Cities in Virginia by housing units authorized by building permits

Blacksburg, VA had the highest housing units authorized by building permits of 36 cities in 2020, at 1,233. Salem, VA had the lowest, at 0. The median was 75 and the figure for Virginia was 33,813. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

Highest1,233Blacksburg, VA

Lowest0Salem, VA

Median7536 cities

Virginia33,813History

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	Blacksburg, VA Estimated	1,233	+608.6%
2	Norfolk, VA Estimated	1,202	+46.8%
3	Chesapeake, VA Estimated	1,128	+13.8%
4	Suffolk, VA Estimated	1,108	+59.4%
5	Richmond, VA Estimated	1,023	-17.5%
6	Virginia Beach, VA Estimated	938	-30.5%
7	Lynchburg, VA Estimated	361	+9.4%
8	Roanoke, VA Estimated	317	+14%
9	Portsmouth, VA Estimated	280	+201.1%
10	Leesburg, VA Estimated	264	+2.7%
11	Hampton, VA Estimated	211	+15.3%
12	Charlottesville, VA Estimated	190	+115.9%
13	Newport News, VA Estimated	160	-26.6%
14	Waynesboro, VA Estimated	129	-41.9%
15	Christiansburg, VA Estimated	109	-8.4%
16	Alexandria, VA Estimated	107	+64.6%
17	Fredericksburg, VA Estimated	104	-62%
18	Hopewell, VA Estimated	77	+37.5%
19	Manassas, VA Estimated	73	-34.2%
20	Petersburg, VA Estimated	63	+530%
21	Harrisonburg, VA Estimated	60	-17.8%
22	Staunton, VA Estimated	50	+19%
23	Williamsburg, VA Estimated	28	-3.4%
24	Poquoson, VA Estimated	25	-3.8%
24	Warrenton, VA Estimated	25	+733.3%
26	Radford, VA Estimated	24	0%
27	Winchester, VA Estimated	18	-51.4%
28	Falls Church, VA Estimated	14	-96%
29	Fairfax, VA Estimated	10	-16.7%
30	Danville, VA Estimated	7	0%
31	Colonial Heights, VA Estimated	6	+100%
32	Herndon, VA Estimated	2	-60%
33	Bristol, VA Estimated	1	-80%
33	Martinsville, VA Estimated	1	n/a
35	Manassas Park, VA Estimated	0	n/a
35	Salem, VA 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. 1 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 Virginia 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 Virginia 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/virginia-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 Virginia 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/virginia-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 Virginia 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/virginia-cities?period=2020 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX

@misc{census_cities_in_virginia_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 Virginia 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/virginia-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 Virginia 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/virginia-cities?period=2020
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/virginia-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?

Blacksburg, VA, with 1,233 in 2020, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

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

Salem, VA, 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. 1 cities have no value for 2020 and are not ranked.