About two years ago, when New Hampshire's rents grew rougher than its winters, Jennifer White, 28, moved to Florida. Her salary didn't change much, but her housing options did: Instead of sharing her grandparents' Goffstown home, she and her young son found an affordable apartment near a sunny beach.

White's southward migration is part of an exodus of young adults from New Hampshire. In the last five years, the state lost 12,000 25- to 34-year-olds, according to U.S. Census Bureau estimates. Some simply aged into their late 30s, but demographers believe many are leaving for brighter prospects beyond state lines.

White and her peers say New Hampshire is a great place to grow up or grow old, but it lacks what young adults need to begin building their lives: cheap rents, a diverse social scene and good-paying entry level jobs.

"It was tough to find a place to live on my own (in New Hampshire)," said White, who works in medical billing. "Part of my decision to move to Florida is that it's more affordable and the jobs are more in line with the cost of housing."

Since 1990, New Hampshire's 25- to 34-year-old population has dropped by 27 percent, compared with a 7 percent decrease nationwide. Only three states saw bigger declines: Maine, Connecticut and Alaska. At the same time, ranks of Baby Boomers and new retirees swelled by the thousands.

This older, richer population makes New Hampshire one of the wealthiest states in the nation, but economists say the trend could have dire, long-term consequences. Local companies already struggle to recruit smart, young workers, and state leaders worry that businesses will eventually follow 20-somethings out of state.

"We better find out what the disconnect is before the gap grows,"said Richard Brothers, commissioner of the Department of Employment Security. "The graying of New Hampshire is going to be a much more difficult situation unless we can keep our young people here."

'Inever regretted leaving'

Young New Hampshire ex-pats say youthful curiosity drew them out of state. They wanted to see bigger cities, eat at funky restaurants and interact with people they've haven't known since preschool. Britt Sweeney, 29, graduated from Hopkinton High School, earned her college degree in Connecticut and moved to Seattle for work. After a few years on the West Coast, Sweeney, who's in marketing, and her husband, an engineer, can't imagine returning to the East.

"It's always fun to say that's where I grew up," she said. "I think I had a pretty storybook childhood. It's good for the memories, but I never regretted leaving. . . . I think about my high school friends: One lives in Southern California, one lives in Utah. Two are in D.C. One's in Texas. Indiana. Illinois. . . . None of us ever went back."

Some former residents would have loved to stay but couldn't pursue careers here. Christopher Wilson, 28, grew up in Nashua, but he moved to Georgia to study bioengineering. He considered Dartmouth College, but it doesn't conduct the kind of research he wants to pursue.

"I had no choice but to move out of state," Wilson said via e-mail. "I'd like to at least return to New England. New Hampshire still doesn't have enough biotech or academic opportunities."

Colleen Hass left for similar reasons. Hass, 28, graduated from Concord High School a decade ago and became an interior designer. After a few years in Boston, she moved to New York City, where she works for an international architecture firm. Her line of work simply doesn't exist on a similar scale in New Hampshire, but she thinks the state could do a lot to make itself more attractive to young people in other professions.

"There was no exposure to anything there," she said. "It was pretty much all white people and everything is very suburban. There's nothing to do when you're young. There's nowhere to go, no interesting food to eat. . . . There are three bars I can go to, and it's going to be a high school reunion."

Concord, Hass says, has improved over the years with a few more ethnic restaurants and specialty shops downtown. But she wishes the city could replace its many chain stores with independent hangouts for teens and young professionals.

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