Cities in South Carolina by housing units authorized by building permits

Columbia, SC had the highest housing units authorized by building permits of 39 cities in 2021, at 1,700. Gaffney, SC had the lowest, at 2. The median was 363 and the figure for South Carolina was 50,680. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

Highest1,700Columbia, SC

Lowest2Gaffney, SC

Median36339 cities

South Carolina50,680History

All cities, 2021

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

Full ranking

Rank	Cities	2021 count	Change on 2020
1	Columbia, SC Estimated	1,700	+211.9%
2	Greer, SC Estimated	1,490	+0.5%
3	Charleston, SC Estimated	1,469	+14.7%
4	Fort Mill, SC Estimated	1,276	+14.5%
5	Bluffton, SC Estimated	1,245	-17%
6	Mount Pleasant, SC Estimated	1,014	-10.7%
7	Simpsonville, SC Estimated	949	+60.6%
8	Hardeeville, SC Estimated	800	+30.5%
9	North Charleston, SC Estimated	748	-46.4%
10	Myrtle Beach, SC Estimated	691	+36.8%
11	Rock Hill, SC Estimated	680	+210.5%
12	Mauldin, SC Estimated	645	+22.6%
13	Easley, SC Estimated	628	+115.1%
14	Moncks Corner, SC Estimated	604	+277.5%
15	Hilton Head Island, SC Estimated	554	+194.7%
16	Port Royal, SC Estimated	479	+205.1%
17	North Myrtle Beach, SC Estimated	465	+22.4%
18	Goose Creek, SC Estimated	372	-2.1%
19	Conway, SC Estimated	371	+81%
20	Greenville, SC Estimated	363	-68.3%
21	Fountain Inn, SC Estimated	350	+36.7%
22	North Augusta, SC Estimated	284	+35.9%
23	Florence, SC Estimated	240	-17.5%
24	Summerville, SC Estimated	236	-45.4%
25	Lexington, SC Estimated	209	-31.9%
26	Tega Cay, SC Estimated	205	+36.7%
27	Aiken, SC Estimated	195	+36.4%
28	Anderson, SC Estimated	169	+26.1%
29	West Columbia, SC Estimated	106	+27.7%
30	Beaufort, SC Estimated	58	-13.4%
31	Clemson, SC Estimated	54	-71.7%
32	Spartanburg, SC Estimated	42	+13.5%
32	York, SC Estimated	42	-33.3%
34	Newberry, SC Estimated	29	+20.8%
35	Forest Acres, SC Estimated	19	+26.7%
35	Hanahan, SC Estimated	19	-95.7%
37	Cayce, SC Estimated	12	+33.3%
38	Orangeburg, SC Estimated	8	+14.3%
39	Gaffney, SC Estimated	2	-66.7%

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/so2021a.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. (2022). 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, 2021) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/South%20Region/so2021a.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, 2021. U.S. Census Bureau, 27 Apr. 2022, https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/South%20Region/so2021a.txt. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/south-carolina-cities?period=2021. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

U.S. Census Bureau. 2022. 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, 2021. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/South%20Region/so2021a.txt. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/south-carolina-cities?period=2021.

Harvard

U.S. Census Bureau (2022) 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, 2021 [Dataset]. Available at: https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/South%20Region/so2021a.txt, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/south-carolina-cities?period=2021 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX

@misc{census_cities_in_south_carolina_2021,
  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, 2021}},
  year = {2022},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/South%20Region/so2021a.txt},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/south-carolina-cities?period=2021. 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/so2021a.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, 2021
PY  - 2022
DA  - 2022/04/27
PB  - U.S. Census Bureau
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/South%20Region/so2021a.txt
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/south-carolina-cities?period=2021
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/south-carolina-cities?period=2021.
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/so2021a.txt. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
ER  -

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Rank Cities in South Carolina by housing units authorized by building permits using official data, and cite the source.

rank_places {"indicator":"building_permit_units","level":"municipality","within":"South Carolina","limit":10}
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Questions

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

Columbia, SC, with 1,700 in 2021, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

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

Gaffney, SC, with 2 in 2021.

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.