Number of North Dakota "Income Millionaires" Rises 40 Percent -- The Bakken, North Dakota, USA

As usual with this blog, some numbers are rounded.

Link here.

The state Tax Department says the number of North Dakotans reporting income of more than $1 million went up 38.5 percent last year.

The agency says 532 North Dakota taxpayers reported adjusted gross income of more than $1 million, compared with 384 North Dakotans in that category in 2009.

For newbies: the population of North Dakota is 600. Just joking. The population of North Dakota is about 700,000.

Note: that is "income," not net worth. Throw in "net worth," and one would see an even more staggering jump.

The article noted that the average adjusted gross income in the state increased from $47,000 in 2009 to $53,000 in 2010.

One of the local heavy equipment managers recently calculated that a new trainee joining McDonald's in Williston can make $47,000/year if regularly scheduled for 40 hours plus overtime, averaging 50 hours/week. I didn't check the figures. Why would a heavy equipment manager be calculating wages for McDonald's? Because he/she is recruiting new hires for his/her own business and needs to know the starting salary he needs to offer.