FARGO -- The cities of Fargo, West Fargo and Moorhead together grew by an estimated 3,670 over the past year, according to new census estimates.

Fargo led the growth with an estimated gain of 2,003 residents, followed by West Fargo with 969 and Moorhead with 698. Fargo’s population now is estimated at 122,359, West Fargo at 35,708 and Moorhead at 43,122.

The combined population of the three metro area cities now is estimated at 201,189, according to the Census Bureau estimates.

“It’s a very diversified economy, that helps a lot,” Kevin Iverson, manager of the North Dakota Census Office, said of Fargo-Moorhead’s steady population growth. Fargo also benefits from being relatively close to the Twin Cities, he said.

“I call it the first tax break across the river,” Iverson said, referring to Fargo being right across the Red River from neighboring Minnesota, which has higher tax rates.

On the other hand, “As Fargo grows it’s able to pull energy away from other cities,” except nearby communities that grow as “bedroom” communities, Iverson said.

By comparison, Bismarck and Mandan experienced the next-highest growth among North Dakota cities. Bismarck grew by 533 and Mandan by 214 from 2016 to 2017, according to the census estimates.

Bismarck’s population is pegged at 72,865 and Mandan at 22,014, for a combined population of 94,879.

Bismarck-Mandan have benefitted in recent years from the increased activity in the oil fields of western North Dakota. Bismarck, of course, has stability as the state capital.

Elsewhere in North Dakota, many Oil Patch cities experienced population losses from 2016 to 2017, repeating losses from the year before, after many saw their populations peak in 2015 when the oil boom slowed considerably due to a price slump.

Minot’s population slid from 48,744 in 2016 to 47,822 in 2017, a drop of 922. Its population reached 49,596 in 2015.

Similarly, Dickinson’s population slipped by 523 over the past year, from 15,387 to 15,342, according to the Census Bureau estimates.

Elsewhere in North Dakota, Jamestown held relatively stable, dippin by 40 from 2010 to 2017, but gaining 45 between 2016 and 2017, ending up with an estimated population last year of 15,387.

“It’s been pretty flat,” Iverson said, referring to Jamestown. “It’s almost as if they’re between the orbits of the two major cities,” Bismarck and Fargo.

North Dakota’s estimated population slipped from 755,952 in 2016 to 755,393 in 2017, a reduction of 559, according to census bureau estimates. Over the same period, Minnesota’s estimated population rose 56,654, from 5,519,952 to 5,576,606.