2024a.txt. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/north-carolina-cities?period=2024.

Harvard

U.S. Census Bureau (2025) 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, 2024 [Dataset]. Available at: https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/South%20Region/so2024a.txt, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/north-carolina-cities?period=2024 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX

@misc{census_cities_in_north_carolina_2024,
  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, 2024}},
  year = {2025},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/South%20Region/so2024a.txt},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/north-carolina-cities?period=2024. 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/so2024a.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, 2024
PY  - 2025
DA  - 2025/05/01
PB  - U.S. Census Bureau
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/South%20Region/so2024a.txt
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/north-carolina-cities?period=2024
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/north-carolina-cities?period=2024.
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/so2024a.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 5,044 in 2024, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

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

Mooresville, NC, with 0 in 2024.

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 2024 and are not ranked.