Reason #1 Why I Love To Blog -- Notes From Readers -- April 22, 2019

Updates

April 23, 2019: The Williston Herald says Williams County was #1, not McKenzie County. Fight is on!

Original Post 

This has to be one of the most remarkable things I've seen in twelve years of blogging. There are 3,142 counties and county-equivalents in the US. Hold that thought: 3,142 counties.

As of 2016, there were 3,007 counties, 64 parishes, 19 organized boroughs, 10 census areas, 41 independent cities, and the District of Columbia for a total of 3,142 counties and county-equivalents in the 50 states and District of Columbia.

From ZeroHedge, a site once banned by Facebook:

The U.S. Census Bureau has just released their annual report on how the U.S. population is shifting, and there are some very clear patterns in the data.

At the linked site, a great map showing, by county, where  Americans are leaving and going.

Then in the article itself, Michael Snyder lists the ten counties with the largest percentage increase in population. Seven of the ten counties were in Florida or Texas.

An eighth county was in North Carolina.

That leaves two counties.

Drum roll.

McKenzie County, North Dakota.

Williams County, North Dakota.

Not only did those two counties make the top ten list for counties with the largest percentage increase in population between July 1, 2017, and July 1, 2018, they were ranked ... drum roll ... #1 and #2, respectively. And respectfully.

LOL.

Here's the screenshot:

From the article: 

The top two counties on the list are both in North Dakota, and a lot of people are being drawn up there for energy industry jobs. McKenzie County produces more oil than any other county in the state, and even though it can get bitterly cold, many workers find the very high wages paid by the industry very alluring.

Bitterly cold? Not any more. Global warming has changed everything.

By the way, by 2017 - 2018, the boom was well over; many pundits and media outlets (including The Atlantic) had written the Bakken off - saying the boom was over; the shale revolution was over. Whatever.