Counties in South Carolina by housing units authorized by building permits
Horry County had the highest housing units authorized by building permits of 46 counties in 2024, at 7,331. Marlboro County had the lowest, at 6. The median was 217. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.
All counties, 2024
Full ranking
| Rank | Counties | 2024 | Change on 2023 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Horry County Estimated | 7,331 | +12.6% |
| 2 | Greenville County Estimated | 5,575 | +16.8% |
| 3 | Charleston County Estimated | 4,153 | -8.9% |
| 4 | Richland County Estimated | 3,469 | +22% |
| 5 | Berkeley County Estimated | 3,169 | +9.1% |
| 6 | Spartanburg County Estimated | 3,129 | +9.1% |
| 7 | York County Estimated | 2,513 | +9.8% |
| 8 | Aiken County Estimated | 2,500 | +69.8% |
| 9 | Lexington County Estimated | 1,758 | -3.1% |
| 10 | Beaufort County Estimated | 1,638 | +0.2% |
| 11 | Pickens County Estimated | 1,424 | +31% |
| 12 | Jasper County Estimated | 1,408 | +6.7% |
| 13 | Anderson County Estimated | 1,255 | -10.4% |
| 14 | Dorchester County Estimated | 1,192 | +7.3% |
| 15 | Lancaster County Estimated | 997 | +42.6% |
| 16 | Florence County Estimated | 666 | +24.3% |
| 17 | Oconee County Estimated | 648 | +5.9% |
| 18 | Laurens County Estimated | 621 | +47.2% |
| 19 | Kershaw County Estimated | 474 | -28.3% |
| 20 | Sumter County Estimated | 386 | +1.3% |
| 21 | Georgetown County Estimated | 327 | -7.9% |
| 22 | Chester County Estimated | 269 | +64% |
| 23 | Cherokee County Estimated | 239 | -11.5% |
| 24 | Darlington County Estimated | 195 | -3% |
| 25 | Greenwood County Estimated | 193 | +211.3% |
| 26 | Edgefield County Estimated | 181 | -23.9% |
| 27 | Newberry County Estimated | 155 | -13.9% |
| 28 | Chesterfield County Estimated | 147 | -13.5% |
| 29 | Abbeville County Estimated | 145 | -7.6% |
| 30 | McCormick County Estimated | 141 | +22.6% |
| 31 | Clarendon County Estimated | 114 | +23.9% |
| 32 | Orangeburg County Estimated | 101 | +21.7% |
| 32 | Union County Estimated | 101 | +80.4% |
| 34 | Fairfield County Estimated | 91 | +19.7% |
| 35 | Marion County Estimated | 76 | +4.1% |
| 36 | Saluda County Estimated | 52 | +10.6% |
| 37 | Calhoun County Estimated | 48 | +108.7% |
| 37 | Colleton County Estimated | 48 | -27.3% |
| 39 | Dillon County Estimated | 41 | -2.4% |
| 40 | Williamsburg County Estimated | 34 | -8.1% |
| 41 | Lee County Estimated | 18 | +5.9% |
| 42 | Barnwell County Estimated | 17 | -19% |
| 43 | Bamberg County Estimated | 11 | +22.2% |
| 44 | Hampton County Estimated | 10 | 0% |
| 45 | Allendale County Estimated | 6 | +50% |
| 45 | Marlboro County Estimated | 6 | -14.3% |
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 South Carolina by housing units authorized by building permits using official data, and cite the source.
rank_places {"indicator":"building_permit_units","level":"province","within":"South Carolina","limit":10}
GET https://invokely.ai/api/v1/rank?indicator=building_permit_units&level=province&within=South%20Carolina&limit=10Questions
Which county has the highest housing units authorized by building permits?
Horry County, with 7,331 in 2024, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
Which county has the lowest housing units authorized by building permits?
Marlboro County, with 6 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 North Carolina
- Counties in Iowa
- Counties in Illinois
- Counties in Kentucky
- Counties in Tennessee
- Counties in Indiana
Counties in South 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