1. North Dakota

> Debt per capita: $3,033 (20th lowest)
> Budget deficit: None
> Unemployment: 3.1% (the lowest)
> Median household income: $53,585 (19th highest)
> Pct. below poverty line: 11.2% (6th lowest)

North Dakota’s economic output has surged in the past few years, with GDP climbing 13.4% in 2012, well above the second-fastest growing state, Texas, whose GDP grew by 4.8% in 2012. The Peace Garden State has continued to reap the benefits of fracking in the oil-rich Bakken Shale formation, which accounted for about 90% of the state’s oil production in 2012. That year, nearly 10% of North Dakota’s total GDP was generated by the mining sector — which includes crude petroleum and natural gas extraction — more than five times the national rate. The state continued to have the nation’s lowest unemployment rate, at just 3.1% last year. Because of economic prosperity and the availability of jobs, North Dakota’s population grew the most in the country between 2010 and 2012, increasing by 3.7%. This may partly explain recent spikes in property values. Home values in North Dakota skyrocketed 33.4% between 2007 and 2012, by far the largest increase nationally.