IN 2012 North Dakota produced more crude oil than any other state except Texas. Between 2011 and 2012 production there increased by more than 250,000 barrels a day (b/d). By November last year almost 22m barrels of oil a month came out of the ground—outpacing the traditional petroleum-pots of Alaska, California and Oklahoma. About 33,000 wells will be drilled over the next 15-25 years, 5,000 of them in the next two years.

At the same time farming is prospering: the value of the 2012 harvest was $11 billion, up from $6 billion in 2011. Energy and agriculture should contribute to a state surplus of $1 billion for 2013-15. North Dakota’s GDP grew by 120% (to $40 billion) between 2000 and 2011, and the number of jobs rose by 27.3%. Exports have grown by 440%. Over the past five years annual GDP growth was 9.2%. Unemployment is a mere 3.2%—the lowest in the country.

The state’s official population has increased by 46,806, or 7.2%, in five years. But growth in the cities is masking a long-term decline in the rural population: between 1970 and 2011, this fell by 16%.

Williston, a city at the centre of the resources boom, is struggling to adapt. Here, a one-room apartment costs $2,000 a month (in Fargo, the state’s largest city, it can cost $450). Ad hoc settlements called “man camps” have sprung up, but housing shortages force many to live in caravans, mobile homes and even their own cars.

Average wages have risen by $19,800, or 80.3%, since 2000. An influx of male workers in the three main oil counties means there are at least 1.6 single young men (aged 18-34) for every single young woman. Little wonder that strippers in Williston are said to earn up to $3,000 a night in tips.

Some are worried that a bust will follow the boom—just as it did 30 years ago. One oil-services firm says growth will slow if prices drop to below $80 a barrel. Julia Haggerty, an analyst at Headwaters Economics, fears that economies that are rich in resources tend to underinvest in education and infrastructure, and fail to diversify their economies enough. Locals can take comfort from the fact that last year North Dakota ranked second among all states in entrepreneurship, with strong growth in new businesses.

Headwaters Economics points to growing wage gaps in the west of the state. In 2001 the average teacher and health-service worker earned about $34,000 less than oil and gas employees did. In 2011 this gap was $63,000. Rising salaries and an inflow of uninsured labourers working in dangerous occupations are causing problems in hospitals. The New York Times reports that unpaid bills have caused the debt of McKenzie County Hospital to climb by 2,000% during the past four years, to $1.2m. Three years ago the hospital saw 100 emergency visits per month; last year the monthly average was 400.