Counties in Tennessee by housing units authorized by building permits, 2025
Davidson County had the highest housing units authorized by building permits of 94 counties in 2025, at 5,632. Wayne County had the lowest, at 0. The median was 134. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.
Top 40 counties, 2025
Full ranking
| Rank | Counties | 2025 | Change on 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Davidson County Estimated | 5,632 | -18.1% |
| 2 | Knox County Estimated | 5,013 | +11.2% |
| 3 | Rutherford County Estimated | 3,169 | -7.3% |
| 4 | Sumner County Estimated | 3,045 | +71.3% |
| 5 | Montgomery County Estimated | 2,723 | +5.4% |
| 6 | Wilson County Estimated | 1,982 | +2.9% |
| 7 | Hamilton County Estimated | 1,887 | -11.4% |
| 8 | Williamson County Estimated | 1,621 | -18.7% |
| 9 | Maury County Estimated | 1,408 | -15.8% |
| 10 | Shelby County Estimated | 1,230 | -40.3% |
| 11 | Sevier County Estimated | 1,139 | -21% |
| 12 | Loudon County Estimated | 869 | +42.9% |
| 13 | Robertson County Estimated | 823 | -16.3% |
| 14 | Blount County Estimated | 790 | -9.3% |
| 15 | Bradley County Estimated | 788 | +2.6% |
| 16 | Sullivan County Estimated | 771 | +70.2% |
| 17 | Washington County Estimated | 697 | -39.7% |
| 18 | Putnam County Estimated | 629 | -10.1% |
| 19 | Dickson County Estimated | 590 | +56.9% |
| 20 | Coffee County Estimated | 545 | +48.5% |
| 21 | Anderson County Estimated | 428 | +7.5% |
| 22 | Roane County Estimated | 380 | +53.2% |
| 23 | Bedford County Estimated | 378 | -40.1% |
| 24 | Marshall County Estimated | 367 | -8.3% |
| 25 | Fayette County Estimated | 356 | +58.2% |
| 26 | Jefferson County Estimated | 331 | +30.3% |
| 27 | Franklin County Estimated | 323 | -23.5% |
| 28 | Cheatham County Estimated | 285 | +3.6% |
| 29 | Greene County Estimated | 276 | -18.1% |
| 30 | Warren County Estimated | 271 | -3.9% |
| 31 | Hamblen County Estimated | 258 | -13.4% |
| 32 | Madison County Estimated | 236 | -4.5% |
| 33 | Marion County Estimated | 203 | -10.2% |
| 34 | Gibson County Estimated | 199 | +30.9% |
| 35 | Carter County Estimated | 190 | +7.3% |
| 36 | Macon County Estimated | 175 | -3.3% |
| 36 | Monroe County Estimated | 175 | +11.5% |
| 38 | White County Estimated | 163 | -22% |
| 39 | Lincoln County Estimated | 159 | -8.1% |
| 40 | Campbell County Estimated | 156 | +40.5% |
| 41 | Union County Estimated | 154 | +14.9% |
| 42 | Smith County Estimated | 153 | -3.8% |
| 43 | Rhea County Estimated | 151 | -23.7% |
| 44 | Polk County Estimated | 150 | -28.9% |
| 45 | DeKalb County Estimated | 144 | +0.7% |
| 46 | Hawkins County Estimated | 141 | -7.8% |
| 47 | Tipton County Estimated | 139 | -35.3% |
| 48 | Cumberland County Estimated | 128 | +12.3% |
| 49 | McMinn County Estimated | 125 | +228.9% |
| 50 | Hickman County Estimated | 116 | -6.5% |
| 51 | Trousdale County Estimated | 112 | 0% |
| 52 | Giles County Estimated | 98 | +36.1% |
| 53 | Claiborne County Estimated | 96 | -10.3% |
| 54 | Cannon County Estimated | 92 | -41.4% |
| 55 | Meigs County Estimated | 91 | -3.2% |
| 56 | Haywood County Estimated | 82 | +203.7% |
| 57 | Dyer County Estimated | 75 | +1.4% |
| 58 | Weakley County Estimated | 71 | +6% |
| 59 | Grainger County Estimated | 65 | -4.4% |
| 60 | Humphreys County Estimated | 42 | +7.7% |
| 61 | Hardeman County Estimated | 34 | +13.3% |
| 62 | Lawrence County Estimated | 32 | +18.5% |
| 63 | Moore County Estimated | 28 | -9.7% |
| 63 | Unicoi County Estimated | 28 | +7.7% |
| 65 | Obion County Estimated | 27 | +28.6% |
| 66 | Clay County Estimated | 26 | +4% |
| 66 | Hardin County Estimated | 26 | +8.3% |
| 66 | Lauderdale County Estimated | 26 | +23.8% |
| 66 | McNairy County Estimated | 26 | +271.4% |
| 70 | Crockett County Estimated | 25 | -3.8% |
| 70 | Henderson County Estimated | 25 | -7.4% |
