Data / Rankings / Single-family housing units authorized by building permits / Cities in Alabama

Cities in Alabama by single-family housing units authorized by building permits

Huntsville, AL had the highest single-family housing units authorized by building permits of 66 cities in 2016, at 1,091. Talladega, AL had the lowest, at 0. The median was 65. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

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Highest1,091Huntsville, AL
Lowest0Talladega, AL
Median6566 cities

Top 40 cities, 2016

Huntsville, AL: 1,091 countHuntsville, AL1,091Auburn, AL: 497 countAuburn, AL497Madison, AL: 490 countMadison, AL490Hoover, AL: 373 countHoover, AL373Fairhope, AL: 348 countFairhope, AL348Tuscaloosa, AL: 303 countTuscaloosa, AL303Foley, AL: 265 countFoley, AL265Gulf Shores, AL: 257 countGulf Shores, AL257Montgomery, AL: 231 countMontgomery, AL231Pike Road, AL: 209 countPike Road, AL209Chelsea, AL: 204 countChelsea, AL204Dothan, AL: 204 countDothan, AL204Daphne, AL: 186 countDaphne, AL186Helena, AL: 181 countHelena, AL181Opelika, AL: 180 countOpelika, AL180Calera, AL: 171 countCalera, AL171Prattville, AL: 169 countPrattville, AL169Trussville, AL: 168 countTrussville, AL168Northport, AL: 160 countNorthport, AL160Spanish Fort, AL: 153 countSpanish Fort, AL153Pelham, AL: 138 countPelham, AL138Alabaster, AL: 132 countAlabaster, AL132Muscle Shoals, AL: 115 countMuscle Shoals, AL115Athens, AL: 111 countAthens, AL111Vestavia Hills, AL: 104 countVestavia Hills, AL104Mobile, AL: 92 countMobile, AL92Birmingham, AL: 90 countBirmingham, AL90Moody, AL: 77 countMoody, AL77Florence, AL: 76 countFlorence, AL76Saraland, AL: 71 countSaraland, AL71Cullman, AL: 69 countCullman, AL69Leeds, AL: 68 countLeeds, AL68Decatur, AL: 67 countDecatur, AL67Gardendale, AL: 63 countGardendale, AL63Enterprise, AL: 61 countEnterprise, AL61Irondale, AL: 57 countIrondale, AL57Bessemer, AL: 56 countBessemer, AL56Millbrook, AL: 50 countMillbrook, AL50Phenix City, AL: 45 countPhenix City, AL45Homewood, AL: 44 countHomewood, AL44Huntsville, AL: 1,091 countHuntsville, AL1,091Auburn, AL: 497 countAuburn, AL497Madison, AL: 490 countMadison, AL490Hoover, AL: 373 countHoover, AL373Fairhope, AL: 348 countFairhope, AL348Tuscaloosa, AL: 303 countTuscaloosa, AL303Foley, AL: 265 countFoley, AL265Gulf Shores, AL: 257 countGulf Shores, AL257Montgomery, AL: 231 countMontgomery, AL231Pike Road, AL: 209 countPike Road, AL209Chelsea, AL: 204 countChelsea, AL204Dothan, AL: 204 countDothan, AL204Daphne, AL: 186 countDaphne, AL186Helena, AL: 181 countHelena, AL181Opelika, AL: 180 countOpelika, AL180Calera, AL: 171 countCalera, AL171Prattville, AL: 169 countPrattville, AL169Trussville, AL: 168 countTrussville, AL168Northport, AL: 160 countNorthport, AL160Spanish Fort, AL: 153 countSpanish Fort, AL153Pelham, AL: 138 countPelham, AL138Alabaster, AL: 132 countAlabaster, AL132Muscle Shoals, AL: 115 countMuscle Shoals, AL115Athens, AL: 111 countAthens, AL111Vestavia Hills, AL: 104 countVestavia Hills, AL104Mobile, AL: 92 countMobile, AL92Birmingham, AL: 90 countBirmingham, AL90Moody, AL: 77 countMoody, AL77Florence, AL: 76 countFlorence, AL76Saraland, AL: 71 countSaraland, AL71Cullman, AL: 69 countCullman, AL69Leeds, AL: 68 countLeeds, AL68Decatur, AL: 67 countDecatur, AL67Gardendale, AL: 63 countGardendale, AL63Enterprise, AL: 61 countEnterprise, AL61Irondale, AL: 57 countIrondale, AL57Bessemer, AL: 56 countBessemer, AL56Millbrook, AL: 50 countMillbrook, AL50Phenix City, AL: 45 countPhenix City, AL45Homewood, AL: 44 countHomewood, AL44
count. Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Building Permits Survey: final annual estimates of new privately owned housing units in 1-unit structures authorized by permit-issuing place, including imputation. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

