Shelby County continues to drive growth in the Birmingham-Hoover metro area - now the fifth largest county in the state -- while Jefferson County remains stagnant.

U.S. Census data released today shows Shelby County grew by 1.2 percent from 2016 to 2017, making it the sixth fastest growing county in the state. The county grew by 18,520 residents or nearly 10 percent since the 2010 Census.

"Shelby County is a fantastic community that has benefited from its inherent advantages, like central location, ease of access and transportation infrastructure," said Alan Reeves, project manager at the Birmingham Business Alliance.

"It has strategically adapted to a changing economy by retaining much of its legacy industrial base while actively positioning itself to attract technology and life science companies and headquarter operations," he continued. "It is committed to quality of place development, including employment opportunities, education, access to entertainment amenities and housing options, which has firmly established it as one of the premier communities in the Southeast."

Baldwin County in south Alabama is the fastest growing county in the state, growing a whopping 16.7 percent since the last census in 2010. The county is the sixth largest in the state and will likely overtake Shelby County as soon as next year.

The rest of the Birmingham metro, which includes Bibb, Blount, Chilton, Jefferson, St. Clair, Shelby, and Walker counties, is seeing little if any growth at all.

Overall, thanks to Shelby, the Birmingham metro grew by .3 percent from 2016 to 2017. Birmingham is the 50th largest metro in the nation, behind Salt Lake City and just ahead of Buffalo, N.Y.

Meanwhile, Jefferson dropped 550 people from from 2016 to 2017. For the state's largest county, now home to 659,197 people, that's not a significant change. Since 2010, Jefferson has been essentially flat, growing just .1 percent in seven years, with federal estimates moving up or down a few hundred people each year.

"The major challenge facing Jefferson County is perception," Jefferson County Commission President Jimmie Stephens said. "It will take several years to complete the turnaround. People still remember the old challenges that we faced upon taking office and are skeptical of the progress made.

"The changes are real and positive for our citizens," he continued. "You will see improvements in quality of life issues that will eventually lead to increasing population. It is now convenient to live downtown and building permits are increasing again. I am pleased with our progress and exciting about our next decade."

St. Clair County grew secondmost in the metro area, adding 717 people or growing .8 percent from 2016 and 2017. It jumped 5.5 percent from 2010 to 2017. Blount County also grew by .8 percent from 2016 and 2017 by addding 451 new residents. Blount is up 1.2 percent since 2010.

Walker and Bibb counties are losing residents.

Jon Parker, chairman of the Shelby County Commission, said the county has been one of the fastest growing counties in the state for many years.

"People just love Shelby County," he said.

Parker said the negative that comes with the county's growth is traffic congestion.

"We are working trying to secure some federal, state and local funds to work on that," he said.

Alabama Department of Transportation's widening of Interstate 65 in north Shelby County to six lanes from Alabaster to Pelham will help, Parker said, but the county is still behind in expanding its infrastructure.

ALDOT's work is expected to be complete in fall 2020.

Parker said the county is working on creating more, good paying jobs to keep residents from having to combat traffic and drive to Birmingham for work.

58 Inc. was launched last year to lead Shelby County's industrial, commercial and retail recruitment and retention efforts.

Kirk Mancer, president and CEO of the Greater Shelby County Chamber of Commerce, said the county continues to grow because of the "tremendous quality of life we have in all municipalities."

He said the county and city school systems are highly ranked, and Shelby County and its municipalities are regularly named as one of the best places to live in the nation.

The cities of Chelsea and Calera are seeing the most residential growth, Mancer said, while much of the retail growth in concentrated in Alabaster, Helena and Pelham.