Howard County Is 5th Largest County In Maryland: Census

HOWARD COUNTY, MD — More than half of U.S. counties grew between 2017 and 2018, according to new population estimates for 2018 released by the Census Bureau. Howard County falls in line with the national trend, since its population has increased in the past year.

According to the Census estimates, Howard County gained 3,822 residents between July 1, 2017, and July 1, 2018. That was a 1.2 percent increase, bringing its population to 323,196.

That made Howard County the sixth most populous jurisdiction in the state in 2018, the same slot it held in 2017. It's the fifth largest county.

Most of Howard County's growth was attributed to natural increase, since there were more births (3,522) than deaths (1,819) between 2017 and 2018, according to the census estimates.

The second largest contributor to the county's growth was international migration, with 1,280 people moving to Howard County from other countries.

Here are the 10 most populous areas in Maryland in 2018, based on census estimates:

1. Montgomery County: 1,052,567
2. Prince George's County: 909,308
3. Baltimore County: 828,431
4. Baltimore City: 602,495
5. Anne Arundel County: 576,031
6. Howard County: 323,196
7. Frederick County: 255,648
8. Harford County: 253,956
9. Carroll County: 168,429
10. Charles County: 161,503

The southern and western United States are home to the counties that experienced the largest increases in population, according to new 2018 estimates released Thursday by the U.S. Census Bureau.

According to the Census, these are the top 10 most populous counties for 2018:

1. Los Angeles County, California
2. Cook County, Illinois
3. Harris County, Texas
4. Maricopa County, Arizona
5. San Diego County, California
6. Orange County, California
7. Miami-Dade County, Florida
8. Dallas County, Texas
9. Kings County, New York
10. Riverside County, California

These are the top 10 counties for numeric growth between 2017 and 2018:

1. Maricopa County, Arizona
2. Clark County, Nevada
3. Harris County, Texas
4. Collin County, Texas
5. Riverside County, California
6. King County, Washington
7. Orange County, Florida
8. Tarrant County, Texas
9. Bexar County, Texas
10. Hillsborough County, Florida

These are the 10 most populous metropolitan areas in 2018:

1. New York-Newark-Jersey City
2. Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim
3. Chicago-Naperville-Elgin
4. Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington
5. Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land
6. Washington-Arlington-Alexandria
7. Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach
8. Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington
9. Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell
10. Boston-Cambridge-Newton

“One interesting trend we are seeing this year is that metro areas not among the most populous are ranked in the top 10 for population growth,” Sandra Johnson, a demographer at the Census Bureau, said in a press release.

These are the top 10 metropolitan areas for numeric growth between 2017 and 2018:

1. Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington
2. Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale
3. Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land
4. Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell
5. Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford
6. Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue
7. Austin-Round Rock
8. Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario
9. Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater
10. Washington-Arlington-Alexandria

On the metro level, the Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington area had the largest numeric growth in population in the U.S., followed by the Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale area. A natural increase in population — having more births than deaths — was the largest source of population growth in the Dallas area, while domestic migration was the largest source for the Phoenix area, the Census Bureau said.

By Patch editors Feroze Dhanoa and Elizabeth Janney.