Metro Population Growth and Housing Permits
Compare metro population change with permitted housing using Census data. Explore matched geography, explicit time periods and downloadable results.
Free to use. No email required. Public datasets retain their reporting dates; calculations use your assumptions. Prepared September 12, 2026. Open the tool or report ↓
Growth and authorizations answer different questions
303 of the 387 included metros gained residents between July 2024 and July 2025. Ocala, FL had the fastest percentage growth, at 3.43%, and authorized 5,985 housing units during calendar 2025.
Compare residents added with authorized units to select markets for closer housing research. A high ratio can reflect population momentum, limited authorizations or both. It is not a housing deficit: household size, existing vacancies, construction timing, replacement housing and second homes affect the relationship.
The geography and source vintage match. The time windows differ: population change is July-to-July; permits cover January-to-December 2025. Units authorized are not units completed.
Compare growth and housing authorizations
Showing 25 of 387 matching metros. Rankings reflect the current filters and sort. Download all 387 metros (CSV)
| Rank | Metro / CBSA | Population growth | Residents added | All units authorized | Residents added / unit | Units / 1,000 residents |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ocala, FLCBSA 36100 | 3.43% | 14,665 | 5,985 | 2.45 | 13.52 |
| 2 | Myrtle Beach-Conway-North Myrtle Beach, SCCBSA 34820 | 3.20% | 13,244 | 6,511 | 2.03 | 15.23 |
| 3 | Spartanburg, SCCBSA 43900 | 2.75% | 10,928 | 4,359 | 2.51 | 10.69 |
| 4 | Lakeland-Winter Haven, FLCBSA 29460 | 2.74% | 23,356 | 8,236 | 2.84 | 9.41 |
| 5 | Punta Gorda, FLCBSA 39460 | 2.72% | 5,756 | 3,015 | 1.91 | 13.88 |
| 6 | Huntsville, ALCBSA 26620 | 2.64% | 14,322 | 4,519 | 3.17 | 8.12 |
| 7 | Wilmington, NCCBSA 48900 | 2.58% | 12,398 | 7,622 | 1.63 | 15.47 |
| 8 | St. George, UTCBSA 41100 | 2.51% | 5,239 | 2,857 | 1.83 | 13.37 |
| 9 | Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers, ARCBSA 22220 | 2.43% | 14,744 | 8,961 | 1.65 | 14.40 |
| 10 | Raleigh-Cary, NCCBSA 39580 | 2.36% | 36,793 | 17,543 | 2.10 | 10.99 |
| 11 | Daphne-Fairhope-Foley, ALCBSA 19300 | 2.33% | 6,109 | 2,665 | 2.29 | 9.95 |
| 12 | Wildwood-The Villages, FLCBSA 48680 | 2.28% | 3,511 | 3,516 | 1.00 | 22.29 |
| 13 | Boise City, IDCBSA 14260 | 2.23% | 18,854 | 9,438 | 2.00 | 10.92 |
| 14 | Port St. Lucie, FLCBSA 38940 | 2.14% | 11,927 | 4,853 | 2.46 | 8.53 |
| 15 | Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TXCBSA 12420 | 2.10% | 53,796 | 27,322 | 1.97 | 10.42 |
| 16 | Pinehurst-Southern Pines, NCCBSA 38240 | 2.06% | 2,236 | 1,077 | 2.08 | 9.74 |
| 17 | Hinesville, GACBSA 25980 | 2.04% | 1,840 | 630 | 2.92 | 6.86 |
| 18 | Panama City-Panama City Beach, FLCBSA 37460 | 2.02% | 4,574 | 2,295 | 1.99 | 9.93 |
| 19 | Midland, TXCBSA 33260 | 1.99% | 3,777 | 1,322 | 2.86 | 6.84 |
| 20 | Greeley, COCBSA 24540 | 1.92% | 7,146 | 2,993 | 2.39 | 7.91 |
| 21 | Provo-Orem-Lehi, UTCBSA 39340 | 1.90% | 14,434 | 7,304 | 1.98 | 9.44 |
| 22 | Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SCCBSA 16740 | 1.88% | 54,122 | 22,233 | 2.43 | 7.57 |
| 23 | Coeur d'Alene, IDCBSA 17660 | 1.84% | 3,466 | 1,705 | 2.03 | 8.89 |
| 24 | Odessa, TXCBSA 36220 | 1.84% | 3,147 | 921 | 3.42 | 5.30 |
| 25 | Sherman-Denison, TXCBSA 43300 | 1.82% | 2,748 | 1,881 | 1.46 | 12.25 |
Sources and methodology
Retrieved 2026-09-12. Coverage: 387 U.S. metropolitan statistical areas under July 2023 OMB delineations. Micropolitan areas and Puerto Rico are excluded. Population is Census Vintage 2025; both annual population estimates come from the same vintage.
Source files: 2025 final Census Building Permits Survey, 2024 final permits, and 2025 metro population estimates. Metro rows join on the five-digit CBSA code, excluding county and metropolitan-division component rows.
Multifamily means housing units in structures containing two or more units: the 2-unit, 3–4-unit and 5-or-more-unit categories combined. These are units authorized, not permit documents, buildings, starts or completed homes. Final estimates include Census imputation for nonrespondents. Authorizations can be delayed, revised or never built; the survey covers permit-issuing areas.
Population change = July 1, 2025 estimate minus July 1, 2024 estimate. Growth rate divides that change by the 2024 estimate. Permits cover January–December 2025, so the two observation windows overlap but are not identical. Residents added per authorized unit divides positive population change by all 2025 authorized housing units; metros with no growth or no authorized units show “Not comparable.” People are not households. This comparison does not estimate housing shortages, absorption, household formation, vacancies, demolitions or net completed supply.
Geography references: BPS delineation changes and population file layout. ACREN calculations use Census data; the Census Bureau has not reviewed or endorsed this report.
How Acren helps
Add market context to your property research
This report helps frame the population and housing questions to ask about a metro. Acren lets you continue with property facts and available housing, regional and permit evidence, keeping the source and geography visible in the review.
Use metro trends as context. Verify property-specific occupancy, rents and competing supply separately.
Continue the research
Multifamily Building Permits by Metro →
Where is more multifamily housing being authorized?
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