Counties in Virginia by housing units authorized by building permits

Name: Counties in Virginia by housing units authorized by building permits, 2024
Creator: U.S. Census Bureau
License: Public domain (US federal government work, citation requested)

Loudoun County had the highest housing units authorized by building permits of 132 counties in 2024, at 3,314. Norton city had the lowest, at 1. The median was 84. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

Highest3,314Loudoun County

Lowest1Norton city

Median84132 counties

Top 40 counties, 2024

CSV Chart (SVG)

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

Full ranking

Rank	Counties	2024 count	Change on 2023
1	Loudoun County Estimated	3,314	+86%
2	Fairfax County Estimated	2,861	-11.9%
3	Richmond city Estimated	2,540	+11.3%
4	Chesterfield County Estimated	2,307	-27.8%
5	Henrico County Estimated	1,826	-33.4%
6	Prince William County Estimated	1,418	-5%
7	Frederick County Estimated	872	+9.3%
8	Albemarle County Estimated	810	-1.2%
9	Spotsylvania County Estimated	707	-35.1%
10	Rockingham County Estimated	683	+32.6%
11	Suffolk city Estimated	680	-6.5%
12	Virginia Beach city Estimated	666	+22.9%
13	Arlington County Estimated	621	-51.3%
14	Chesapeake city Estimated	597	+18.2%
15	Lynchburg city Estimated	472	+74.2%
16	New Kent County Estimated	453	+31.3%
17	Hanover County Estimated	447	-7.1%
18	Norfolk city Estimated	438	-69.3%
19	Culpeper County Estimated	425	+44.6%
20	Orange County Estimated	412	-2.4%
21	Louisa County Estimated	409	+21.7%
22	Waynesboro city Estimated	390	+129.4%
23	Stafford County Estimated	361	-33.3%
24	Roanoke County Estimated	360	+159%
25	James City County Estimated	358	-40%
26	Augusta County Estimated	357	+87.9%
27	Montgomery County Estimated	323	-13.6%
28	Goochland County Estimated	322	+20.1%
29	Caroline County Estimated	318	+24.7%
30	Campbell County Estimated	315	-4.8%
31	Portsmouth city Estimated	300	+311%
32	Bedford County Estimated	294	+3.2%
33	Fauquier County Estimated	286	+15.8%
34	Salem city Estimated	268	+129.1%
35	Isle of Wight County Estimated	257	+24.8%
36	Amherst County Estimated	228	+111.1%
37	Shenandoah County Estimated	224	+19.8%
38	Westmoreland County Estimated	220	+2.3%
39	Greene County Estimated	204	-22.4%
40	York County Estimated	187	-61%
41	Accomack County Estimated	181	-3.2%
42	Warren County Estimated	170	+14.9%
43	Franklin County Estimated	167	-4%
44	Page County Estimated	164	-23%
45	Northampton County Estimated	163	+13.2%
46	King George County Estimated	155	-8.8%
47	Mecklenburg County Estimated	153	+25.4%
48	Fluvanna County Estimated	138	+35.3%
49	Petersburg city Estimated	135	+462.5%
50	Poquoson city Estimated	133	+10.8%
51	King William County Estimated	129	-4.4%
52	Lancaster County Estimated	127	+33.7%
53	Manassas Park city Estimated	118	-28.9%
53	Wythe County Estimated	118	+237.1%
55	Botetourt County Estimated	116	+81.3%
56	Powhatan County Estimated	115	-20.7%
57	Roanoke city Estimated	113	+5.6%
58	Washington County Estimated	106	+6%
59	Rockbridge County Estimated	105	+78%
60	Halifax County Estimated	97	-3%
60	Middlesex County Estimated	97	+115.6%
62	Buckingham County Estimated	96	+14.3%
63	Appomattox County Estimated	95	-2.1%
64	Winchester city Estimated	91	+37.9%
65	Harrisonburg city Estimated	87	+8.8%
66	Gloucester County Estimated	85	0%
67	Carroll County Estimated	82	+6.5%
67	Dinwiddie County Estimated	82	+5.1%
69	Cumberland County Estimated	80	+15.9%
70	Pittsylvania County Estimated	72	+4.3%
70	Prince George County Estimated	72	-23.4%
72	Fairfax city Estimated	71	+173.1%
72	Staunton city Estimated	71	-71%
74	Floyd County Estimated	69	+1.5%
75	Hampton city Estimated	68	-34%
76	Madison County Estimated	67	+26.4%
77	Nelson County Estimated	66	+1.5%
78	Prince Edward County Estimated	65	-19.8%
79	Amelia County Estimated	60	+15.4%
79	Northumberland County Estimated	60	+1.7%
81	Nottoway County Estimated	57	-36%
81	Southampton County Estimated	57	-3.4%
83	Martinsville city Estimated	55	+2,650%
84	Charlottesville city Estimated	49	-16.9%
85	Manassas city Estimated	46	-37.8%
86	Hopewell city Estimated	42	+133.3%
87	Smyth County Estimated	40	+66.7%
88	Charlotte County Estimated	39	+56%
89	Essex County Estimated	38	+15.2%
89	Grayson County Estimated	38	-2.6%
89	Pulaski County Estimated	38	-15.6%
92	Brunswick County Estimated	37	0%
92	Fredericksburg city Estimated	37	-54.9%
92	Mathews County Estimated	37	+164.3%
95	King and Queen County Estimated	36	0%
95	Surry County Estimated	36	+28.6%
97	Russell County Estimated	35	+75%
98	Rappahannock County Estimated	34	-20.9%
99	Henry County Estimated	33	+26.9%
100	Charles City County Estimated	30	+36.4%
101	Craig County Estimated	29	+45%
101	Sussex County Estimated	29	-32.6%
103	Patrick County Estimated	28	-46.2%
103	Radford city Estimated	28	-20%
105	Alexandria city Estimated	25	-79.3%
105	Lunenburg County Estimated	25	+78.6%
107	Greensville County Estimated	24	-4%
107	Richmond County Estimated	24	-4%
109	Giles County Estimated	23	-34.3%
110	Scott County Estimated	22	-12%
111	Buena Vista city Estimated	18	-10%
111	Falls Church city Estimated	18	+5.9%
111	Lee County Estimated	18	-18.2%
114	Colonial Heights city Estimated	17	+41.7%
115	Wise County Estimated	16	-40.7%
116	Clarke County Estimated	15	-46.4%
117	Danville city Estimated	14	-95.2%
118	Alleghany County Estimated	13	-80%
119	Buchanan County Estimated	12	+9.1%
119	Highland County Estimated	12	+33.3%
121	Dickenson County Estimated	11	-71.1%
122	Galax city Estimated	10	-63%
122	Williamsburg city Estimated	10	-33.3%
124	Bath County Estimated	8	-55.6%
124	Bland County Estimated	8	-42.9%
126	Newport News city Estimated	6	-99.1%
127	Bristol city Estimated	5	-28.6%
128	Tazewell County Estimated	4	-63.6%
129	Covington city Estimated	1	n/a
129	Emporia city Estimated	1	-80%
129	Lexington city Estimated	1	n/a
129	Norton city Estimated	1	-50%

Other periods

2025
2024
2023

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/co2024a.txt. Retrieved 2026-10-10.

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Rank Counties in Virginia by housing units authorized by building permits using official data, and cite the source.

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Questions

Which county has the highest housing units authorized by building permits?

Loudoun County, with 3,314 in 2024, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

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

Norton city, with 1 in 2024.

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.