Cities in Tennessee by housing units authorized by building permits

Nashville, TN had the highest housing units authorized by building permits of 58 cities in 2018, at 6,828. Elizabethton, TN had the lowest, at 4. The median was 97 and the figure for Tennessee was 37,169. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

Highest6,828Nashville, TN

Lowest4Elizabethton, TN

Median9758 cities

Tennessee37,169History

All cities, 2018

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

Full ranking

Rank	Cities	2018 count	Change on 2017
1	Nashville, TN Estimated	6,828	n/a
2	Murfreesboro, TN Estimated	2,750	+18.2%
3	Gallatin, TN Estimated	1,003	-36.4%
4	Franklin, TN Estimated	976	-38.8%
5	Clarksville, TN Estimated	938	-9.2%
6	Crossville, TN Estimated	914	+220.7%
7	Spring Hill, TN Estimated	877	+7.9%
8	Chattanooga, TN Estimated	655	-45.5%
9	Knoxville, TN Estimated	609	-11%
10	Lebanon, TN Estimated	490	-63.4%
11	Mount Juliet, TN Estimated	485	-3.6%
12	Columbia, TN Estimated	484	-5.3%
13	Smyrna, TN Estimated	443	+17.5%
14	Sevierville, TN Estimated	386	+1,145.2%
15	Farragut, TN Estimated	362	+135.1%
16	Nolensville, TN Estimated	353	+12.8%
17	Hendersonville, TN Estimated	282	-23.8%
18	Cookeville, TN Estimated	274	+1.9%
19	Johnson City, TN Estimated	273	-8.4%
20	Alcoa, TN Estimated	232	+11.5%
21	Cleveland, TN Estimated	218	-0.5%
22	Collierville, TN Estimated	183	-6.2%
23	Maryville, TN Estimated	172	-26.5%
24	Jackson, TN Estimated	153	-54.2%
25	Brentwood, TN Estimated	139	-24.9%
26	Oakland, TN Estimated	117	+7.3%
27	Winchester, TN Estimated	105	+12.9%
28	Morristown, TN Estimated	102	+37.8%
29	Shelbyville, TN Estimated	98	+24.1%
30	Portland, TN Estimated	95	+8%
31	Kingsport, TN Estimated	93	-75.7%
32	Bartlett, TN Estimated	81	-54.2%
32	Tullahoma, TN Estimated	81	+2.5%
34	Fairview, TN Estimated	76	-47.6%
35	La Vergne, TN Estimated	74	+2.8%
36	Bristol, TN Estimated	73	+12.3%
37	Red Bank, TN Estimated	72	+60%
38	Atoka, TN Estimated	69	+3%
39	Springfield, TN Estimated	67	-33.7%
39	White House, TN Estimated	67	-81.9%
41	Goodlettsville, TN Estimated	57	-52.5%
41	Oak Ridge, TN Estimated	57	+67.6%
43	Dickson, TN Estimated	56	+3.7%
44	Manchester, TN Estimated	50	-61.8%
45	Soddy-Daisy, TN Estimated	48	+37.1%
46	East Ridge, TN Estimated	32	+45.5%
47	Greeneville, TN Estimated	27	+17.4%
48	Clinton, TN Estimated	26	+8.3%
48	Dyersburg, TN Estimated	26	+8.3%
50	Collegedale, TN Estimated	23	+76.9%
51	Lenoir City, TN Estimated	22	-40.5%
52	Paris, TN Estimated	21	+16.7%
53	Athens, TN Estimated	20	+81.8%
54	Martin, TN Estimated	18	+12.5%
55	McMinnville, TN Estimated	15	+36.4%
56	Lawrenceburg, TN Estimated	11	0%
57	Union City, TN Estimated	9	+200%
58	Elizabethton, TN Estimated	4	0%

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 2018 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/so2018a.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. (2019). 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, 2018) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/South%20Region/so2018a.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, 2018. U.S. Census Bureau, 20 June 2019, https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/South%20Region/so2018a.txt. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/tennessee-cities?period=2018. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

U.S. Census Bureau. 2019. 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, 2018. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/South%20Region/so2018a.txt. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/tennessee-cities?period=2018.

Harvard

U.S. Census Bureau (2019) 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, 2018 [Dataset]. Available at: https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/South%20Region/so2018a.txt, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/tennessee-cities?period=2018 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX

@misc{census_cities_in_tennessee_by_2018,
  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, 2018}},
  year = {2019},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/South%20Region/so2018a.txt},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/tennessee-cities?period=2018. 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/so2018a.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, 2018
PY  - 2019
DA  - 2019/06/20
PB  - U.S. Census Bureau
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/South%20Region/so2018a.txt
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/tennessee-cities?period=2018
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/tennessee-cities?period=2018.
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/so2018a.txt. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
ER  -

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Questions

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

Nashville, TN, with 6,828 in 2018, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

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

Elizabethton, TN, with 4 in 2018.

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 2018 and are not ranked.