It bills itself as a “boomtown” on the sign driving into the city, and it’s at the epicenter of the U.S. energy revolution. In the city of Williston, North Dakota, the unemployment rate is 0.8% percent, compared to 5.9% nationally, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. And average income in this area, Williams County, was $78,390 a year in 2013 and more than $101,190 for those working in the oil and gas industry. (The national average was $46,440, according to the BLS's May 2013 National Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates.)
People end up here from all over, seeking better jobs than existed where they came from. Over the course of four days in the area, we also found that even in a region where RV parks seem as common a sight as oil rigs, golf courses and mansions have sprouted up, too.
We visited one 6,000 square foot house. It’s one of the first in a new development that has barely a neighbor. And homeowner Shayna Vedadi says she has received a few million-dollar offers to buy it.
So when it comes time to catch the bus out of town, why are some people lining up to leave? We met Brandon Broussard and Zachary Daly at the bus stop on their way back to Lafayette, Louisiana. They were leaving for good after their adventures in the North Dakota oil fields didn’t pan out as expected.
“We got paid a 40-hour set salary and we were working anywhere from 80 to 120 hours a week with no overtime,” complains Daly.
“I came up here for work and was promised a lot,” explains Broussard. “Now it’s time to go home.”
The two drill-pipe inspectors arrived here with jobs, but say the opportunity wasn’t what they expected. Plus, they say the cost of living was double that of back home.
In fact, realtors tell us demand has outpaced supply in general when it comes to housing, meaning finding somewhere to live can be tough and expensive.
“A one bedroom in grandma’s house is at least a thousand [dollars per month],” John Voll, a realtor with REMAX/Bakken Realty, told us of rents.
In fact, Williston has the highest average rent in the U.S., according to a national study from Apartment Guide earlier this year.
RE/MAX Bakken Realty's Marcela Houser showed us her furnished 2-bedroom 2-bathroom apartment, for which she pays $2,950 a month.
Voll tells us home construction is catching up somewhat, which should help buyers and lower rents. He says houses that are $225,000 and under sell in 24 hours, and he describes the sweet spot as $250,000 - $300,000 homes, which qualify for FHA loans. He thinks prices in general are probably double what they would have cost before the oil boom. But challenges remain.
“There’s a huge problem getting the houses built because you can’t get the labor,” he says. “The other part of the challenge you have here in housing is nobody comes to Williston with an 800 credit score.” In his experience, people have moved here after some kind of financial turmoil, so the financing of a mortgage or coming up with a downpayment can be tricky.
And some people come on their last dime.
“I’m basically coming with a home and a dream,” Lamont Mason tells us. We met him at the Salvation Army the day he arrived in town from Columbia, South Carolina. The father of three says limited opportunities in the South and business ventures that didn’t work out there led him, along with his cousin, to drive out to the Bakken. “This seems to be the new area for the modern-day gold rush, so I said let me go out with my pan and see what I can shake up.”
In the meantime, he’s living in his car.
Kristin Oxhendahl, the Williston Salvation Army’s community engagement director, says this type of story is not unusual. They see people show up in Williston because they have “heard there is so much money to be made here, and in their eyes, this is one of their last chances to really make it in life.”
But they can fall into one of the “gaps” of the oil boom, according to Oxendahl.
“They show up in town with nothing but the clothes on their back, and they realize they can’t afford housing,” she says. “There are no [homeless] shelters here, and they don’t know what to do. So we have a lot of people in crisis.”
In response, the Salvation Army began buying people bus tickets home. They see need for about 4 to 5 a week.
So while Williston is a boomtown for many who who were tougher times elsewhere — a “community of survivors, coming here for the last hurrah,” in Voll’s words.
There’s a caveat coming from some people, that it can also be a bust.
“Make sure you prepare,” advises Broussard as he gets ready to board the bus back home. “Make sure you have a fallback plan.”
More from Williston, North Dakota:
High Walmart wages: Why this store pays workers more than $17 an hour
$100 million worth of U.S. energy revolution going up in smoke
North Dakota's boom saved these two families
