Cities in South Carolina by housing units authorized by building permits

North Charleston, SC had the highest housing units authorized by building permits of 39 cities in 2018, at 1,270. Newberry, SC had the lowest, at 1. The median was 235 and the figure for South Carolina was 35,487. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

Highest1,270North Charleston, SC

Lowest1Newberry, SC

Median23539 cities

South Carolina35,487History

All cities, 2018

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

Full ranking

Rank	Cities	2018 count	Change on 2017
1	North Charleston, SC Estimated	1,270	-17.2%
2	Bluffton, SC Estimated	1,167	+12.6%
3	Charleston, SC Estimated	1,164	+8.9%
4	Greenville, SC Estimated	1,064	+399.5%
5	Mount Pleasant, SC Estimated	1,061	-36.7%
6	Fort Mill, SC Estimated	1,002	+8.8%
7	Greer, SC Estimated	577	+34.5%
8	Myrtle Beach, SC Estimated	550	-28.3%
9	Simpsonville, SC Estimated	531	+34.4%
10	Columbia, SC Estimated	477	+36.7%
11	Hanahan, SC Estimated	470	+9.8%
12	Conway, SC Estimated	386	-15.7%
13	Hardeeville, SC Estimated	368	+76.9%
14	North Myrtle Beach, SC Estimated	326	+3.2%
15	Summerville, SC Estimated	294	+31.8%
16	Goose Creek, SC Estimated	287	+7.9%
17	Lexington, SC Estimated	252	+29.9%
18	Rock Hill, SC Estimated	250	-54.6%
19	Moncks Corner, SC Estimated	239	-10.5%
20	Clemson, SC Estimated	235	-6.7%
21	Hilton Head Island, SC Estimated	227	+59.9%
22	Florence, SC Estimated	199	n/a
23	North Augusta, SC Estimated	185	-54.1%
24	Fountain Inn, SC Estimated	178	-68.3%
25	Tega Cay, SC Estimated	170	-11.9%
26	Anderson, SC Estimated	154	+102.6%
27	Port Royal, SC Estimated	119	-29.6%
28	Easley, SC Estimated	110	+14.6%
29	Aiken, SC Estimated	108	-34.9%
30	Mauldin, SC Estimated	87	+190%
31	York, SC Estimated	79	+146.9%
32	Beaufort, SC Estimated	71	+65.1%
33	Gaffney, SC Estimated	61	-7.6%
34	Spartanburg, SC Estimated	28	+12%
34	West Columbia, SC Estimated	28	-89.3%
36	Forest Acres, SC Estimated	25	+78.6%
37	Cayce, SC Estimated	7	-12.5%
38	Orangeburg, SC Estimated	3	0%
39	Newberry, SC Estimated	1	-83.3%

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. 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/so2018a.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. (2019). Building Permits Survey: final annual estimates of new privately owned housing units authorized by permit-issuing place, including imputation (Cities in South Carolina by housing units authorized by building permits, 2018) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/South%20Region/so2018a.txt

MLA 9

Building Permits Survey: final annual estimates of new privately owned housing units authorized by permit-issuing place, including imputation, Cities in South Carolina by housing units authorized by building permits, 2018. U.S. Census Bureau, 20 June 2019, https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/South%20Region/so2018a.txt. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/south-carolina-cities?period=2018. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

U.S. Census Bureau. 2019. Building Permits Survey: final annual estimates of new privately owned housing units authorized by permit-issuing place, including imputation. Cities in South Carolina by housing units authorized by building permits, 2018. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/South%20Region/so2018a.txt. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/south-carolina-cities?period=2018.

Harvard

U.S. Census Bureau (2019) Building Permits Survey: final annual estimates of new privately owned housing units authorized by permit-issuing place, including imputation, Cities in South Carolina by housing units authorized by building permits, 2018 [Dataset]. Available at: https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/South%20Region/so2018a.txt, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/south-carolina-cities?period=2018 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX

@misc{census_cities_in_south_carolina_2018,
  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 South Carolina by housing units authorized by building permits, 2018}},
  year = {2019},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/South%20Region/so2018a.txt},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/south-carolina-cities?period=2018. 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/so2018a.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 South Carolina by housing units authorized by building permits, 2018
PY  - 2019
DA  - 2019/06/20
PB  - U.S. Census Bureau
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/South%20Region/so2018a.txt
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/south-carolina-cities?period=2018
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/south-carolina-cities?period=2018.
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/so2018a.txt. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
ER  -

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Questions

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

North Charleston, SC, with 1,270 in 2018, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

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

Newberry, SC, with 1 in 2018.

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.