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 2020, at 13,149. Elizabethton, TN had the lowest, at 0. The median was 161 and the figure for Tennessee was 49,719. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

Highest13,149Nashville, TN

Lowest0Elizabethton, TN

Median16158 cities

Tennessee49,719History

All cities, 2020

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

Full ranking

Rank	Cities	2020 count	Change on 2019
1	Nashville, TN Estimated	13,149	+34.7%
2	Clarksville, TN Estimated	2,248	+41.6%
3	Murfreesboro, TN Estimated	1,762	-18.2%
4	Lebanon, TN Estimated	1,268	+52%
5	Gallatin, TN Estimated	1,178	+103.5%
6	Knoxville, TN Estimated	1,149	-6.1%
7	Spring Hill, TN Estimated	1,068	+24.6%
8	Chattanooga, TN Estimated	1,038	-8.1%
9	Franklin, TN Estimated	923	-16%
10	Smyrna, TN Estimated	763	-1.7%
11	Mount Juliet, TN Estimated	658	-5.7%
12	Columbia, TN Estimated	636	+29.8%
13	Johnson City, TN Estimated	535	+131.6%
14	Nolensville, TN Estimated	454	+26.1%
15	Crossville, TN Estimated	442	+9.1%
16	Hendersonville, TN Estimated	335	-22.5%
17	Cookeville, TN Estimated	331	+9.2%
18	Farragut, TN Estimated	324	+315.4%
19	Oak Ridge, TN Estimated	307	+379.7%
20	Sevierville, TN Estimated	281	-66.6%
21	White House, TN Estimated	270	+121.3%
22	Cleveland, TN Estimated	245	-18.3%
23	Oakland, TN Estimated	236	+34.1%
24	Collegedale, TN Estimated	228	+714.3%
25	Morristown, TN Estimated	219	+135.5%
26	Maryville, TN Estimated	208	+14.9%
27	Collierville, TN Estimated	191	-4%
28	Shelbyville, TN Estimated	175	+17.4%
29	Jackson, TN Estimated	162	+3.8%
30	Bristol, TN Estimated	159	+6.7%
31	Alcoa, TN Estimated	147	-31%
32	Manchester, TN Estimated	142	+89.3%
33	Brentwood, TN Estimated	141	+29.4%
34	Springfield, TN Estimated	138	+36.6%
35	Goodlettsville, TN Estimated	128	+32%
36	Kingsport, TN Estimated	100	+51.5%
37	Winchester, TN Estimated	99	+10%
38	Fairview, TN Estimated	96	-51.5%
39	Portland, TN Estimated	94	+3.3%
40	La Vergne, TN Estimated	92	+17.9%
41	Atoka, TN Estimated	85	+16.4%
42	Tullahoma, TN Estimated	72	+1.4%
43	Dickson, TN Estimated	68	+47.8%
44	Lenoir City, TN Estimated	64	+178.3%
45	Red Bank, TN Estimated	56	+40%
46	Greeneville, TN Estimated	53	+211.8%
47	Soddy-Daisy, TN Estimated	50	+16.3%
48	Bartlett, TN Estimated	35	+16.7%
49	Clinton, TN Estimated	31	+181.8%
50	Dyersburg, TN Estimated	24	0%
51	Athens, TN Estimated	22	+10%
51	Martin, TN Estimated	22	+10%
53	East Ridge, TN Estimated	19	-57.8%
54	Paris, TN Estimated	18	0%
55	McMinnville, TN Estimated	15	+7.1%
56	Lawrenceburg, TN Estimated	9	-10%
57	Union City, TN Estimated	4	+100%
58	Elizabethton, 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 2020 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/so2020a.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. (2021). 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, 2020) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/South%20Region/so2020a.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, 2020. U.S. Census Bureau, 3 May 2021, https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/South%20Region/so2020a.txt. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/tennessee-cities?period=2020. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

U.S. Census Bureau. 2021. 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, 2020. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/South%20Region/so2020a.txt. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/tennessee-cities?period=2020.

Harvard

U.S. Census Bureau (2021) 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, 2020 [Dataset]. Available at: https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/South%20Region/so2020a.txt, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/tennessee-cities?period=2020 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX

@misc{census_cities_in_tennessee_by_2020,
  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, 2020}},
  year = {2021},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/South%20Region/so2020a.txt},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/tennessee-cities?period=2020. 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/so2020a.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, 2020
PY  - 2021
DA  - 2021/05/03
PB  - U.S. Census Bureau
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/South%20Region/so2020a.txt
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/tennessee-cities?period=2020
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/tennessee-cities?period=2020.
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/so2020a.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 13,149 in 2020, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

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

Elizabethton, TN, with 0 in 2020.

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 2020 and are not ranked.