Retaining Residents Is Important to New Hampshire’s Future

Key Findings

Development policy often focuses on attracting migrants to a place, but retaining established residents is also important.

A representative survey of New Hampshire residents shows that most long-term residents stay in New Hampshire for multiple reasons, rather than just one.

People are most likely to report staying in the state for economic reasons, the physical environment, family, and the social atmosphere.

Reasons to stay are interconnected, with people appreciating the overall experience of living in New Hampshire because of a combination of local benefits. 

Introduction

A key factor impacting New Hampshire’s demographic and economic success is retaining and growing its population. The state has one of the most mobile populations in the United States. In an average year, 56,000 people move to New Hampshire and nearly 46,000 residents leave the state. What motivates people to move to New Hampshire is important to the state’s future and garners considerable policy attention. Much less consideration is given to retaining current residents. Yet on average, nearly 1.3 million New Hampshire residents do not migrate into or out of the state in a given year. Understanding why those residents stay in New Hampshire can be an important element of the state’s comprehensive development strategy. 

Many New Hampshire residents are not natives of the state—only 44 percent of the state’s population, and 33 percent of those 25 and older, were born in the state. Thus, the majority of the state’s residents migrated to the state and decided to stay. Migrants who have lived in New Hampshire for more than 10 years, together with residents born in the state, are the focus of this brief. 

Why Do Established Residents Stay in New Hampshire?

We asked a representative sample of over 3,300 established residents to tell us, in their own words, their top three reasons for staying in New Hampshire rather than moving to another state. We analyzed their verbatim responses and grouped them into categories, revealing seven main reasons to stay (Figure 1). 

Over half the respondents offered economic reasons, with responses ranging from employment to taxes to housing costs. Many people also mentioned the appeal of physical place, including the natural environment and physical location of New Hampshire. Family, such as being near grown children and parents, was another top reason to stay. Social place, reflecting people’s connection to the community, lifestyle, and social atmosphere, was the fourth main reason to stay. Themes mentioned less frequently included the general appeal of the state (e.g., “I just like the state”), politics, and other reasons (e.g., health and avoiding city life). Here we focus on the top four reasons for staying and on the more nuanced sub-dimensions of each of these reasons. 

Economic subthemes included staying due to one’s own or one’s spouse’s employment, the lack of income and sales tax, and the affordability of housing and property. Many of these reasons intertwine, enhancing residents’ ability to build wealth. For example, saving money through the tax structure and the low cost of living are beneficial for people interested in purchasing real estate. As one resident noted, “my job is here,” there is “no sales tax or income tax,” and “we own our home and have no mortgage.” Residents who listed economic dimensions as their first, second, and third reason for staying often provided a succinct list of reasons, such as “less tax burden [...] real estate […] cheaper in general” and “cost of living […] state tax […] employment.” People who wanted to build wealth appreciated the combination of secure employment, affordable real estate, lower costs of living, and lower taxes, including the lack of an income tax and a sales tax. 

These benefits are rooted in the state’s physical geography and natural environment. Given that nearly half of all residents stayed for reasons associated with physical place, it is critical that development efforts recognize the importance of maintaining and enhancing the state’s physical appeal, both as an outdoor recreation space and an attractive commuter location.

Our in-depth analysis of the top reasons to stay—economics, physical place, family, and social place—illustrates the breadth and depth of factors that cause people to stay. Many respondents mentioned the economic benefits of residing in the state, including employment opportunities, low taxes, and modest housing costs compared to nearby states, all of which reduce the cost of living. Residents valued the proximity of large metropolitan areas and the easy access to natural amenities, including mountains, lakes, forests, and the ocean. A host of social and family factors also influenced decisions about staying in New Hampshire. Some remained to be near children, grandchildren, parents, or siblings, while others stayed because New Hampshire is a good place to raise children and provides safe communities. Thus, it was not a single factor, but rather an interconnected set of reasons that encouraged residents to reside in New Hampshire long term. Any one element of this matrix may be more important to one established resident than another. For example, retirees may be less concerned about employment opportunities but place more weight on proximity to family and the natural appeal of the state. In contrast, families with young children may value access to employment, the fact that the state is a good place to raise a family, and the ability to easily visit the mountains or the beach.

Given these findings, simple development strategies based on any one factor, like low taxes or stronger environmental laws, are unlikely to trigger substantial population retention alone. Rather, the multidimensional and interconnected reasons identified here provide a roadmap for crafting programs and policies to maintain and enhance the state’s economic, social, and natural environment, both to retain more current residents and to attract new ones.

Data

Data were collected by the University of New Hampshire Survey Center’s Granite State Poll administered by telephone to New Hampshire residents using random-digit dialing. From 2010–2012 and 2018–2019, 3,372 respondents who were established residents—meaning they had lived in New Hampshire for more than 10 years—were asked their top three reasons for staying in New Hampshire rather than moving to a different state. The questions were open-ended, allowing respondents to offer their answers in their own words, rather than constraining them to a pre-determined list. The data were thematically coded into emergent subdimensions, dimensions, and overarching categories based on why people stayed in New Hampshire. The specificity of the subdimensions created no overlap across the categories. The 9,407 responses fell within seven main categories. There were no substantial differences between responses in the two time periods, so all responses were combined.

1. Kenneth M. Johnson, Dante J. Scala, and Andrew Smith, “First in the Nation: New Hampshire’s Changing Electorate in Changing Times,” Regional Issue Brief No. 60 (Durham, NH: Carsey School of Public Policy, University of New Hampshire, 2019).