Methods and apparatus for performing image encoding and rate control as part of the image encoding process, e.g., a JPEG-2000 compliant image encoding process, are described. As part of the image encoding processes, rate control operations are performed based on rate statistic information at a point where encoded image data in selected for storage in a buffer and based on updated statistic information at a point where encoded image data is selected to be output from the buffer. The statistic information including overhead information used for rate control is also updated after formatting of data to be included in the output set of encoded image data to reflect overhead, e.g., header overhead, associated with formatting the data for storage. Encoding and rate control is applied on an ongoing basis, e.g., as portions of an image are processed, so that buffer size does not grow proportionally with the image size.