Cities in Tennessee by housing units authorized by building permits

Franklin, TN had the highest housing units authorized by building permits of 58 cities in 2016, at 1,658. Millington, TN had the lowest, at 0. The median was 78 and the figure for Tennessee was 36,157. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

Highest1,658Franklin, TN

Lowest0Millington, TN

Median7858 cities

Tennessee36,157History

All cities, 2016

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

Full ranking

Rank	Cities	2016 count	Change on 2015
1	Franklin, TN Estimated	1,658	+91.9%
2	Murfreesboro, TN Estimated	1,639	-28.9%
3	Chattanooga, TN Estimated	1,173	+92.3%
4	Clarksville, TN Estimated	1,044	+38.1%
5	Knoxville, TN Estimated	849	+71.9%
6	Spring Hill, TN Estimated	708	+31.8%
7	Gallatin, TN Estimated	699	+42.7%
8	Kingsport, TN Estimated	645	+726.9%
9	Mount Juliet, TN Estimated	530	-13.7%
10	Cookeville, TN Estimated	452	+123.8%
11	Smyrna, TN Estimated	423	-25.5%
12	Lebanon, TN Estimated	396	-4.8%
13	Collierville, TN Estimated	384	+37.1%
14	Columbia, TN Estimated	315	+100.6%
15	Hendersonville, TN Estimated	279	+13.4%
16	Crossville, TN Estimated	247	-5.4%
17	Alcoa, TN Estimated	224	-11.8%
18	Bartlett, TN Estimated	205	-7.2%
19	Nolensville, TN Estimated	204	+10.3%
20	Brentwood, TN Estimated	175	-27.1%
21	Jackson, TN Estimated	167	+4.4%
22	Cleveland, TN Estimated	165	-56%
23	Farragut, TN Estimated	157	+48.1%
24	Soddy-Daisy, TN Estimated	154	+569.6%
25	Maryville, TN Estimated	150	+26.1%
26	Johnson City, TN Estimated	148	-59.6%
27	Oakland, TN Estimated	122	+20.8%
28	Fairview, TN Estimated	87	+45%
29	White House, TN Estimated	85	+28.8%
30	Shelbyville, TN Estimated	70	0%
31	Elizabethton, TN Estimated	66	+164%
32	Tullahoma, TN Estimated	65	+14%
33	Atoka, TN Estimated	63	+18.9%
33	Goodlettsville, TN Estimated	63	+75%
33	La Vergne, TN Estimated	63	+6.8%
33	Portland, TN Estimated	63	+40%
37	Dickson, TN Estimated	55	+34.1%
38	Sevierville, TN Estimated	49	-18.3%
39	Lenoir City, TN Estimated	48	0%
40	Manchester, TN Estimated	45	+18.4%
41	Morristown, TN Estimated	41	+20.6%
42	Collegedale, TN Estimated	37	-88%
43	Winchester, TN Estimated	29	+20.8%
44	Springfield, TN Estimated	26	+4%
45	Oak Ridge, TN Estimated	25	-21.9%
46	Dyersburg, TN Estimated	22	+10%
46	East Ridge, TN Estimated	22	+100%
46	Red Bank, TN Estimated	22	-4.3%
49	Clinton, TN Estimated	20	+33.3%
50	Paris, TN Estimated	17	+13.3%
51	Greeneville, TN Estimated	15	+87.5%
51	Martin, TN Estimated	15	+15.4%
53	Athens, TN Estimated	14	+27.3%
54	Lawrenceburg, TN Estimated	11	+37.5%
55	McMinnville, TN Estimated	10	+233.3%
56	Union City, TN Estimated	1	-98.5%
57	Bristol, TN Estimated	0	-100%
57	Millington, TN Estimated	0	-100%

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 2016 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/so2016a.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. (2017). 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, 2016) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/South%20Region/so2016a.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, 2016. U.S. Census Bureau, 1 May 2017, https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/South%20Region/so2016a.txt. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/tennessee-cities?period=2016. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

U.S. Census Bureau. 2017. 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, 2016. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/South%20Region/so2016a.txt. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/tennessee-cities?period=2016.

Harvard

U.S. Census Bureau (2017) 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, 2016 [Dataset]. Available at: https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/South%20Region/so2016a.txt, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/tennessee-cities?period=2016 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX

@misc{census_cities_in_tennessee_by_2016,
  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, 2016}},
  year = {2017},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/South%20Region/so2016a.txt},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/tennessee-cities?period=2016. 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/so2016a.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, 2016
PY  - 2017
DA  - 2017/05/01
PB  - U.S. Census Bureau
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/South%20Region/so2016a.txt
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/tennessee-cities?period=2016
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/tennessee-cities?period=2016.
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/so2016a.txt. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
ER  -

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Questions

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

Franklin, TN, with 1,658 in 2016, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

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

Millington, TN, with 0 in 2016.

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 2016 and are not ranked.