Economic booms tend to attract the young, as the growing demand for workers draws job seekers across state lines.
North Dakota is now close behind Alaska as the country’s “youngest” state, with a growing number of residents between the ages of 20 and 34 attracted to the recent oil boom.
State Demographer Eddie Hunsinger said Alaska has maintained its lead as the most youthful state for decades…
Hunsinger: “In the 70’s and 80’s we had a lot of big economic events after the discovery at Prudhoe and the creation of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline and then the big revenue from oil and that all played a factor in getting people to move to Alaska and kind of changed the age structure in Alaska.”
As those workers begins to age and stay in the state, Hunsinger said Alaska is growing older.
Since 2011, North Dakota has been changing rapidly, gaining in population, now the 47th most inhabited state. Meanwhile Alaska’s population shrank slightly this year to 736,000.