For the second consecutive year, the Bakken oil boom has helped make North Dakota the nation’s fastest growing state.

North Dakota grew 2.16 percent during the year ending July 1, 2014, according to figures released by the U.S. Census Bureau Tuesday. The state’s growth rate was well ahead of second-place Nevada with 1.71 percent growth and Texas, which grew 1.7 percent.

North Dakota’s estimated July 2014 population is 739,482, up 15,625 people from the previous year.

The latest census estimates don’t break down where the growth within the state is occurring. But the trend certainly has been in the west, including the cities of Williston, Bismarck, Minot and Dickinson, as well as Fargo in the east, said state census director Kevin Iverson in the North Dakota Commerce Department.

“That’s been the trend since the beginning of the decade,” he said.

Census numbers show the state has grown since the official 2010 census of 672,591 by nearly 10 percent.

The latest estimates indicate the state’s pace of growth has slowed since gaining more than 22,000 people in the 2013 estimate.

Iverson said this year’s suprise was net in-migration numbers, listed at 10,264 people after exceeding 17,000 people the previous year. A possible reason for the lower count is infrastructure development hasn’t kept up with population demands, causing in-migration to slow until construction catches up, he said. An improving economy in the rest of the country also may be contributing to less migration to North Dakota, he said.

Census estimates consider building permits, which were down in 2013 from 2012, although slightly, Iverson said. However, there appears to be another rise in activity in 2014, based on permit numbers through the first 10 months, he said. Permit numbers show a substantial increase in single-family home construction, he added.

Newcomers to North Dakota tend to be younger, which is affecting the state’s birth rate and natural population increase. For the year ended last July, the state saw a natural increase of 4,901 residents resulting from births exceeding deaths. Since 2010, the state has recorded 42,376 births, including 10,780 births in the year from July 2013 to July 2014.

With the exception of North Dakota, the nation’s top 10 fastest-growing states are in the South or West. California remained the nation’s most populous state with 38.8 million residents, followed by Texas at 27 million. Florida surpassed New York to become the nation’s third most populous state with 19.9 million residents.

Texas saw the nation’s largest numeric growth in the estimates, adding 451,321 residents.

The six states that lost population between July 2013, and July 2014 saw only minimal declines. They were Illinois, West Virginia, Connecticut, New Mexico, Alaska and Vermont.

The United States as a whole saw its population increase by 2.4 million to 318.9 million, or 0.75 percent.