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

Phoenix, AZ had the highest single-family housing units authorized by building permits of 44 cities in 2024, at 4,062. El Mirage, AZ had the lowest, at 1. The median was 333. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

Highest4,062Phoenix, AZ

Lowest1El Mirage, AZ

Median33344 cities

All cities, 2024

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	2024 count	Change on 2023
1	Phoenix, AZ Estimated	4,062	-3.3%
2	Surprise, AZ Estimated	3,140	+31%
3	Buckeye, AZ Estimated	2,747	+29%
4	Goodyear, AZ Estimated	2,000	+88.1%
5	Queen Creek, AZ Estimated	1,663	-8%
6	Peoria, AZ Estimated	1,495	+107.6%
7	Mesa, AZ Estimated	1,367	+77.5%
8	Maricopa, AZ Estimated	1,227	+6.4%
9	Marana, AZ Estimated	1,192	+35.5%
10	Casa Grande, AZ Estimated	1,187	+9.6%
11	Apache Junction, AZ Estimated	1,064	+12.8%
12	Tucson, AZ Estimated	923	+10%
13	Glendale, AZ Estimated	800	+13.5%
14	Avondale, AZ Estimated	749	-11.3%
15	Yuma, AZ Estimated	532	+57.4%
16	San Luis, AZ Estimated	507	+76%
17	Prescott Valley, AZ Estimated	430	+21.8%
18	Prescott, AZ Estimated	411	+86%
19	Scottsdale, AZ Estimated	403	-1.2%
20	Gilbert, AZ Estimated	388	-27.6%
21	Bullhead City, AZ Estimated	375	+77.7%
22	Florence, AZ Estimated	353	+31.2%
23	Sahuarita, AZ Estimated	312	-17.2%
24	Camp Verde, AZ Estimated	281	+1,024%
25	Coolidge, AZ Estimated	257	+82.3%
26	Kingman, AZ Estimated	192	-11.5%
27	Flagstaff, AZ Estimated	190	+30.1%
28	Chandler, AZ Estimated	172	-26.2%
29	Lake Havasu City, AZ Estimated	171	-15.3%
30	Oro Valley, AZ Estimated	161	+27.8%
31	Eloy, AZ Estimated	149	+55.2%
32	Show Low, AZ Estimated	113	+13%
33	Tempe, AZ Estimated	99	+8.8%
34	Chino Valley, AZ Estimated	82	+141.2%
35	Payson, AZ Estimated	78	+6.8%
36	Paradise Valley, AZ Estimated	74	-6.3%
37	Fountain Hills, AZ Estimated	59	+3.5%
38	Cottonwood, AZ Estimated	57	+67.6%
39	Nogales, AZ Estimated	17	+21.4%
40	Douglas, AZ Estimated	14	0%
41	Safford, AZ Estimated	10	-41.2%
42	Somerton, AZ Estimated	6	0%
43	Sierra Vista, AZ Estimated	5	-91.1%
44	El Mirage, AZ Estimated	1	-75%

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/we2024a.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. (2025). 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, 2024) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/West%20Region/we2024a.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, 2024. U.S. Census Bureau, 1 May 2025, https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/West%20Region/we2024a.txt. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/single-family-building-permits/arizona-cities?period=2024. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

U.S. Census Bureau. 2025. 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, 2024. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/West%20Region/we2024a.txt. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/single-family-building-permits/arizona-cities?period=2024.

Harvard

U.S. Census Bureau (2025) 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, 2024 [Dataset]. Available at: https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/West%20Region/we2024a.txt, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/single-family-building-permits/arizona-cities?period=2024 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX

@misc{census_cities_in_arizona_by_2024,
  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, 2024}},
  year = {2025},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/West%20Region/we2024a.txt},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/single-family-building-permits/arizona-cities?period=2024. 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/we2024a.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, 2024
PY  - 2025
DA  - 2025/05/01
PB  - U.S. Census Bureau
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/West%20Region/we2024a.txt
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/single-family-building-permits/arizona-cities?period=2024
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/single-family-building-permits/arizona-cities?period=2024.
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/we2024a.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 4,062 in 2024, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

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

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