Demographics provide an understanding of population size and composition by characteristics such as age, gender, and race.
The population growth in the state, especially among young adults, has strengthened North Dakota’s workforce and revitalized the state’s natural increase through more births. This will have long-term implications for the state. One important consequence will be a growing demand for housing, especially in western North Dakota where energy development activity has overwhelmed existing housing stock. The greatly expanding number of births will increase the number of children and youth in the state, thereby creating increased demand for childcare and educational facilities. On the other end of the age spectrum, the leading edge of the baby boom cohort moved into the 65 year old bracket which has long-term implications for health providers. These and other issues need to be monitored over time.