RankCities2016
count		Change on 2015
1Huntsville, AL Estimated1,091+6.9%
2Auburn, AL Estimated497+3.1%
3Madison, AL Estimated490+5.2%
4Hoover, AL Estimated373+4.2%
5Fairhope, AL Estimated348+14.9%
6Tuscaloosa, AL Estimated303+11%
7Foley, AL Estimated265+62.6%
8Gulf Shores, AL Estimated257+60.6%
9Montgomery, AL Estimated231-11.2%
10Pike Road, AL Estimated209-11.1%
11Chelsea, AL Estimated204+58.1%
11Dothan, AL Estimated204-6%
13Daphne, AL Estimated186+5.1%
14Helena, AL Estimated181-1.6%
15Opelika, AL Estimated180+20.8%
16Calera, AL Estimated171+14.8%
17Prattville, AL Estimated169+7%
18Trussville, AL Estimated168-27%
19Northport, AL Estimated160+8.8%
20Spanish Fort, AL Estimated153+73.9%
21Pelham, AL Estimated138+35.3%
22Alabaster, AL Estimated132+21.1%
23Muscle Shoals, AL Estimated115+8.5%
24Athens, AL Estimated111+6.7%
25Vestavia Hills, AL Estimated104+18.2%
26Mobile, AL Estimated92+31.4%
27Birmingham, AL Estimated90+150%
28Moody, AL Estimated77+20.3%
29Florence, AL Estimated76+13.4%
30Saraland, AL Estimated71+26.8%
31Cullman, AL Estimated69+64.3%
32Leeds, AL Estimated68+74.4%
33Decatur, AL Estimated67+86.1%
34Gardendale, AL Estimated63-30.8%
35Enterprise, AL Estimated61+10.9%
36Irondale, AL Estimated57+119.2%
37Bessemer, AL Estimated56+460%
38Millbrook, AL Estimated500%
39Phenix City, AL Estimated45-47.7%
40Homewood, AL Estimated44+46.7%
41Hartselle, AL Estimated40+17.6%
41Oxford, AL Estimated40+14.3%
43Mountain Brook, AL Estimated37+27.6%
44Troy, AL Estimated33-2.9%
45Pell City, AL Estimated32+6.7%
46Scottsboro, AL Estimated30-18.9%
47Rainbow City, AL Estimated17+88.9%
48Fort Payne, AL Estimated13-23.5%
49Alexander City, AL Estimated12-33.3%
49Clay, AL Estimated12+50%
51Ozark, AL Estimated11+37.5%
52Jacksonville, AL Estimated9-10%
52Valley, AL Estimated9+350%
54Boaz, AL Estimated8+33.3%
54Jasper, AL Estimated8-38.5%
56Russellville, AL Estimated7+16.7%
57Sylacauga, AL Estimated4+100%
58Eufaula, AL Estimated3-70%
59Albertville, AL Estimated2n/a
59Anniston, AL Estimated20%
61Center Point, AL Estimated1n/a
61Hueytown, AL Estimated1n/a
61Selma, AL Estimated1-66.7%
64Gadsden, AL Estimated0-100%
64Prichard, AL Estimated0-100%
64Talladega, AL Estimated0-100%

Other periods

About this ranking

Annual number of new privately owned housing units in 1-unit structures (detached and attached single-family homes) authorized by building permits, from the US Census Bureau Building Permits Survey.

Part of building_permit_units, which also counts units in buildings with two or more units. Counts housing units, not starts, completions or sales.

Every value in the ranking comes from the same publisher and the same period, so the cities are compared on one definition. Equal values share a rank.

How to cite

U.S. Census Bureau. Building Permits Survey: final annual estimates of new privately owned housing units in 1-unit structures authorized by permit-issuing place, including imputation. https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/South%20Region/so2016a.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. (2017). Building Permits Survey: final annual estimates of new privately owned housing units in 1-unit structures authorized by permit-issuing place, including imputation (Cities in Alabama by single-family housing units authorized by building permits, 2016) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/South%20Region/so2016a.txt

MLA 9

Building Permits Survey: final annual estimates of new privately owned housing units in 1-unit structures authorized by permit-issuing place, including imputation, Cities in Alabama by single-family housing units authorized by building permits, 2016. U.S. Census Bureau, 1 May 2017, https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/South%20Region/so2016a.txt. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/single-family-building-permits/alabama-cities?period=2016. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

U.S. Census Bureau. 2017. Building Permits Survey: final annual estimates of new privately owned housing units in 1-unit structures authorized by permit-issuing place, including imputation. Cities in Alabama by single-family housing units authorized by building permits, 2016. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/South%20Region/so2016a.txt. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/single-family-building-permits/alabama-cities?period=2016.

Harvard

U.S. Census Bureau (2017) Building Permits Survey: final annual estimates of new privately owned housing units in 1-unit structures authorized by permit-issuing place, including imputation, Cities in Alabama by single-family housing units authorized by building permits, 2016 [Dataset]. Available at: https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/South%20Region/so2016a.txt, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/single-family-building-permits/alabama-cities?period=2016 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{census_cities_in_alabama_by_2016,
  author = {{U.S. Census Bureau}},
  title = {{Building Permits Survey: final annual estimates of new privately owned housing units in 1-unit structures authorized by permit-issuing place, including imputation: Cities in Alabama by single-family housing units authorized by building permits, 2016}},
  year = {2017},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/South%20Region/so2016a.txt},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/single-family-building-permits/alabama-cities?period=2016. Publisher attribution: U.S. Census Bureau. Building Permits Survey: final annual estimates of new privately owned housing units in 1-unit structures authorized by permit-issuing place, including imputation. https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/South\%20Region/so2016a.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 in 1-unit structures authorized by permit-issuing place, including imputation: Cities in Alabama by single-family housing units authorized by building permits, 2016
PY  - 2017
DA  - 2017/05/01
PB  - U.S. Census Bureau
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/South%20Region/so2016a.txt
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/single-family-building-permits/alabama-cities?period=2016
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/single-family-building-permits/alabama-cities?period=2016.
N1  - Publisher attribution: U.S. Census Bureau. Building Permits Survey: final annual estimates of new privately owned housing units in 1-unit structures authorized by permit-issuing place, including imputation. https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/South%20Region/so2016a.txt. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
ER  -
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Questions

Which city has the highest single-family housing units authorized by building permits?

Huntsville, AL, with 1,091 in 2016, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

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

Talladega, AL, with 0 in 2016.

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 in 1-unit structures authorized by permit-issuing place, including imputation. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Single-family housing units authorized by building permits: other rankings

Cities in Alabama: more rankings