New Hampshire's population grew during the COVID pandemic, largely due to people moving here from other states and countries.
Recent data from the Census Bureau show that the state’s population grew by 1.3% between April 2020 and July 2022.
That upward trend in migration is telling, said University of New Hampshire demographer Ken Johnson, especially because the state saw more deaths than births during the same time.
“Most of the growth came from people moving to New Hampshire, from other U.S. destinations, but there was also a significant amount of immigration into the state, too,” he said. “So that migration is important to New Hampshire's future if it wants to increase its population.”
All 10 counties in New Hampshire saw population growth, but Carroll County saw the largest influx of new residents.
“Other recreational and retirement counties like Carroll around the United States were among the fastest growing counties during this period,” Johnson said.
Johnson said the recent data also reflects people’s evolving lifestyle decisions that were spurred by the pandemic: More people moved to second homes and worked remotely.
“The other thing is that a lot of people who might have moved for other reasons didn't move and stayed put during COVID,” he said. “New Hampshire benefited both from more people coming to it, but also probably fewer people leaving it.”
Johnson expects New Hampshire's population will continue to increase for the next few years.
He said other New England states, like Vermont and Maine, saw similar population growth, while Massachusetts’ population marginally declined during the same time frame.
