Fighting Homelessness on a Six-Figure Salary

How can you make a six-figure salary, yet live homeless. Simple. Move to the small town of Williston, North Dakota.

After discovering oil in the Bakkan formation, thousands of job seekers flooded to North Dakota from every nook and cranny of the country. This modern-day gold rush has supplied thousands with jobs. Unfortunately, housing developers have not been able to build houses fast enough for the flood of workers to have a residence. Throughout this year, a mere 2,000 new homes have been built. Leaving thousands without homes, and more workers coming to the area frequently.

Those who are just now making their way to North Dakota are unable to find a vacant hotel room or apartment. These must resort to desperate measures. It is not uncommon to find people sleeping in cars, sleeping bags, or spare patches of grass along the highway. If you are lucky enough, you may have the opportunity to grab a place in a dorm-like facility set up by the oil company to house its workers.

Most feel that the sacrifices made in convinces pale in comparison to the benefits of doubling or tripling their salaries. Even jobs available not in the oil field produce at least a doubling of salary. This is seen through a variety of cases. For example, Matt transferred from a Walmart in Minnesota to a Walmart in Williston and more than doubled his salary.

Matt purchases something from the Supercenter each day, so that he is eligible to stay there. During the evening, he and the others living in the parking pull out lawn chairs, a grill and some cold ones, then spend the evening telling stories about where they have come from and where they plan on going with the money earned through this black, modern-day gold rush. Matt says, “Some people look at us like we’re homeless, but anyone who needs to find us can find us — we have a street address: it’s 4001 2nd Ave., Walmart.”

Scott and LaRae Miles have spent more than a year living in an RV parked in a Williston campground with their three dogs and two kids. Their daughter, Kimberly, is a sophomore in high school. She has all of her personal belongings stored in a suitcase at the end of her bed. She says, “It’s crazy to go from having a home and a yard to living in a 8-by-10 trailer with no yard. It’s going to be a great day when we find a house.”

Scott doubled his salary after moving to North Dakota. He makes $20 an hour as a truck driver, whereas before he struggled to make ends meet. His wife, LaRae is pleased with the new job, but not the new lifestyle. She says, “I’m happy we moved out here, but I’m not happy about how we live. We’re looking for something more permanent to rent, but this is about all we can do.”