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 2023, at 2,156. Cayce, SC had the lowest, at 1. The median was 302 and the figure for South Carolina was 42,474. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

Highest2,156North Charleston, SC

Lowest1Cayce, SC

Median30239 cities

South Carolina42,474History

All cities, 2023

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

Full ranking

Rank	Cities	2023 count	Change on 2022
1	North Charleston, SC Estimated	2,156	+27.4%
2	Columbia, SC Estimated	1,601	-24.9%
3	Charleston, SC Estimated	1,254	-10.5%
4	Hardeeville, SC Estimated	1,175	+20.4%
5	Fort Mill, SC Estimated	1,067	-9%
6	Mauldin, SC Estimated	716	+45.2%
7	Greer, SC Estimated	712	-24.3%
8	Moncks Corner, SC Estimated	641	+31.6%
9	Greenville, SC Estimated	639	+131.5%
10	North Myrtle Beach, SC Estimated	461	-8.7%
11	Bluffton, SC Estimated	432	+3.6%
12	Beaufort, SC Estimated	413	+182.9%
13	Clemson, SC Estimated	394	+264.8%
14	Myrtle Beach, SC Estimated	346	-51.7%
15	Goose Creek, SC Estimated	341	-35.3%
16	York, SC Estimated	320	+26%
17	Mount Pleasant, SC Estimated	317	-45%
18	North Augusta, SC Estimated	312	-15.4%
19	Easley, SC Estimated	304	-71.8%
20	Fountain Inn, SC Estimated	302	-44.4%
21	Conway, SC Estimated	251	+7.3%
22	Summerville, SC Estimated	243	+29.9%
23	Florence, SC Estimated	240	-28.1%
24	Rock Hill, SC Estimated	217	-53.7%
25	Lexington, SC Estimated	203	+82.9%
26	Simpsonville, SC Estimated	183	-44.7%
27	Aiken, SC Estimated	157	-49.4%
28	Anderson, SC Estimated	152	+22.6%
29	Tega Cay, SC Estimated	118	-35.5%
30	Port Royal, SC Estimated	99	-74.4%
31	Hilton Head Island, SC Estimated	89	-53.9%
32	Hanahan, SC Estimated	51	-34.6%
33	Spartanburg, SC Estimated	34	-8.1%
34	West Columbia, SC Estimated	29	-91.3%
35	Gaffney, SC Estimated	15	+200%
36	Forest Acres, SC Estimated	14	-6.7%
37	Orangeburg, SC Estimated	5	-44.4%
38	Newberry, SC Estimated	4	-92.6%
39	Cayce, SC Estimated	1	-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/so2023a.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, 2023) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/South%20Region/so2023a.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, 2023. U.S. Census Bureau, 24 Apr. 2024, https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/South%20Region/so2023a.txt. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/south-carolina-cities?period=2023. 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, 2023. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/South%20Region/so2023a.txt. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/south-carolina-cities?period=2023.

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, 2023 [Dataset]. Available at: https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/South%20Region/so2023a.txt, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/south-carolina-cities?period=2023 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX

@misc{census_cities_in_south_carolina_2023,
  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, 2023}},
  year = {2024},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/South%20Region/so2023a.txt},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/south-carolina-cities?period=2023. 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/so2023a.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, 2023
PY  - 2024
DA  - 2024/04/24
PB  - U.S. Census Bureau
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/South%20Region/so2023a.txt
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/south-carolina-cities?period=2023
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/south-carolina-cities?period=2023.
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/so2023a.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?

North Charleston, SC, with 2,156 in 2023, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

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

Cayce, SC, with 1 in 2023.

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.