Forced relocation of informal settlers and the lure of government to provide them their own homes allowed the town to continue to grow despite the lack of government facilities then. As such, San Jose del Monte exhibited an increasing percentage share to the provincial population from as low as 2% in 1960 to 9% in 1990 and then to 17% in 2015. The town surpassed the population of Meycauayan in 1980 census and Malolos in the 1990 census, then the largest towns of Bulacan. By 2015, it has more than two times the population of the now second place Santa Maria town (256,454 people in the 2015 Census).