| 72 | Lewis County Estimated | 24 | +100% |
| 73 | Henry County Estimated | 18 | -5.3% |
| 73 | Stewart County Estimated | 18 | +20% |
| 75 | Carroll County Estimated | 16 | +23.1% |
| 75 | Grundy County Estimated | 16 | 0% |
| 77 | Sequatchie County Estimated | 14 | -62.2% |
| 78 | Chester County Estimated | 12 | -33.3% |
| 78 | Perry County Estimated | 12 | 0% |
| 80 | Overton County Estimated | 9 | -47.1% |
| 81 | Fentress County Estimated | 8 | +14.3% |
| 82 | Cocke County Estimated | 7 | -46.2% |
| 82 | Decatur County Estimated | 7 | -41.7% |
| 82 | Van Buren County Estimated | 7 | +133.3% |
| 85 | Johnson County Estimated | 6 | 0% |
| 86 | Benton County Estimated | 3 | -50% |
| 86 | Lake County Estimated | 3 | 0% |
| 86 | Scott County Estimated | 3 | 0% |
| 89 | Hancock County Estimated | 2 | |
| 90 | Houston County Estimated | 1 | 0% |
| 91 | Bledsoe County Estimated | 0 | |
| 91 | Jackson County Estimated | 0 | |
| 91 | Morgan County Estimated | 0 | |
| 91 | Wayne County Estimated | 0 | -100% |
Other periods
About this ranking
Annual number of new privately owned housing units authorized by building permits, from the US Census Bureau Building Permits Survey.
Final annual county estimates include imputation for missing reports. Counts housing units, not buildings, starts, completions or sales. Covers permit-issuing areas; areas where permits are not required are outside the survey. Not seasonally adjusted or expressed as an annualized monthly rate. The total is the sum of units in the four published structure categories; inputs are retained.
Every value in the ranking comes from the same publisher and the same period, so the counties are compared on one definition. Equal values share a rank.
How to cite
U.S. Census Bureau. Building Permits Survey: final annual county estimates of new privately owned housing units authorized, including imputation. https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/County/co2025a.txt. Retrieved 2026-10-10.Use this data in your AI agent
Invokely serves this figure to AI assistants through MCP and to code through a REST API, with the source and citation attached. Ask your assistant:
Rank Counties in Tennessee by housing units authorized by building permits using official data, and cite the source.
rank_places {"indicator":"building_permit_units","level":"province","within":"Tennessee","limit":10}
GET https://invokely.ai/api/v1/rank?indicator=building_permit_units&level=province&within=Tennessee&limit=10Questions
Which county has the highest housing units authorized by building permits?
Davidson County, with 5,632 in 2025, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
Which county has the lowest housing units authorized by building permits?
Wayne County, with 0 in 2025.
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 county estimates of new privately owned housing units authorized, including imputation. Retrieved 2026-10-10.
Housing units authorized by building permits: other rankings
- US counties
- Counties in Texas
- Counties in Georgia
- Counties in Virginia
- Counties in Missouri
- Counties in Kansas
- Counties in North Carolina
- Counties in Iowa
- Counties in Illinois
- Counties in Kentucky
- Counties in Indiana
- Counties in Nebraska
Counties in Tennessee: more rankings
- Asian population share
- Bachelor's degree or higher, population 25 and over
- Live births, July to June
- Black or African American population share
- Crude birth rate, July to June
- Crude death rate, July to June
- Deaths, July to June
- Foreign-born population share
- Real GDP growth
- GDP per capita, US dollars
- Gross domestic product (GDP), US dollars
- Gini index
- Hispanic or Latino population share
- Homeownership rate (US, housing units)
- County house price annual change, sales and refinances
- County house price index, 1990 = 100