While more than half of the 3,142 counties in the U.S. lost population from 2010-18, Montgomery County is one of the 1,481 counties that gained population in those eight years, according to estimates released by the U.S. Census Bureau on April 18. Montgomery County experienced a 28.6% population increase from 2010-18, ranking the No. 11 most populous county in Texas out of 254 counties. With an estimated population of 590,925 in July 2018 compared to 459,210 in July 2010, this marks a population growth of 131,715 people in less than a decade, census data shows. Montgomery County had a population of 572,146 in July 2017 and 555,703 in July 2016. The Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land metropolitan area ranks No. 5 in most populous metropolitan areas, with an estimated population of 6,997,384 as of July 2018, a 1.3% population increase from July 2017.