Counties in North Carolina by housing units authorized by building permits, 2025
Wake County had the highest housing units authorized by building permits of 100 counties in 2025, at 13,806. Martin County had the lowest, at 0. The median was 254. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.
Top 40 counties, 2025
Full ranking
| Rank | Counties | 2025 | Change on 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wake County Estimated | 13,806 | -9.5% |
| 2 | Mecklenburg County Estimated | 7,496 | -37.4% |
| 3 | Durham County Estimated | 4,772 | +64.3% |
| 4 | Brunswick County Estimated | 4,457 | -26.9% |
| 5 | Johnston County Estimated | 3,002 | +7.9% |
| 6 | Guilford County Estimated | 2,876 | -25.2% |
| 7 | Forsyth County Estimated | 2,875 | -25.2% |
| 8 | Union County Estimated | 2,707 | +16% |
| 9 | Gaston County Estimated | 2,343 | +13.2% |
| 10 | New Hanover County Estimated | 2,332 | -9.6% |
| 11 | Harnett County Estimated | 2,205 | -1.2% |
| 12 | Buncombe County Estimated | 2,028 | -43.9% |
| 13 | Alamance County Estimated | 2,027 | -17.8% |
| 14 | Cabarrus County Estimated | 1,991 | -19.9% |
| 15 | Catawba County Estimated | 1,944 | -3.6% |
| 16 | Iredell County Estimated | 1,835 | -6.1% |
| 17 | Cumberland County Estimated | 1,547 | +25.8% |
| 18 | Onslow County Estimated | 1,372 | +10.1% |
| 19 | Pitt County Estimated | 1,285 | -1.2% |
| 20 | Davidson County Estimated | 1,216 | +22.8% |
| 21 | Henderson County Estimated | 1,093 | -32.1% |
| 22 | Moore County Estimated | 1,077 | +14.3% |
| 23 | Rowan County Estimated | 957 | +61.7% |
| 24 | Wayne County Estimated | 954 | +57.7% |
| 25 | Pender County Estimated | 833 | -11.8% |
| 26 | Lincoln County Estimated | 785 | +12.6% |
| 27 | Franklin County Estimated | 735 | -22.5% |
| 28 | Lee County Estimated | 674 | +12% |
| 29 | Orange County Estimated | 666 | +77.6% |
| 30 | Burke County Estimated | 588 | +39.3% |
| 31 | Randolph County Estimated | 572 | -27.5% |
| 32 | Hoke County Estimated | 558 | -18.5% |
| 33 | Cleveland County Estimated | 555 | +8.2% |
| 34 | Craven County Estimated | 553 | +14% |
| 35 | Watauga County Estimated | 536 | +81.1% |
| 36 | Chatham County Estimated | 517 | +11.2% |
| 37 | Haywood County Estimated | 514 | -4.3% |
| 38 | Caldwell County Estimated | 501 | +123.7% |
| 39 | Nash County Estimated | 483 | -3.4% |
| 40 | Carteret County Estimated | 471 | -49.6% |
| 41 | Wilson County Estimated | 411 | -29.1% |
| 42 | Robeson County Estimated | 399 | +18.4% |
| 43 | Rockingham County Estimated | 382 | +11% |
| 44 | Stanly County Estimated | 336 | -8.4% |
| 45 | Currituck County Estimated | 325 | -24.2% |
| 45 | Dare County Estimated | 325 | -12.4% |
| 47 | Pasquotank County Estimated | 274 | +79.1% |
| 48 | Rutherford County Estimated | 269 | +39.4% |
| 49 | Granville County Estimated | 257 | -40% |
| 50 | Stokes County Estimated | 256 | +7.6% |
| 51 | Macon County Estimated | 251 | +15.1% |
| 52 | Surry County Estimated | 244 | +0.4% |
| 53 | Cherokee County Estimated | 239 | +3% |
| 54 | Davie County Estimated | 236 | -5.6% |
| 55 | Jackson County Estimated | 232 | -8.7% |
| 56 | Ashe County Estimated | 195 | +2.1% |
| 57 | Montgomery County Estimated | 176 | +27.5% |
| 57 | Transylvania County Estimated | 176 | -4.9% |
| 59 | Warren County Estimated | 175 | -31.4% |
| 60 | McDowell County Estimated | 164 | -6.3% |
| 61 | Wilkes County Estimated | 152 | +13.4% |
| 62 | Avery County Estimated | 151 | +58.9% |
| 63 | Person County Estimated | 145 | +28.3% |
| 64 | Camden County Estimated | 144 | +37.1% |
| 65 | Polk County Estimated | 141 | -1.4% |
| 66 | Lenoir County Estimated | 131 | -11.5% |
| 67 | Duplin County Estimated | 127 | -5.2% |
| 68 | Beaufort County Estimated | 119 | -44.9% |
| 69 | Madison County Estimated | 117 | -24.5% |
| 69 | Sampson County Estimated | 117 | -38.1% |
| 71 | Yadkin County Estimated | 116 | -12.1% |
| 72 | Vance County Estimated | 115 | +57.5% |
| 73 | Richmond County Estimated | 109 | +87.9% |
| 74 | Clay County Estimated | 108 | -24.5% |
