Cities in Arizona by single-family housing units authorized by building permits, 2025

Phoenix, AZ had the highest single-family housing units authorized by building permits of 44 cities in 2025, at 3,154. El Mirage, AZ had the lowest, at 2. The median was 261. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

Highest3,154Phoenix, AZ

Lowest2El Mirage, AZ

Median26144 cities

All cities, 2025

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

Rank	Cities	2025 count	Change on 2024
1	Phoenix, AZ Estimated	3,154	-22.4%
2	Surprise, AZ Estimated	2,664	-15.2%
3	Buckeye, AZ Estimated	2,122	-22.8%
4	Queen Creek, AZ Estimated	1,504	-9.6%
5	Goodyear, AZ Estimated	1,437	-28.1%
6	Mesa, AZ Estimated	1,069	-21.8%
7	Peoria, AZ Estimated	984	-34.2%
8	Marana, AZ Estimated	918	-23%
9	Maricopa, AZ Estimated	840	-31.5%
10	Tucson, AZ Estimated	805	-12.8%
11	Apache Junction, AZ Estimated	786	-26.1%
12	Avondale, AZ Estimated	664	-11.3%
13	Yuma, AZ Estimated	483	-9.2%
14	Glendale, AZ Estimated	476	-40.5%
15	Scottsdale, AZ Estimated	369	-8.4%
16	Sahuarita, AZ Estimated	362	+16%
17	Gilbert, AZ Estimated	356	-8.2%
18	Prescott, AZ Estimated	345	-16.1%
19	Coolidge, AZ Estimated	283	+10.1%
20	Flagstaff, AZ Estimated	272	+43.2%
21	Prescott Valley, AZ Estimated	269	-37.4%
22	Bullhead City, AZ Estimated	263	-29.9%
23	Florence, AZ Estimated	258	-26.9%
24	Casa Grande, AZ Estimated	243	-79.5%
25	Eloy, AZ Estimated	230	+54.4%
26	Lake Havasu City, AZ Estimated	195	+14%
27	San Luis, AZ Estimated	175	-65.5%
28	Chandler, AZ Estimated	167	-2.9%
29	Show Low, AZ Estimated	123	+8.8%
30	Kingman, AZ Estimated	115	-40.1%
31	Oro Valley, AZ Estimated	103	-36%
32	Tempe, AZ Estimated	84	-15.2%
33	Cottonwood, AZ Estimated	78	+36.8%
34	Paradise Valley, AZ Estimated	75	+1.4%
35	Payson, AZ Estimated	69	-11.5%
36	Chino Valley, AZ Estimated	56	-31.7%
37	Fountain Hills, AZ Estimated	42	-28.8%
38	Safford, AZ Estimated	41	+310%
39	Somerton, AZ Estimated	32	+433.3%
40	Camp Verde, AZ Estimated	26	-90.7%
41	Sierra Vista, AZ Estimated	25	+400%
42	Douglas, AZ Estimated	20	+42.9%
43	Nogales, AZ Estimated	8	-52.9%
44	El Mirage, AZ Estimated	2	+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/West%20Region/we2025a.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. (2026). 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 Arizona by single-family housing units authorized by building permits, 2025) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/West%20Region/we2025a.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 Arizona by single-family housing units authorized by building permits, 2025. U.S. Census Bureau, 14 May 2026, https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/West%20Region/we2025a.txt. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/single-family-building-permits/arizona-cities. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

U.S. Census Bureau. 2026. 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 Arizona by single-family housing units authorized by building permits, 2025. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/West%20Region/we2025a.txt. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/single-family-building-permits/arizona-cities.

Harvard

U.S. Census Bureau (2026) 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 Arizona by single-family housing units authorized by building permits, 2025 [Dataset]. Available at: https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/West%20Region/we2025a.txt, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/single-family-building-permits/arizona-cities (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX

@misc{census_cities_in_arizona_by_2025,
  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 Arizona by single-family housing units authorized by building permits, 2025}},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/West%20Region/we2025a.txt},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/single-family-building-permits/arizona-cities. 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/West\%20Region/we2025a.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 Arizona by single-family housing units authorized by building permits, 2025
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/05/14
PB  - U.S. Census Bureau
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/West%20Region/we2025a.txt
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/single-family-building-permits/arizona-cities
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/single-family-building-permits/arizona-cities.
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/West%20Region/we2025a.txt. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
ER  -

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Questions

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

Phoenix, AZ, with 3,154 in 2025, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

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

El Mirage, AZ, with 2 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 estimates of new privately owned housing units in 1-unit structures authorized by permit-issuing place, including imputation. Retrieved 2026-10-12.