Cities in Tennessee by housing units authorized by building permits

Murfreesboro, TN had the highest housing units authorized by building permits of 58 cities in 2015, at 2,305. Millington, TN had the lowest, at 1. The median was 69 and the figure for Tennessee was 32,219. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

Highest2,305Murfreesboro, TN

Lowest1Millington, TN

Median6958 cities

Tennessee32,219History

All cities, 2015

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

Full ranking

Rank	Cities	2015 count	Change on 2014
1	Murfreesboro, TN Estimated	2,305	+32.9%
2	Franklin, TN Estimated	864	+7.9%
3	Clarksville, TN Estimated	756	-23.4%
4	Mount Juliet, TN Estimated	614	-26.5%
5	Chattanooga, TN Estimated	610	-45.9%
6	Smyrna, TN Estimated	568	+80.9%
7	Spring Hill, TN Estimated	537	-6.6%
8	Knoxville, TN Estimated	494	-42.6%
9	Gallatin, TN Estimated	490	+33.2%
10	Lebanon, TN Estimated	416	-2.8%
11	Cleveland, TN Estimated	375	+13.6%
12	Johnson City, TN Estimated	366	-20.8%
13	Bristol, TN Estimated	320	+900%
14	Collegedale, TN Estimated	309	+1,371.4%
15	Collierville, TN Estimated	280	+97.2%
16	Crossville, TN Estimated	261	+6.1%
17	Alcoa, TN Estimated	254	-12.7%
18	Hendersonville, TN Estimated	246	+24.2%
19	Brentwood, TN Estimated	240	-4.4%
20	Bartlett, TN Estimated	221	+9.4%
21	Cookeville, TN Estimated	202	-3.3%
22	Nolensville, TN Estimated	185	+20.1%
23	Jackson, TN Estimated	160	+7.4%
24	Columbia, TN Estimated	157	+103.9%
25	Maryville, TN Estimated	119	+16.7%
26	Farragut, TN Estimated	106	-4.5%
27	Oakland, TN Estimated	101	+2%
28	Kingsport, TN Estimated	78	-25.7%
29	Shelbyville, TN Estimated	70	-18.6%
30	Union City, TN Estimated	68	+1,033.3%
31	White House, TN Estimated	66	+26.9%
32	Fairview, TN Estimated	60	+53.8%
32	Sevierville, TN Estimated	60	+76.5%
34	La Vergne, TN Estimated	59	+5.4%
35	Tullahoma, TN Estimated	57	+14%
36	Atoka, TN Estimated	53	+12.8%
37	Lenoir City, TN Estimated	48	+45.5%
38	Portland, TN Estimated	45	+9.8%
39	Dickson, TN Estimated	41	-59.8%
40	Manchester, TN Estimated	38	-13.6%
41	Goodlettsville, TN Estimated	36	+157.1%
42	Morristown, TN Estimated	34	+21.4%
43	Oak Ridge, TN Estimated	32	+68.4%
44	Elizabethton, TN Estimated	25	+400%
44	Springfield, TN Estimated	25	-10.7%
46	Winchester, TN Estimated	24	+4.3%
47	Red Bank, TN Estimated	23	+35.3%
47	Soddy-Daisy, TN Estimated	23	+15%
49	Dyersburg, TN Estimated	20	+185.7%
50	Clinton, TN Estimated	15	-82.1%
50	Paris, TN Estimated	15	+15.4%
52	Martin, TN Estimated	13	0%
53	Athens, TN Estimated	11	-47.6%
53	East Ridge, TN Estimated	11	-8.3%
55	Greeneville, TN Estimated	8	-57.9%
55	Lawrenceburg, TN Estimated	8	-20%
57	McMinnville, TN Estimated	3	-62.5%
58	Millington, TN Estimated	1	-50%

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. 3 cities with data in other periods have no value for 2015 and are left out rather than filled from another source. 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/so2015a.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. (2016). Building Permits Survey: final annual estimates of new privately owned housing units authorized by permit-issuing place, including imputation (Cities in Tennessee by housing units authorized by building permits, 2015) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/South%20Region/so2015a.txt

MLA 9

Building Permits Survey: final annual estimates of new privately owned housing units authorized by permit-issuing place, including imputation, Cities in Tennessee by housing units authorized by building permits, 2015. U.S. Census Bureau, 30 Sept. 2016, https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/South%20Region/so2015a.txt. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/tennessee-cities?period=2015. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

U.S. Census Bureau. 2016. Building Permits Survey: final annual estimates of new privately owned housing units authorized by permit-issuing place, including imputation. Cities in Tennessee by housing units authorized by building permits, 2015. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/South%20Region/so2015a.txt. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/tennessee-cities?period=2015.

Harvard

U.S. Census Bureau (2016) Building Permits Survey: final annual estimates of new privately owned housing units authorized by permit-issuing place, including imputation, Cities in Tennessee by housing units authorized by building permits, 2015 [Dataset]. Available at: https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/South%20Region/so2015a.txt, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/tennessee-cities?period=2015 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX

@misc{census_cities_in_tennessee_by_2015,
  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 Tennessee by housing units authorized by building permits, 2015}},
  year = {2016},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/South%20Region/so2015a.txt},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/tennessee-cities?period=2015. 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/so2015a.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 Tennessee by housing units authorized by building permits, 2015
PY  - 2016
DA  - 2016/09/30
PB  - U.S. Census Bureau
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/South%20Region/so2015a.txt
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/tennessee-cities?period=2015
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/tennessee-cities?period=2015.
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/so2015a.txt. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
ER  -

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Questions

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

Murfreesboro, TN, with 2,305 in 2015, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

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

Millington, TN, with 1 in 2015.

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. 3 cities have no value for 2015 and are not ranked.