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

Murfreesboro, TN had the highest single-family housing units authorized by building permits of 57 cities in 2017, at 1,200. Elizabethton, TN had the lowest, at 0. The median was 101. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

Highest1,200Murfreesboro, TN

Lowest0Elizabethton, TN

Median10157 cities

All cities, 2017

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	2017 count	Change on 2016
1	Murfreesboro, TN Estimated	1,200	-5.1%
2	Spring Hill, TN Estimated	813	+14.8%
3	Clarksville, TN Estimated	806	+2.3%
4	Franklin, TN Estimated	675	-23.1%
5	Chattanooga, TN Estimated	515	-10.7%
6	Gallatin, TN Estimated	506	-8.2%
7	Mount Juliet, TN Estimated	503	+17.5%
8	Lebanon, TN Estimated	474	+49.1%
9	Columbia, TN Estimated	395	+37.6%
10	Hendersonville, TN Estimated	370	+32.6%
11	Nolensville, TN Estimated	313	+53.4%
12	Crossville, TN Estimated	285	+15.4%
13	Johnson City, TN Estimated	254	+164.6%
14	Smyrna, TN Estimated	243	-34.3%
15	Knoxville, TN Estimated	235	-26.8%
16	Maryville, TN Estimated	234	+56%
17	Collierville, TN Estimated	195	+10.2%
18	Brentwood, TN Estimated	185	+5.7%
19	Bartlett, TN Estimated	177	-13.7%
20	Jackson, TN Estimated	164	-1.8%
21	Farragut, TN Estimated	154	-1.9%
22	Fairview, TN Estimated	138	+84%
23	Cookeville, TN Estimated	135	-29.7%
24	Manchester, TN Estimated	121	+210.3%
25	Oakland, TN Estimated	109	-10.7%
26	Goodlettsville, TN Estimated	104	+65.1%
27	Kingsport, TN Estimated	102	+15.9%
28	Cleveland, TN Estimated	101	+1%
28	Springfield, TN Estimated	101	+288.5%
30	White House, TN Estimated	97	+14.1%
31	Portland, TN Estimated	86	+36.5%
32	Shelbyville, TN Estimated	75	+10.3%
33	La Vergne, TN Estimated	72	+14.3%
34	Morristown, TN Estimated	70	+70.7%
35	Atoka, TN Estimated	67	+6.3%
35	Winchester, TN Estimated	67	+131%
37	Tullahoma, TN Estimated	63	-3.1%
38	Dickson, TN Estimated	54	-1.8%
39	Alcoa, TN Estimated	45	+18.4%
39	Red Bank, TN Estimated	45	+104.5%
41	Lenoir City, TN Estimated	37	-22.9%
42	Soddy-Daisy, TN Estimated	35	+34.6%
43	Oak Ridge, TN Estimated	34	+36%
44	Bristol, TN Estimated	33	n/a
45	Sevierville, TN Estimated	31	-27.9%
46	Clinton, TN Estimated	24	+50%
47	East Ridge, TN Estimated	22	0%
48	Dyersburg, TN Estimated	18	+12.5%
49	Greeneville, TN Estimated	16	+45.5%
49	Martin, TN Estimated	16	+6.7%
51	Paris, TN Estimated	14	+7.7%
52	Collegedale, TN Estimated	13	-51.9%
53	Athens, TN Estimated	11	-8.3%
53	McMinnville, TN Estimated	11	+10%
55	Lawrenceburg, TN Estimated	7	0%
56	Union City, TN Estimated	3	+200%
57	Elizabethton, TN 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. 4 cities with data in other periods have no value for 2017 and are left out rather than filled from another source. 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/so2017a.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. (2018). 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 Tennessee by single-family housing units authorized by building permits, 2017) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/South%20Region/so2017a.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 Tennessee by single-family housing units authorized by building permits, 2017. U.S. Census Bureau, 1 May 2018, https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/South%20Region/so2017a.txt. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/single-family-building-permits/tennessee-cities?period=2017. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

U.S. Census Bureau. 2018. 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 Tennessee by single-family housing units authorized by building permits, 2017. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/South%20Region/so2017a.txt. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/single-family-building-permits/tennessee-cities?period=2017.

Harvard

U.S. Census Bureau (2018) 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 Tennessee by single-family housing units authorized by building permits, 2017 [Dataset]. Available at: https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/South%20Region/so2017a.txt, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/single-family-building-permits/tennessee-cities?period=2017 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX

@misc{census_cities_in_tennessee_by_2017,
  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 Tennessee by single-family housing units authorized by building permits, 2017}},
  year = {2018},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/South%20Region/so2017a.txt},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/single-family-building-permits/tennessee-cities?period=2017. 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/so2017a.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 Tennessee by single-family housing units authorized by building permits, 2017
PY  - 2018
DA  - 2018/05/01
PB  - U.S. Census Bureau
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/South%20Region/so2017a.txt
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/single-family-building-permits/tennessee-cities?period=2017
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/single-family-building-permits/tennessee-cities?period=2017.
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/so2017a.txt. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
ER  -

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Questions

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

Murfreesboro, TN, with 1,200 in 2017, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

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

Elizabethton, TN, with 0 in 2017.

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. 4 cities have no value for 2017 and are not ranked.