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

Little Rock, AR had the highest single-family housing units authorized by building permits of 39 cities in 2021, at 666. Malvern, AR had the lowest, at 0. The median was 99. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

Highest666Little Rock, AR

Lowest0Malvern, AR

Median9939 cities

All cities, 2021

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	2021 count	Change on 2020
1	Little Rock, AR Estimated	666	+60.5%
2	Fayetteville, AR Estimated	665	+14.1%
3	Bella Vista, AR Estimated	584	+40.4%
3	Centerton, AR Estimated	584	-7.9%
5	Rogers, AR Estimated	576	+15.2%
6	Conway, AR Estimated	568	+63.2%
7	Jonesboro, AR Estimated	533	+14.1%
8	Farmington, AR Estimated	481	+208.3%
9	Bentonville, AR Estimated	457	-5%
10	Lowell, AR Estimated	363	+188.1%
11	Benton, AR Estimated	326	+45.5%
12	Pea Ridge, AR Estimated	272	+43.9%
13	Springdale, AR Estimated	226	-12.7%
14	Fort Smith, AR Estimated	191	+41.5%
14	Siloam Springs, AR Estimated	191	+161.6%
16	North Little Rock, AR Estimated	178	+104.6%
17	Paragould, AR Estimated	156	+32.2%
18	Sherwood, AR Estimated	138	-44.4%
19	Bryant, AR Estimated	119	+5.3%
20	Maumelle, AR Estimated	99	+23.8%
21	Cabot, AR Estimated	97	-2%
22	Van Buren, AR Estimated	90	+26.8%
23	Hot Springs, AR Estimated	78	-1.3%
24	Mountain Home, AR Estimated	50	+257.1%
25	Russellville, AR Estimated	45	-10%
26	Jacksonville, AR Estimated	42	-16%
26	Marion, AR Estimated	42	-2.3%
28	Searcy, AR Estimated	37	-2.6%
29	Texarkana, AR Estimated	28	+33.3%
30	El Dorado, AR Estimated	12	+33.3%
30	Harrison, AR Estimated	12	+20%
30	West Memphis, AR Estimated	12	-33.3%
33	Magnolia, AR Estimated	11	+450%
34	Pine Bluff, AR Estimated	10	0%
35	Batesville, AR Estimated	9	+200%
36	Blytheville, AR Estimated	5	0%
36	Forrest City, AR Estimated	5	+150%
38	Camden, AR Estimated	2	-71.4%
39	Malvern, AR Estimated	0	-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/so2021a.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. (2022). 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 Arkansas by single-family housing units authorized by building permits, 2021) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/South%20Region/so2021a.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 Arkansas by single-family housing units authorized by building permits, 2021. U.S. Census Bureau, 27 Apr. 2022, https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/South%20Region/so2021a.txt. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/single-family-building-permits/arkansas-cities?period=2021. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

U.S. Census Bureau. 2022. 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 Arkansas by single-family housing units authorized by building permits, 2021. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/South%20Region/so2021a.txt. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/single-family-building-permits/arkansas-cities?period=2021.

Harvard

U.S. Census Bureau (2022) 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 Arkansas by single-family housing units authorized by building permits, 2021 [Dataset]. Available at: https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/South%20Region/so2021a.txt, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/single-family-building-permits/arkansas-cities?period=2021 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX

@misc{census_cities_in_arkansas_by_2021,
  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 Arkansas by single-family housing units authorized by building permits, 2021}},
  year = {2022},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/South%20Region/so2021a.txt},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/single-family-building-permits/arkansas-cities?period=2021. 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/so2021a.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 Arkansas by single-family housing units authorized by building permits, 2021
PY  - 2022
DA  - 2022/04/27
PB  - U.S. Census Bureau
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/South%20Region/so2021a.txt
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/single-family-building-permits/arkansas-cities?period=2021
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/single-family-building-permits/arkansas-cities?period=2021.
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/so2021a.txt. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
ER  -

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Rank Cities in Arkansas by single-family housing units authorized by building permits using official data, and cite the source.

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Questions

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

Little Rock, AR, with 666 in 2021, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

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

Malvern, AR, with 0 in 2021.

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.