The Biggest Oil Towns in North Dakota

North Dakota is undergoing a big boom in energy. The Williston Basin, including the productive Bakken Shale formation, and several of the nation's largest oil fields are in western North Dakota. For better or worse, sitting atop one of the largest oil reserves in the world is completely transforming once sleepy villages into thriving modern-day boomtowns. At the heart of the North Dakota oil boom are the towns of Williston and Watford City.

The success of the state’s oil industry is helping one of the smallest populations in the United States enjoy one of the largest per capita gross domestic products (GDP). Oil and related industries employ some 60,000 workers in the state, and the lure of six-figure starting salaries attract more every day. Even during the height of the recession, North Dakota had the lowest unemployment rate in the nation and is operating with a budget surplus of nearly $1 trillion as of 2015.

At the time of the 2010 U.S. Census, Williston was a quiet agricultural town with a population of 14,000. In the four years to follow, the population more than doubled to become the sixth-largest city in North Dakota and the fastest-growing small city in the U.S. City officials estimate the serviceable population of Williston is closer to 60,000, as many workers from outlying rural areas find temporary, off-record housing anywhere they can.

With the introduction of improved techniques of hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, oil production in the Williston area went from under 1 million barrels a month in 2009 to over 6 million a month in 2015. There are 41 companies operating over 4,000 oil and natural gas wells on file in the area.

Before the oil boom, there were no commercial airline flights in or out of Williston’s airport. As of 2015, over 1,000 seats can be found in or out of town every day. Williston also received much of the state-approved $1 billion in highway investments to accommodate the thousands of semi trucks hauling oil on local roadways every day.

As of 2015, rural farmland that sold for under $500 an acre before the oil boom is listed at over $250,000 an acre. Apartment buildings are completely leased out before they are completed with small one-bedroom units costing over $2,500 a month and modest three-bedroom units costing upward of $4,000. As of 2014, apartments in Williston, North Dakota, were the most expensive in the country, topping New York City and San Francisco. Housing prices in Williston soared so high that Williams County had to buy one building and build another to provide government employees with affordable housing and office space.

The city is taking a conservative approach to deal with the growth to avoid the problems that came from the last oil boom and bust of the 1980s. Back then, developers and the local government jumped at the chance to build as much as possible to improve the economy, counting on property tax revenue. When oil prices plummeted, the oil companies left town, as did the developers who owed more in property taxes than the land was worth.

Dozens of hotels and apartment buildings have been built to accommodate the influx of workers. Modest motel and hotel rooms are rarely found for under $250 per night as the oil companies rent them en masse for their employees. Despite the addition of hotels and the skyrocketing cost of new housing, there is not enough to keep up with demand.

Most workers are fortunate just to share an RV in an open field on the outskirts of town in one of the many so-called "man camps." These makeshift, temporary neighborhoods serve the purpose of providing shelter while not requiring any new infrastructure. Local residents are also cashing in and have gone so far as to rent out their walk-in closets for as much as $1,000 a month.

The oil boom of North Dakota has had an extreme effect on the small town of Watford City, where the population jumped from under 1,400 to over 10,000 in just three years. The influx of thousands of oil workers from across the U.S. transformed this rural agricultural outpost into a 21st-century boomtown.

Oil production in the Watford City area went from under 2 million barrels a month in 2011 to over 13 million in 2015. The oil-rich lands have 59 different companies operating over 7,000 wells in McKenzie County. The town is doing everything possible to diversify its business base, understanding that oil companies will leave one day. Leveraging the improved infrastructure, revitalized downtown area and increased workforce, officials are attracting other industries such as banks and manufacturers to the area.

The oil industry is having staggering effects on the local economy. New restaurants, movie theaters and retail stores are popping up throughout the area. Many of the new businesses cater to the new residents of town, most of whom are male. In addition to strip clubs, there is even a coffee shop where the baristas are scantily dressed. The availability of so many high-paying jobs in the area makes it difficult for smaller businesses to retain enough employees. Workers simply walk off the job, knowing they can go down the street and get another one for more money.

Crime and accidents have dramatically increased in the once quiet hamlet. McKenzie County’s emergency services responded to about five traffic accidents a month before the oil boom, and they are called to as many as five a day in 2015. The sheriff’s office went from six officers to 22, all of whom share four desks in a cramped 28-square foot station. The town also built a new hospital and new schools to accommodate the hundreds of new students entering the district every year but has a hard time recruiting teachers to the rural town with little affordable housing.

In many ways, the modern-day plains of western North Dakota are similar to the Old West. With tens of thousands of lonely men with pockets full of money, a growing problem with drugs and sex trafficking has caused the FBI to step in and assist overwhelmed local authorities. The darker side of the oil boom has even led to reports that Mexican drug cartels are operating in western North Dakota.