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 2021, at 16,137. Elizabethton, TN had the lowest, at 0. The median was 184 and the figure for Tennessee was 57,484. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

Highest16,137Nashville, TN

Lowest0Elizabethton, TN

Median18458 cities

Tennessee57,484History

All cities, 2021

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

Full ranking

Rank	Cities	2021 count	Change on 2020
1	Nashville, TN Estimated	16,137	+22.7%
2	Clarksville, TN Estimated	3,265	+45.2%
3	Murfreesboro, TN Estimated	2,376	+34.8%
4	Lebanon, TN Estimated	1,258	-0.8%
5	Chattanooga, TN Estimated	1,232	+18.7%
6	Columbia, TN Estimated	1,212	+90.6%
7	Franklin, TN Estimated	1,180	+27.8%
8	Knoxville, TN Estimated	960	-16.4%
9	Spring Hill, TN Estimated	926	-13.3%
10	Gallatin, TN Estimated	778	-34%
11	Mount Juliet, TN Estimated	609	-7.4%
12	Nolensville, TN Estimated	521	+14.8%
13	Morristown, TN Estimated	510	+132.9%
14	Lenoir City, TN Estimated	484	+656.3%
15	Crossville, TN Estimated	477	+7.9%
16	Hendersonville, TN Estimated	454	+35.5%
17	Smyrna, TN Estimated	453	-40.6%
18	White House, TN Estimated	371	+37.4%
19	Oak Ridge, TN Estimated	303	-1.3%
20	Cleveland, TN Estimated	278	+13.5%
21	Collierville, TN Estimated	271	+41.9%
22	Oakland, TN Estimated	253	+7.2%
23	Cookeville, TN Estimated	248	-25.1%
24	Johnson City, TN Estimated	247	-53.8%
25	Dickson, TN Estimated	230	+238.2%
26	Shelbyville, TN Estimated	215	+22.9%
27	Alcoa, TN Estimated	192	+30.6%
28	Jackson, TN Estimated	191	+17.9%
29	Springfield, TN Estimated	186	+34.8%
30	Kingsport, TN Estimated	182	+82%
31	Winchester, TN Estimated	171	+72.7%
32	Fairview, TN Estimated	153	+59.4%
33	Brentwood, TN Estimated	147	+4.3%
34	Manchester, TN Estimated	145	+2.1%
35	Maryville, TN Estimated	143	-31.3%
36	Farragut, TN Estimated	138	-57.4%
37	Goodlettsville, TN Estimated	119	-7%
38	Portland, TN Estimated	105	+11.7%
39	La Vergne, TN Estimated	103	+12%
40	Atoka, TN Estimated	96	+12.9%
41	Clinton, TN Estimated	68	+119.4%
42	Tullahoma, TN Estimated	65	-9.7%
43	Sevierville, TN Estimated	63	-77.6%
44	Bartlett, TN Estimated	58	+65.7%
44	Greeneville, TN Estimated	58	+9.4%
46	Red Bank, TN Estimated	47	-16.1%
47	Soddy-Daisy, TN Estimated	43	-14%
48	Athens, TN Estimated	38	+72.7%
49	Collegedale, TN Estimated	32	-86%
50	Dyersburg, TN Estimated	28	+16.7%
51	Bristol, TN Estimated	27	-83%
51	Martin, TN Estimated	27	+22.7%
53	Paris, TN Estimated	22	+22.2%
54	Lawrenceburg, TN Estimated	18	+100%
55	East Ridge, TN Estimated	16	-15.8%
56	McMinnville, TN Estimated	12	-20%
56	Union City, TN Estimated	12	+200%
58	Elizabethton, TN Estimated	0	n/a

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 2021 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/so2021a.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. (2022). 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, 2021) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/South%20Region/so2021a.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, 2021. U.S. Census Bureau, 27 Apr. 2022, https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/South%20Region/so2021a.txt. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/tennessee-cities?period=2021. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

U.S. Census Bureau. 2022. 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, 2021. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/South%20Region/so2021a.txt. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/tennessee-cities?period=2021.

Harvard

U.S. Census Bureau (2022) 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, 2021 [Dataset]. Available at: https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/South%20Region/so2021a.txt, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/tennessee-cities?period=2021 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX

@misc{census_cities_in_tennessee_by_2021,
  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, 2021}},
  year = {2022},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/South%20Region/so2021a.txt},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/tennessee-cities?period=2021. 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/so2021a.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, 2021
PY  - 2022
DA  - 2022/04/27
PB  - U.S. Census Bureau
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/South%20Region/so2021a.txt
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/tennessee-cities?period=2021
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/tennessee-cities?period=2021.
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/so2021a.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 16,137 in 2021, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

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

Elizabethton, TN, with 0 in 2021.

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 2021 and are not ranked.