One well drilled sideways turned North Dakota into America’s #2 oil state within six years
- The Bakken boom pushed North Dakota past Alaska for oil production in 2012
- 13.4% real GDP growth in 2012 alone — the best of any state
- Williston nearly doubled in population in a single decade
- The Peace Garden State, 39th to join the Union (1889)
How North Dakota’s digital economy grew
North Dakota becomes the 39th state
Admitted November 2, the same instant as South Dakota.
The technology that unlocked a forgotten formation
North Dakota’s oil wasn’t a secret — a 1951 well had already proven it existed. What changed wasn’t geology, it was engineering: drilling sideways through a shale layer sometimes only 20 to 30 feet thick, then fracturing it in dozens of precisely placed stages. A 2006 discovery well near Parshall proved the technique at commercial scale, and output compounded fast — by 2012 North Dakota had passed Alaska to become the #2 oil-producing state in the US, leading the nation in real GDP growth at 13.4% that year, with per-capita income up 31% over four years.
Boomtown Williston, and who actually got rich
Williston’s population nearly doubled in a single decade, from 14,716 in 2010 to 29,160 in 2020. Part of the Bakken sits under the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation, home to the MHA Nation, where more than 1,400 wells now operate under a tax-sharing compact that has split close to $3.5 billion in combined oil revenue between the state and tribal government — funding new housing, a rebuilt healthcare system, and periodic payments to every enrolled member.
How North Dakota businesses buy websites
The oil fields get the attention, but North Dakota also leads the nation in spring wheat, durum wheat, canola and honey — most of the state’s businesses serve that agricultural economy, not the Bakken directly.
Trades and home services
North Dakota towns are spread far apart — say plainly which ones you actually serve.
Agriculture and B2B services
Suppliers to the state’s farming and energy economies benefit from being specific about what they handle.
Shops and hospitality
Clear hours and location, readable on a phone, matter in Fargo and Williston alike.
How well do you know North Dakota’s digital economy?
3 quick questions. Get all 3 right and you win a 10% off discount code. Every answer is somewhere on this page.
North Dakota quiz · 1 of 3
What technology combination unlocked North Dakota’s Bakken shale oil?
Why FastSites works here
A state that learned how to do more with far fewer rigs understands the value of efficiency over size. A clear one-page site, live in days, at a published price, is that same instinct for a small business.