Seventy miles from the Canadian border, the town of Williston, North Dakota, is raking it in. New technology has allowed energy companies to tap into millions of barrels of oil in the region, and in the process, they’ve funneled millions of dollars into the local economy. In the past five years, 450 million barrels of oil have been extracted, and the boom has generated over 75,000 new jobs, padded the area’s tax revenues, and spurred hundreds of new businesses. Average wages in the region have more than tripled in the past decade, going from $24,841 in 2002, to $78,364 last year.
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