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 2023, at 11,158. Union City, TN had the lowest, at 4. The median was 127 and the figure for Tennessee was 47,463. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

Highest11,158Nashville, TN

Lowest4Union City, TN

Median12758 cities

Tennessee47,463History

All cities, 2023

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

Full ranking

Rank	Cities	2023 count	Change on 2022
1	Nashville, TN Estimated	11,158	-24.6%
2	Clarksville, TN Estimated	2,260	-27.9%
3	Murfreesboro, TN Estimated	1,320	+10.4%
4	Lebanon, TN Estimated	1,233	-31.3%
5	Smyrna, TN Estimated	1,139	+222.7%
6	Chattanooga, TN Estimated	1,121	-11.8%
7	Knoxville, TN Estimated	1,101	+21.9%
8	Gallatin, TN Estimated	1,058	+1.8%
9	Columbia, TN Estimated	690	-21%
10	White House, TN Estimated	659	+80.1%
11	Spring Hill, TN Estimated	653	-13.3%
12	Crossville, TN Estimated	428	+0.7%
13	Bartlett, TN Estimated	405	+1,296.6%
14	Cleveland, TN Estimated	392	-10.5%
15	Johnson City, TN Estimated	371	+76.7%
16	Collierville, TN Estimated	345	+100.6%
17	Cookeville, TN Estimated	309	+33.2%
18	Franklin, TN Estimated	306	-63.5%
19	Mount Juliet, TN Estimated	273	+59.6%
20	Hendersonville, TN Estimated	265	-31%
21	Kingsport, TN Estimated	261	-16.1%
22	Oak Ridge, TN Estimated	255	-10.5%
23	Morristown, TN Estimated	226	-7%
24	Shelbyville, TN Estimated	221	-17.2%
25	La Vergne, TN Estimated	186	+106.7%
26	Oakland, TN Estimated	153	-31.7%
27	Jackson, TN Estimated	152	-5.6%
28	Winchester, TN Estimated	151	-4.4%
29	Alcoa, TN Estimated	131	-37%
30	Lenoir City, TN Estimated	123	-8.2%
31	Nolensville, TN Estimated	121	-73.2%
32	Fairview, TN Estimated	120	-15.5%
32	Manchester, TN Estimated	120	+90.5%
34	Brentwood, TN Estimated	104	+25.3%
35	Springfield, TN Estimated	89	-42.9%
36	Greeneville, TN Estimated	88	+76%
37	Athens, TN Estimated	85	-15.8%
38	Farragut, TN Estimated	84	-22.2%
39	McMinnville, TN Estimated	76	+375%
40	Bristol, TN Estimated	65	-7.1%
41	Dickson, TN Estimated	62	-74.7%
41	Sevierville, TN Estimated	62	-75%
43	Tullahoma, TN Estimated	60	+3.4%
44	Maryville, TN Estimated	57	-47.2%
45	Soddy-Daisy, TN Estimated	45	-10%
46	East Ridge, TN Estimated	40	-9.1%
47	Atoka, TN Estimated	37	-21.3%
47	Portland, TN Estimated	37	-30.2%
49	Clinton, TN Estimated	35	+133.3%
50	Elizabethton, TN Estimated	33	+120%
50	Goodlettsville, TN Estimated	33	-92.6%
52	Red Bank, TN Estimated	32	-56.8%
53	Collegedale, TN Estimated	31	-73.3%
53	Dyersburg, TN Estimated	31	+34.8%
55	Lawrenceburg, TN Estimated	25	+13.6%
56	Martin, TN Estimated	23	-8%
57	Paris, TN Estimated	20	-9.1%
58	Union City, TN Estimated	4	+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 2023 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/so2023a.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. (2024). 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, 2023) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/South%20Region/so2023a.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, 2023. U.S. Census Bureau, 24 Apr. 2024, https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/South%20Region/so2023a.txt. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/tennessee-cities?period=2023. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

U.S. Census Bureau. 2024. 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, 2023. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/South%20Region/so2023a.txt. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/tennessee-cities?period=2023.

Harvard

U.S. Census Bureau (2024) 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, 2023 [Dataset]. Available at: https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/South%20Region/so2023a.txt, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/tennessee-cities?period=2023 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX

@misc{census_cities_in_tennessee_by_2023,
  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, 2023}},
  year = {2024},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/South%20Region/so2023a.txt},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/tennessee-cities?period=2023. 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/so2023a.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, 2023
PY  - 2024
DA  - 2024/04/24
PB  - U.S. Census Bureau
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/South%20Region/so2023a.txt
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/tennessee-cities?period=2023
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/tennessee-cities?period=2023.
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/so2023a.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 11,158 in 2023, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

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

Union City, TN, with 4 in 2023.

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 2023 and are not ranked.