Counties in North Carolina by housing units authorized by building permits
Wake County had the highest housing units authorized by building permits of 100 counties in 2024, at 15,248. Martin County had the lowest, at 0. The median was 241. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.
Top 40 counties, 2024
Full ranking
| Rank | Counties | 2024 | Change on 2023 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wake County Estimated | 15,248 | -12.3% |
| 2 | Mecklenburg County Estimated | 11,969 | -17.1% |
| 3 | Brunswick County Estimated | 6,093 | -8.6% |
| 4 | Forsyth County Estimated | 3,846 | +11.3% |
| 5 | Guilford County Estimated | 3,843 | +38.2% |
| 6 | Buncombe County Estimated | 3,613 | +39.3% |
| 7 | Durham County Estimated | 2,905 | -39.7% |
| 8 | Johnston County Estimated | 2,783 | +16.6% |
| 9 | New Hanover County Estimated | 2,581 | -10.5% |
| 10 | Cabarrus County Estimated | 2,485 | +9.5% |
| 11 | Alamance County Estimated | 2,466 | -9.7% |
| 12 | Union County Estimated | 2,334 | +1.1% |
| 13 | Harnett County Estimated | 2,231 | +105.4% |
| 14 | Gaston County Estimated | 2,069 | +31.1% |
| 15 | Catawba County Estimated | 2,016 | +26.6% |
| 16 | Iredell County Estimated | 1,955 | -55.1% |
| 17 | Henderson County Estimated | 1,610 | +107.7% |
| 18 | Pitt County Estimated | 1,300 | -5.4% |
| 19 | Onslow County Estimated | 1,246 | -12.2% |
| 20 | Cumberland County Estimated | 1,230 | +22.6% |
| 21 | Davidson County Estimated | 990 | -8.1% |
| 22 | Franklin County Estimated | 948 | +12.5% |
| 23 | Pender County Estimated | 944 | -12.8% |
| 24 | Moore County Estimated | 942 | +8% |
| 25 | Carteret County Estimated | 935 | +78.4% |
| 26 | Randolph County Estimated | 789 | +76.5% |
| 27 | Lincoln County Estimated | 697 | +3% |
| 28 | Hoke County Estimated | 685 | +40.7% |
| 29 | Wayne County Estimated | 605 | +12.5% |
| 30 | Lee County Estimated | 602 | +11.3% |
| 31 | Rowan County Estimated | 592 | 0% |
| 32 | Wilson County Estimated | 580 | +55.5% |
| 33 | Haywood County Estimated | 537 | +96% |
| 34 | Cleveland County Estimated | 513 | -20% |
| 35 | Nash County Estimated | 500 | -6.5% |
| 36 | Craven County Estimated | 485 | +15.8% |
| 37 | Chatham County Estimated | 465 | -52.1% |
| 38 | Currituck County Estimated | 429 | -1.8% |
| 39 | Granville County Estimated | 428 | +95.4% |
| 40 | Burke County Estimated | 422 | -2.3% |
| 41 | Orange County Estimated | 375 | -62.9% |
| 42 | Dare County Estimated | 371 | -13.7% |
| 43 | Stanly County Estimated | 367 | +5.2% |
| 44 | Rockingham County Estimated | 344 | +23.3% |
| 45 | Robeson County Estimated | 337 | -6.6% |
| 46 | Watauga County Estimated | 296 | -36.9% |
| 47 | Warren County Estimated | 255 | +2.8% |
| 48 | Jackson County Estimated | 254 | +8.1% |
| 49 | Davie County Estimated | 250 | +4.6% |
| 50 | Surry County Estimated | 243 | +15.7% |
| 51 | Stokes County Estimated | 238 | +24.6% |
| 52 | Cherokee County Estimated | 232 | -17.1% |
| 53 | Caldwell County Estimated | 224 | -8.9% |
| 54 | Macon County Estimated | 218 | +19.8% |
| 55 | Beaufort County Estimated | 216 | -12.9% |
| 56 | Rutherford County Estimated | 193 | -20.9% |
| 57 | Ashe County Estimated | 191 | +15.1% |
| 58 | Sampson County Estimated | 189 | +11.8% |
| 59 | Transylvania County Estimated | 185 | -13.1% |
| 60 | McDowell County Estimated | 175 | -5.9% |
| 61 | Bladen County Estimated | 159 | +117.8% |
| 62 | Madison County Estimated | 155 | -45.2% |
| 63 | Pasquotank County Estimated | 153 | 0% |
| 64 | Lenoir County Estimated | 148 | -13.5% |
| 65 | Clay County Estimated | 143 | +11.7% |
| 65 | Polk County Estimated | 143 | -6.5% |
| 67 | Montgomery County Estimated | 138 | +3% |
| 68 | Duplin County Estimated | 134 | +21.8% |
| 68 | Wilkes County Estimated | 134 | -5% |
| 70 | Yadkin County Estimated | 132 | +16.8% |
| 71 | Alexander County Estimated | 113 | +3.7% |
| 71 | Person County Estimated | 113 | -40.5% |
| 73 | Pamlico County Estimated | 107 | +15.1% |
| 74 | Camden County Estimated | 105 | +61.5% |
| 75 | Yancey County Estimated | 100 | +1% |
| 76 | Avery County Estimated | 95 | -38.7% |
| 77 | Alleghany County Estimated | 91 | +9.6% |
| 78 | Swain County Estimated | 77 | -13.5% |
| 79 | Vance County Estimated | 73 | +1.4% |
| 80 | Scotland County Estimated | 70 | +62.8% |
| 81 | Richmond County Estimated | 58 | +31.8% |
| 82 | Anson County Estimated | 55 | +5.8% |
| 82 | Columbus County Estimated | 55 | +323.1% |
| 82 | Halifax County Estimated | 55 | -1.8% |
| 85 | Caswell County Estimated | 54 | +25.6% |
| 86 | Greene County Estimated | 52 | +126.1% |
| 87 | Edgecombe County Estimated | 50 | -36.7% |
| 88 | Chowan County Estimated | 48 | +6.7% |
| 89 | Bertie County Estimated | 46 | +64.3% |
| 89 | Perquimans County Estimated | 46 | +2.2% |
| 91 | Mitchell County Estimated | 44 | +12.8% |
| 92 | Jones County Estimated | 39 | +39.3% |
| 93 | Graham County Estimated | 31 | +138.5% |
| 94 | Tyrrell County Estimated | 24 | +242.9% |
| 95 | Hyde County Estimated | 23 | +53.3% |
| 96 | Northampton County Estimated | 17 | -5.6% |
| 97 | Gates County Estimated | 14 | +7.7% |
| 98 | Hertford County Estimated | 3 | 0% |
| 99 | Washington County Estimated | 2 | |
| 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/co2024a.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 15,248 in 2024, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
Which county has the lowest housing units authorized by building permits?
Martin County, 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 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