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 2022, at 1,083. Sylacauga, AL had the lowest, at 0. The median was 76. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

Keep it in a collection in your library.
Highest1,083Huntsville, AL
Lowest0Sylacauga, AL
Median7666 cities

Top 40 cities, 2022

Huntsville, AL: 1,083 countHuntsville, AL1,083Foley, AL: 579 countFoley, AL579Gulf Shores, AL: 509 countGulf Shores, AL509Auburn, AL: 482 countAuburn, AL482Athens, AL: 473 countAthens, AL473Opelika, AL: 375 countOpelika, AL375Hoover, AL: 314 countHoover, AL314Tuscaloosa, AL: 299 countTuscaloosa, AL299Madison, AL: 293 countMadison, AL293Daphne, AL: 292 countDaphne, AL292Montgomery, AL: 271 countMontgomery, AL271Fairhope, AL: 259 countFairhope, AL259Cullman, AL: 253 countCullman, AL253Dothan, AL: 210 countDothan, AL210Prattville, AL: 210 countPrattville, AL210Pike Road, AL: 208 countPike Road, AL208Trussville, AL: 203 countTrussville, AL203Chelsea, AL: 196 countChelsea, AL196Northport, AL: 190 countNorthport, AL190Enterprise, AL: 157 countEnterprise, AL157Irondale, AL: 156 countIrondale, AL156Decatur, AL: 149 countDecatur, AL149Pell City, AL: 144 countPell City, AL144Pelham, AL: 136 countPelham, AL136Calera, AL: 125 countCalera, AL125Spanish Fort, AL: 115 countSpanish Fort, AL115Birmingham, AL: 111 countBirmingham, AL111Hartselle, AL: 98 countHartselle, AL98Phenix City, AL: 94 countPhenix City, AL94Mobile, AL: 84 countMobile, AL84Florence, AL: 82 countFlorence, AL82Leeds, AL: 82 countLeeds, AL82Helena, AL: 81 countHelena, AL81Muscle Shoals, AL: 70 countMuscle Shoals, AL70Alabaster, AL: 67 countAlabaster, AL67Vestavia Hills, AL: 66 countVestavia Hills, AL66Millbrook, AL: 65 countMillbrook, AL65Troy, AL: 58 countTroy, AL58Albertville, AL: 55 countAlbertville, AL55Jasper, AL: 53 countJasper, AL53Huntsville, AL: 1,083 countHuntsville, AL1,083Foley, AL: 579 countFoley, AL579Gulf Shores, AL: 509 countGulf Shores, AL509Auburn, AL: 482 countAuburn, AL482Athens, AL: 473 countAthens, AL473Opelika, AL: 375 countOpelika, AL375Hoover, AL: 314 countHoover, AL314Tuscaloosa, AL: 299 countTuscaloosa, AL299Madison, AL: 293 countMadison, AL293Daphne, AL: 292 countDaphne, AL292Montgomery, AL: 271 countMontgomery, AL271Fairhope, AL: 259 countFairhope, AL259Cullman, AL: 253 countCullman, AL253Dothan, AL: 210 countDothan, AL210Prattville, AL: 210 countPrattville, AL210Pike Road, AL: 208 countPike Road, AL208Trussville, AL: 203 countTrussville, AL203Chelsea, AL: 196 countChelsea, AL196Northport, AL: 190 countNorthport, AL190Enterprise, AL: 157 countEnterprise, AL157Irondale, AL: 156 countIrondale, AL156Decatur, AL: 149 countDecatur, AL149Pell City, AL: 144 countPell City, AL144Pelham, AL: 136 countPelham, AL136Calera, AL: 125 countCalera, AL125Spanish Fort, AL: 115 countSpanish Fort, AL115Birmingham, AL: 111 countBirmingham, AL111Hartselle, AL: 98 countHartselle, AL98Phenix City, AL: 94 countPhenix City, AL94Mobile, AL: 84 countMobile, AL84Florence, AL: 82 countFlorence, AL82Leeds, AL: 82 countLeeds, AL82Helena, AL: 81 countHelena, AL81Muscle Shoals, AL: 70 countMuscle Shoals, AL70Alabaster, AL: 67 countAlabaster, AL67Vestavia Hills, AL: 66 countVestavia Hills, AL66Millbrook, AL: 65 countMillbrook, AL65Troy, AL: 58 countTroy, AL58Albertville, AL: 55 countAlbertville, AL55Jasper, AL: 53 countJasper, AL53
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

