Merrimack, Londonderry, And Salem See Major Population Growth Since Coronavirus Pandemic
CONCORD, NH — New Hampshire continues to see sizable population growth despite a tight housing market, with high costs and limited supply, according to the latest data from the Department of Business and Economic Affairs.
During the three years after the start of the coronavirus pandemic, the state grew by 1.78 percent after an estimated 24,525 people moved to the Granite State. Each county in the state saw some residential population increase between April 2020 and July 2023. The nation’s population grew by a little more than 1 percent or 3.5 million people, according to the data. In New England, Maine grew slightly more than New Hampshire, at 2.4 percent, while Vermont also grew by about seven-tenths of 1 percent. Massachusetts, where the population has declined consistently since the 1990s, lost another 31,500 people, about half a percent.
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The fastest-growing communities in New Hampshire were Merrimack, at nearly 8.8 percent, or about 2,400 new residents, followed by Londonderry (1,708) and Salem (1,606). Rockingham County gained the most people of the state’s counties, with 8,811 people. Hillsborough County, the state’s most populous county, gained 7,836 people. It now has 430,773 residents.
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Read more about the New Hampshire Office of Planning and Development data here.
When considering population growth percentages, Grafton, Carroll, and Belknap counties saw the highest growth, about 2.1 to 2.3 percent each.
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Taylor Caswell, the BEA commissioner, said the state’s population growth has traditionally been along the southern border with Massachusetts. While Londonderry and Salem were southern tier towns, most new growth shifted to rural areas in Lakes Region counties, which should assist in “community revitalization efforts and for employers looking for workforce,” he said.
“With continued investment in affordable housing and high-speed internet access, we expect to see these trends continue,” Caswell said, “and with proper planning, we can continue to welcome new residents and not impact our quality of life.”
Coos, Cheshire, Merrimack, and Sullivan counties had limited growth, between 32 and 583 new people.
All the population numbers are estimates based on the department’s Office of Planning and Development.
One major issue facing the state is competition for housing where affluent new residents can afford the housing the market creates, but current residents or new migrants to the Granite State cannot.
While the BEA had no income data connected to the 25,000 new residents, most areas seeing significant growth were expensive housing markets — Merrimack saw home sale prices nearly double, on average, while in Salem and Londonderry, they’ve increased by about 40 percent and 35 percent. Homes in Londonderry and Salem are averaging between $500,000 and $600,000.
Caswell said state officials worked to incentivize low-income and subsidized housing with various programs for developers, like tax credits. However, developers must hire “armies of consultants and lawyers” to access the funds. Currently, the average unit price for homes in New Hampshire costs about $300,000 to construct before finishes, meaning it is much easier for builders and construction companies to construct housing for the upper end of the income spectrum.
Communities, however, have begun discussing how they look, what changes they are willing to accept to allow regular people to live in their communities, and what fits with the market. In some cases, Caswell said, that might be more affordable single-family units or “middle-class housing,” with communities allowing investment and more of a “long-play” focus on their demographics.
“The state is trying to get more local engagement and planning for housing that fits those communities,” he said. “It is somewhere in the realm of what we need to do.”
There have been so many decades of subsidies, and now, developers, builders, and construction companies need to focus on the missing middle, as it has sometimes been referred to in the past, Caswell said. Accessible land, how water and sewer are brought to rural communities, and keeping price points at a reasonable level with the average per-unit price so high will be a significant nut for the state to crack.
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