Stafford is a city in the U.S. state of Texas, within the Houston–The Woodlands–Sugar Land metropolitan area. The city is mostly in Fort Bend County, with a small portion in Harris County. As of the 2010 census, Stafford's population was 17,693, up from 15,681 at the 2000 census. As of 2015 the population had risen to an estimated 18,459.