| 75 | Yancey County Estimated | 107 | +7% |
| 76 | Alexander County Estimated | 103 | -8.8% |
| 77 | Bladen County Estimated | 97 | -39% |
| 77 | Pamlico County Estimated | 97 | -9.3% |
| 79 | Swain County Estimated | 94 | +22.1% |
| 80 | Alleghany County Estimated | 82 | -9.9% |
| 81 | Halifax County Estimated | 75 | +36.4% |
| 82 | Greene County Estimated | 59 | +13.5% |
| 82 | Scotland County Estimated | 59 | -15.7% |
| 84 | Columbus County Estimated | 55 | 0% |
| 85 | Anson County Estimated | 53 | -3.6% |
| 85 | Edgecombe County Estimated | 53 | +6% |
| 87 | Caswell County Estimated | 50 | -7.4% |
| 88 | Chowan County Estimated | 48 | 0% |
| 89 | Jones County Estimated | 46 | +17.9% |
| 90 | Mitchell County Estimated | 44 | 0% |
| 91 | Perquimans County Estimated | 43 | -6.5% |
| 92 | Hyde County Estimated | 35 | +52.2% |
| 93 | Bertie County Estimated | 32 | -30.4% |
| 94 | Graham County Estimated | 28 | -9.7% |
| 95 | Tyrrell County Estimated | 18 | -25% |
| 96 | Northampton County Estimated | 15 | -11.8% |
| 97 | Gates County Estimated | 12 | -14.3% |
| 98 | Washington County Estimated | 7 | +250% |
| 99 | Hertford County Estimated | 3 | 0% |
| 100 | Martin County Estimated | 0 |
Other periods
About this ranking
Annual number of new privately owned housing units authorized by building permits, from the US Census Bureau Building Permits Survey.
Final annual county estimates include imputation for missing reports. Counts housing units, not buildings, starts, completions or sales. Covers permit-issuing areas; areas where permits are not required are outside the survey. Not seasonally adjusted or expressed as an annualized monthly rate. The total is the sum of units in the four published structure categories; inputs are retained.
Every value in the ranking comes from the same publisher and the same period, so the counties are compared on one definition. Equal values share a rank.
How to cite
U.S. Census Bureau. Building Permits Survey: final annual county estimates of new privately owned housing units authorized, including imputation. https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/County/co2025a.txt. Retrieved 2026-10-10.Use this data in your AI agent
Invokely serves this figure to AI assistants through MCP and to code through a REST API, with the source and citation attached. Ask your assistant:
Rank Counties in North Carolina by housing units authorized by building permits using official data, and cite the source.
rank_places {"indicator":"building_permit_units","level":"province","within":"North Carolina","limit":10}
GET https://invokely.ai/api/v1/rank?indicator=building_permit_units&level=province&within=North%20Carolina&limit=10Questions
Which county has the highest housing units authorized by building permits?
Wake County, with 13,806 in 2025, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
Which county has the lowest housing units authorized by building permits?
Martin County, with 0 in 2025.
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 county estimates of new privately owned housing units authorized, including imputation. Retrieved 2026-10-10.
Housing units authorized by building permits: other rankings
- US counties
- Counties in Texas
- Counties in Georgia
- Counties in Virginia
- Counties in Missouri
- Counties in Kansas
- Counties in Iowa
- Counties in Illinois
- Counties in Kentucky
- Counties in Tennessee
- Counties in Indiana
- Counties in Nebraska
Counties in North Carolina: more rankings
- Asian population share
- Bachelor's degree or higher, population 25 and over
- Live births, July to June
- Black or African American population share
- Crude birth rate, July to June
- Crude death rate, July to June
- Deaths, July to June
- Foreign-born population share
- Real GDP growth
- GDP per capita, US dollars
- Gross domestic product (GDP), US dollars
- Gini index
- Hispanic or Latino population share
- Homeownership rate (US, housing units)
- County house price annual change, sales and refinances
- County house price index, 1990 = 100