RankCities2022
count		Change on 2021
1Huntsville, AL Estimated1,083-27%
2Foley, AL Estimated579-10.2%
3Gulf Shores, AL Estimated509+8.1%
4Auburn, AL Estimated482-34.1%
5Athens, AL Estimated473+1.5%
6Opelika, AL Estimated375-12.6%
7Hoover, AL Estimated314-18.4%
8Tuscaloosa, AL Estimated299-25.4%
9Madison, AL Estimated293-15.1%
10Daphne, AL Estimated292-34.1%
11Montgomery, AL Estimated271+3.8%
12Fairhope, AL Estimated259-10.1%
13Cullman, AL Estimated253+47.1%
14Dothan, AL Estimated210-15.7%
14Prattville, AL Estimated210-24.2%
16Pike Road, AL Estimated208-31.8%
17Trussville, AL Estimated203-0.5%
18Chelsea, AL Estimated196-3%
19Northport, AL Estimated190+8.6%
20Enterprise, AL Estimated157-5.4%
21Irondale, AL Estimated156+387.5%
22Decatur, AL Estimated149+36.7%
23Pell City, AL Estimated144-25.8%
24Pelham, AL Estimated136+4.6%
25Calera, AL Estimated125-42.1%
26Spanish Fort, AL Estimated115+8.5%
27Birmingham, AL Estimated111+23.3%
28Hartselle, AL Estimated98+60.7%
29Phenix City, AL Estimated94-9.6%
30Mobile, AL Estimated84-15.2%
31Florence, AL Estimated82-4.7%
31Leeds, AL Estimated82-25.5%
33Helena, AL Estimated81-47.4%
34Muscle Shoals, AL Estimated70-62%
35Alabaster, AL Estimated67-16.3%
36Vestavia Hills, AL Estimated66+94.1%
37Millbrook, AL Estimated65-31.6%
38Troy, AL Estimated58-28.4%
39Albertville, AL Estimated55+66.7%
40Jasper, AL Estimated53+43.2%
41Scottsboro, AL Estimated46+17.9%
42Saraland, AL Estimated39-60.2%
43Alexander City, AL Estimated33-21.4%
43Rainbow City, AL Estimated33+83.3%
45Jacksonville, AL Estimated28+21.7%
46Homewood, AL Estimated26+8.3%
46Mountain Brook, AL Estimated26-16.1%
46Oxford, AL Estimated26-10.3%
49Gardendale, AL Estimated23-17.9%
50Eufaula, AL Estimated20+66.7%
51Bessemer, AL Estimated19-20.8%
51Gadsden, AL Estimated19n/a
53Fort Payne, AL Estimated18-30.8%
54Clay, AL Estimated16-71.9%
55Valley, AL Estimated15+66.7%
56Ozark, AL Estimated140%
57Moody, AL Estimated13-84.9%
57Russellville, AL Estimated130%
59Boaz, AL Estimated11-8.3%
60Hueytown, AL Estimated10-58.3%
61Anniston, AL Estimated5+66.7%
62Center Point, AL Estimated4-55.6%
63Talladega, AL Estimated1-50%
64Prichard, AL Estimated0-100%
64Selma, AL Estimated0-100%
64Sylacauga, 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/so2022a.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 in 1-unit structures authorized by permit-issuing place, including imputation (Cities in Alabama by single-family housing units authorized by building permits, 2022) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/South%20Region/so2022a.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, 2022. U.S. Census Bureau, 2 Apr. 2024, https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/South%20Region/so2022a.txt. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/single-family-building-permits/alabama-cities?period=2022. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

U.S. Census Bureau. 2024. 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, 2022. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/South%20Region/so2022a.txt. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/single-family-building-permits/alabama-cities?period=2022.

Harvard

U.S. Census Bureau (2024) 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, 2022 [Dataset]. Available at: https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/South%20Region/so2022a.txt, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/single-family-building-permits/alabama-cities?period=2022 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{census_cities_in_alabama_by_2022,
  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, 2022}},
  year = {2024},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/South%20Region/so2022a.txt},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/single-family-building-permits/alabama-cities?period=2022. 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/so2022a.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, 2022
PY  - 2024
DA  - 2024/04/02
PB  - U.S. Census Bureau
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/South%20Region/so2022a.txt
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/single-family-building-permits/alabama-cities?period=2022
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/single-family-building-permits/alabama-cities?period=2022.
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/so2022a.txt. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
ER  -
Embed this chart

Paste this code into a web page or a blog post. The chart shows the latest figures as they are published, with the source and a link back to this page.

Sites that read oEmbed links, such as WordPress, can show the chart when you paste the link to this page.

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 Cities in Alabama by single-family housing units authorized by building permits using official data, and cite the source.
rank_places {"indicator":"building_permit_single_family_units","level":"municipality","within":"Alabama","limit":10}
GET https://invokely.ai/api/v1/rank?indicator=building_permit_single_family_units&level=municipality&within=Alabama&limit=10

Connect Claude, ChatGPT or Cursor in one step. The trial answers 25 calls a day without an account.

Questions

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

Huntsville, AL, with 1,083 in 2022, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

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

Sylacauga, AL, with 0 in 2022.

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