How The Oil Boom Changed North Dakota In One Chart

The oil rich Bakken shale formation has helped reshape North Dakota.

The USGS says the Bakken formation has estimated mean oil resource of 3.65 billion barrels of oil. This has helped get the U.S. well on its way to energy independence.

Naturally, as the economy continues to recover, many have flocked to North Dakota for jobs - the state is said to have a 3% unemployment rate. What's more these are high paying jobs.

Mark Perry, professor of economics at the Flint campus of The University of Michigan, tweeted this chart that shows that North and South Dakota had about the same per-capita income for 80 years. But the oil boom pushed North Dakota's per capita income by $11,500.