Prior to the Bakken oil boom, sparsely populated Oliver County, home of BNI Coal’s Center Mine and Minnkota Power Cooperative’s Young Station, was number one in the state for highest wages. For the past few years, Williams County or McKenzie County was the top county for highest wages and Oliver was third. However, in 2020, Oliver returned to the top, according to data released this summer by the North Dakota Job Service.
The lignite industry, which produces electricity for approximately 2 million customers in the Upper Midwest, has been historically more stable than other industries in the state as usage of electricity rarely changes.
Including Oliver County, Mercer and McLean counties are known collectively as Coal Country. Mercer County was fifth and McLean County was seventh. Average wages in 2020 throughout the state averaged $55,461. Oliver had average wages $81,136, and Mercer and McLean had average wages of $70,364 and $63,494 respectively.
Mercer County, home of Beulah and Hazen, includes three coal mines, three power plants and the Great Plains Synfuels Plant. McLean County includes the Falkirk Mine and the state’s largest power plant, the Coal Creek Station.
The top 10 counties for highest average wages all came from areas known for energy development. In second and third place were McKenzie and Williams Counties. Other top 10 counties based on wages include Dunn, Mountrail, Stark, Burke and Slope. Job Service North Dakota compiles the list of average wages by counties annually.
“The 2020 data from Job Service shows the impact energy production continues to have on the state’s economy,” said Steve Van Dyke, vice president of communications for the Lignite Energy Council. “Between the oil and coal industries, energy is tops when it comes to high paying jobs in North Dakota.”
Van Dyke also noted that the lignite industry produced more than 26.4 million tons of coal last year with about 80 percent turned into clean, affordable and reliable electricity. The other 20 percent was sold to the Great Plains Synfuels Plant, which makes fertilizers, synthetic natural gas and other marketable products including carbon dioxide. North Dakota is one of only 17 clean air states and the five coal mines are known for their excellence in land reclamation.