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 2022, at 2,131. Cayce, SC had the lowest, at 3. The median was 334 and the figure for South Carolina was 46,038. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

Highest2,131Columbia, SC

Lowest3Cayce, SC

Median33439 cities

South Carolina46,038History

All cities, 2022

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

Full ranking

Rank	Cities	2022 count	Change on 2021
1	Columbia, SC Estimated	2,131	+25.4%
2	North Charleston, SC Estimated	1,692	+126.2%
3	Charleston, SC Estimated	1,401	-4.6%
4	Fort Mill, SC Estimated	1,172	-8.2%
5	Easley, SC Estimated	1,077	+71.5%
6	Hardeeville, SC Estimated	976	+22%
7	Greer, SC Estimated	940	-36.9%
8	Myrtle Beach, SC Estimated	716	+3.6%
9	Mount Pleasant, SC Estimated	576	-43.2%
10	Fountain Inn, SC Estimated	543	+55.1%
11	Goose Creek, SC Estimated	527	+41.7%
12	North Myrtle Beach, SC Estimated	505	+8.6%
13	Mauldin, SC Estimated	493	-23.6%
14	Moncks Corner, SC Estimated	487	-19.4%
15	Rock Hill, SC Estimated	469	-31%
16	Bluffton, SC Estimated	417	-66.5%
17	Port Royal, SC Estimated	387	-19.2%
18	North Augusta, SC Estimated	369	+29.9%
19	Florence, SC Estimated	334	+39.2%
19	West Columbia, SC Estimated	334	+215.1%
21	Simpsonville, SC Estimated	331	-65.1%
22	Aiken, SC Estimated	310	+59%
23	Greenville, SC Estimated	276	-24%
24	York, SC Estimated	254	+504.8%
25	Conway, SC Estimated	234	-36.9%
26	Hilton Head Island, SC Estimated	193	-65.2%
27	Summerville, SC Estimated	187	-20.8%
28	Tega Cay, SC Estimated	183	-10.7%
29	Beaufort, SC Estimated	146	+151.7%
30	Anderson, SC Estimated	124	-26.6%
31	Lexington, SC Estimated	111	-46.9%
32	Clemson, SC Estimated	108	+100%
33	Hanahan, SC Estimated	78	+310.5%
34	Newberry, SC Estimated	54	+86.2%
35	Spartanburg, SC Estimated	37	-11.9%
36	Forest Acres, SC Estimated	15	-21.1%
37	Orangeburg, SC Estimated	9	+12.5%
38	Gaffney, SC Estimated	5	+150%
39	Cayce, SC Estimated	3	-75%

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/so2022a.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. (2024). 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, 2022) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/South%20Region/so2022a.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, 2022. U.S. Census Bureau, 2 Apr. 2024, https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/South%20Region/so2022a.txt. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/south-carolina-cities?period=2022. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

U.S. Census Bureau. 2024. 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, 2022. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/South%20Region/so2022a.txt. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/south-carolina-cities?period=2022.

Harvard

U.S. Census Bureau (2024) 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, 2022 [Dataset]. Available at: https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/South%20Region/so2022a.txt, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/south-carolina-cities?period=2022 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX

@misc{census_cities_in_south_carolina_2022,
  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, 2022}},
  year = {2024},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/South%20Region/so2022a.txt},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/south-carolina-cities?period=2022. 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/so2022a.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, 2022
PY  - 2024
DA  - 2024/04/02
PB  - U.S. Census Bureau
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/South%20Region/so2022a.txt
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/south-carolina-cities?period=2022
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/south-carolina-cities?period=2022.
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/so2022a.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 2,131 in 2022, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

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

Cayce, SC, with 3 in 2022.

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.