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While almost half of the 3,142 counties in the country lost population between 2010 and 2018, Fort Bend County saw a 34.7% increase in population—a jump from 584,690 to 787,858—in those eight years, making it one of the top 10 counties in the country in percentage growth, according to U.S. Census estimates released on April 18.
In 2018, there were 203,168 more residents in Fort Bend County than in 2010, and a little more than half of that growth was due to domestic migration, which accounts for 111,760 people, census data shows.
According to the statistics, Fort Bend County’s total population growth of 21,722 in the last year was fueled by 15,431 residents moving into the area––5,479 of those residents moved to the area came from outside the U.S., and 9,952 relocated domestically.
Out of 3,142 counties, 1,640 (52.2 percent) counties showed positive total net migration in 2018, meaning more people moved into the county than moved out, according to a U.S. Census press release.
“One interesting trend we are seeing this year is that metro areas not among the most populous that are ranked in the top 10 for population growth,” said Sandra Johnson, a demographer in the Census Bureau’s Population Division in the press release.
The Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington and Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land metro areas each gained over 1,000,000 people since 2010, according to 2018 population estimates.
With populations of 7,539,711 and 6,997,384, respectively, Dallas and Houston are ranked the fourth and fifth most populous metros behind New York, Los Angeles and Chicago.
The state’s overall population grew by over 3.5 million residents from mid-2010 to July 2018, according to the U.S. Census, for a total of 28.7 million residents.
