BISMARCK, N.D. - North Dakota may not be the home to the fountain of youth, but it is the only state in the nation that continued to grow younger in 2015, according to estimates released Thursday by the U.S. Census Bureau.
The median age in North Dakota declined from 34.9 years to 34.6 between July 1, 2014, and July 1, 2015.
The state remains the fourth youngest in the nation, behind Utah (30.7), Alaska (33.8) and Texas (34.2), Kevin Iverson, manager of the North Dakota Census Office, said in a news release. Maine had the highest median age at 44.5 years, he said.
Iverson noted that the reduction in median age in the state was geographically widespread, with 40 of the state's 53 getting younger from July 2014 to July 2015, and four other counties holding steady.
More than 15,400 open jobs and a consistently low unemployment rate, 2.8 percent as of May 2016, are drawing young adults to the state, officials said in the release.
