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N.D. (AP) – North Dakota has several areas ranked among the fastest-growing in the nation in new U.S. Census Bureau population estimates.

North Dakota Census Committee Chairman Rod Backman says North Dakota’s workforce and economy have been expanding for years and the estimates are reflecting such growth.

The boom in the western oil patch is a big reason and the Census estimates show Williston is the fastest-growing micropolitan area in the country, which consists of populations between 10 and 50,000 people. Backman says its possible some 30,000 people are living in crew camps in the Oil Patch, for which the estimates likely would not be able to account for such numbers.

Meanwhile Dickinson is the third-fastest and Minot is 25th-fastest growing for that category as well. On the other hand, the south-central region known as Region VI which includes counties such as Stutsman and LaMoure actually showed a slight decline of less than 1 percent in the 2012 estimates.