Oil Patch Slowdown Leads to Population Loss

Minot's micropolitan area shrunk by 1.7 percent

BISMARCK, N.D. — A slowdown in activity in North Dakota’s oil patch is impacting population numbers in the region.

The U.S. Census Bureau figures show Minot’s micropolitan area shrunk by 1.7 percent, losing more than 1,300 people.

Micropolitan areas have populations of at least 10,000 but fewer than 50,000.

The counties of Ward, Renville and McHenry have an estimated 77,000 people in the three counties.

The state census director with the North Dakota Department of Commerce says he expects the period of out-migration in the northwestern part of the state to have finished.