This North Dakota County Is The Fastest-Growing In The Nation.
With all the new construction going on, you'd think it would have to be either Burleigh County or Cass County. You'd be wrong.
The winner is McKenzie County!
From Watford City to Arnegard, McKenzie County has been on a population explosion over the past ten years and Williams County is also growing at a brisk pace. The Associate Press reports that McKenzie County has more than doubled it's population in the last ten years going from 6,360 residents in 2010 all the way to 14,700 in the 2020 census. Williams County showed an impressive 83% jump in the same ten year period. Thanks oil patch!
As a whole, North Dakota's total population is also on the rise.
In the early 2000s, North Dakota was beginning the new millennium as one of the few states with a declining population. But increased oil production began to put our population on the rise and we've been growing since 2004. Growth hasn't been limited to the oil patch, more metro counties such as Cass, Burleigh, Stark, and Morton have all posted growth over 20%.
With this increase in population there'll be an increase in politicians.
Comparing rates across the nation, North Dakota's rate is the fourth-highest in the country. Since each of our legislative districts have to represent roughly the same number of people, there needs to be some "tweaking" in the way those districts are established. This will happen later this month courtesy of a redistricting committee made up of 14 Republicans and 2 Democrats. If that 14 to 2 ratio seems out of balance, let me remind you Democrats only currently hold 14% of legislative seats. So the numbers are pretty much in line.
So welcome to North Dakota y'all!