Cities in Tennessee by housing units authorized by building permits

Murfreesboro, TN had the highest housing units authorized by building permits of 57 cities in 2017, at 2,327. Union City, TN had the lowest, at 3. The median was 120 and the figure for Tennessee was 37,912. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

Highest2,327Murfreesboro, TN

Lowest3Union City, TN

Median12057 cities

Tennessee37,912History

All cities, 2017

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

Full ranking

Rank	Cities	2017 count	Change on 2016
1	Murfreesboro, TN Estimated	2,327	+42%
2	Franklin, TN Estimated	1,595	-3.8%
3	Gallatin, TN Estimated	1,578	+125.8%
4	Lebanon, TN Estimated	1,338	+237.9%
5	Chattanooga, TN Estimated	1,202	+2.5%
6	Clarksville, TN Estimated	1,033	-1.1%
7	Spring Hill, TN Estimated	813	+14.8%
8	Knoxville, TN Estimated	684	-19.4%
9	Columbia, TN Estimated	511	+62.2%
10	Mount Juliet, TN Estimated	503	-5.1%
11	Kingsport, TN Estimated	383	-40.6%
12	Smyrna, TN Estimated	377	-10.9%
13	White House, TN Estimated	371	+336.5%
14	Hendersonville, TN Estimated	370	+32.6%
15	Jackson, TN Estimated	334	+100%
16	Nolensville, TN Estimated	313	+53.4%
17	Johnson City, TN Estimated	298	+101.4%
18	Crossville, TN Estimated	285	+15.4%
19	Cookeville, TN Estimated	269	-40.5%
20	Maryville, TN Estimated	234	+56%
21	Cleveland, TN Estimated	219	+32.7%
22	Alcoa, TN Estimated	208	-7.1%
23	Collierville, TN Estimated	195	-49.2%
24	Brentwood, TN Estimated	185	+5.7%
25	Bartlett, TN Estimated	177	-13.7%
26	Farragut, TN Estimated	154	-1.9%
27	Fairview, TN Estimated	145	+66.7%
28	Manchester, TN Estimated	131	+191.1%
29	Goodlettsville, TN Estimated	120	+90.5%
30	Oakland, TN Estimated	109	-10.7%
31	Springfield, TN Estimated	101	+288.5%
32	Winchester, TN Estimated	93	+220.7%
33	Portland, TN Estimated	88	+39.7%
34	Shelbyville, TN Estimated	79	+12.9%
34	Tullahoma, TN Estimated	79	+21.5%
36	Morristown, TN Estimated	74	+80.5%
37	La Vergne, TN Estimated	72	+14.3%
38	Atoka, TN Estimated	67	+6.3%
39	Bristol, TN Estimated	65	n/a
40	Dickson, TN Estimated	54	-1.8%
41	Red Bank, TN Estimated	45	+104.5%
42	Lenoir City, TN Estimated	37	-22.9%
43	Soddy-Daisy, TN Estimated	35	-77.3%
44	Oak Ridge, TN Estimated	34	+36%
45	Sevierville, TN Estimated	31	-36.7%
46	Clinton, TN Estimated	24	+20%
46	Dyersburg, TN Estimated	24	+9.1%
48	Greeneville, TN Estimated	23	+53.3%
49	East Ridge, TN Estimated	22	0%
50	Paris, TN Estimated	18	+5.9%
51	Martin, TN Estimated	16	+6.7%
52	Collegedale, TN Estimated	13	-64.9%
53	Athens, TN Estimated	11	-21.4%
53	Lawrenceburg, TN Estimated	11	0%
53	McMinnville, TN Estimated	11	+10%
56	Elizabethton, TN Estimated	4	-93.9%
57	Union City, TN Estimated	3	+200%

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. 4 cities with data in other periods have no value for 2017 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/so2017a.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. (2018). 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, 2017) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/South%20Region/so2017a.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, 2017. U.S. Census Bureau, 1 May 2018, https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/South%20Region/so2017a.txt. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/tennessee-cities?period=2017. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

U.S. Census Bureau. 2018. 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, 2017. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/South%20Region/so2017a.txt. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/tennessee-cities?period=2017.

Harvard

U.S. Census Bureau (2018) 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, 2017 [Dataset]. Available at: https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/South%20Region/so2017a.txt, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/tennessee-cities?period=2017 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX

@misc{census_cities_in_tennessee_by_2017,
  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, 2017}},
  year = {2018},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/South%20Region/so2017a.txt},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/tennessee-cities?period=2017. 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/so2017a.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, 2017
PY  - 2018
DA  - 2018/05/01
PB  - U.S. Census Bureau
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/South%20Region/so2017a.txt
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/tennessee-cities?period=2017
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/tennessee-cities?period=2017.
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/so2017a.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 2,327 in 2017, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

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

Union City, TN, with 3 in 2017.

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. 4 cities have no value for 2017 and are not ranked.