Power.Biz Hour: Sponsored By TD Bank: New Hampshire State Demographic Trends & Their Impact

Description

New Hampshire’s population reached 1,377,529 on April 1, 2020, an increase of 4.6 percent since April 1, 2010, according to new 2020 Census data. This increase is smaller than the state’s population gain of 6.5 percent between 2000 and 2010. New Hampshire’s population grew both because more migrants moved to the state than left and because births exceeded deaths.

Migration was the most important source of the state’s population increase, and includes both those who moved from other states and immigrants.  In contrast, there were just 6,500 more births than deaths during the decade, far fewer than in prior decades.

The balance between migration and natural change is important to New Hampshire’s demographic future. Migration has long provided most of the state’s population gain. Though migration gains diminished sharply during the Great Recession and its aftermath, they have rebounded over the past five years. In a state where deaths have exceeded births in each of the last four years, migration is critical to the state’s future.

Migration also contributes to the state’s development by attracting well-educated migrants, many of whom are in the family stage of the life cycle. Given that New Hampshire’s population is aging, a flow of family-age migrants will help balance the growing population of older adults that have significant implications for the state’s future. Though New Hampshire remains one of the least diverse states in the country, diversity is growing in New Hampshire with children in the vanguard of this growing diversity.

Kenneth M. Johnson is a senior demographer at the Carsey School of Public Policy and a professor of sociology at the University of New Hampshire. He is also an Andrew Carnegie Fellow. His research examines national, regional, and New Hampshire population redistribution, rural demographic change, the growing racial diversity of the U.S. population, the relationship between demographic and environmental change, and the implications of demographic change for public policy. Dr. Johnson has published a book and more than 250 articles, reports, and papers. His peer-reviewed publications have appeared in leading academic journals. He is also sought after for his expertise and ability to explain demographic information to a broad audience both by policy groups and by reporters for national media. His research has been funded by grants from the NIH, NSF, USDA, USFS, and NASA. He received his doctorate from the University of North Carolina and his undergraduate training at the University of Michigan.