Pembroke has grown the most of all towns around Concord since the 2020 Census, while the area has seen its population rise in line with the state of New Hampshire as a whole, according to data compiled by the New Hampshire Fiscal Policy Institute.
The state’s post-pandemic growth has been fastest on a percentage basis in the Lakes Region and White Mountains, “likely driven by retirees and remote workers moving to the region,” the report said, but that total population growth continues to be concentrated in the New Hampshire’s southeast quarter, especially along the Merrimack River.
Both Manchester, with 116,386 people, and Nashua, with 91,851, grew slightly from 2020 to 2024, which is something of a surprise, since both cities shrank in the first two years of the pandemic as people fled cities to avoid COVID.
The state’s population grew an estimated 2.2%, or 30,300 people, according to the study. As has been the case for at least five years, this growth happened only because of people moving into the state from other states or overseas. New Hampshire, one of the oldest states in the nation, sees more deaths than births each year.
From 2020 to 2024, Concord and the eight towns touching it grew an estimated 2.3%, almost exactly the same as the state as a whole. Concord itself saw a population increase of an estimated 634 people, or 1.4%, over that period, maintaining its status as the third-largest city in New Hampshire.
Pembroke grew by 360 people, the most of any town over that period, equal to a 5% increase in its population, while Chichester grew at a slightly faster rate of 5.3%, or 142 people.
Bow remained the largest town adjoining Concord but its growth was laggard. Bow added just 151 people to its population, or 1.8%, the smallest rate of any of the area towns.
Among the biggest surprises in the study is that Derry — at 34,000 people the largest town in the state — and Goffstown, with 18,488 people, did not grow at all or even shrank very slightly despite being in the state’s growth area.
Merrimack added the most people, 2,532 new residents, due partly to some large developments opening up. Four communities — Salem, Dover, Lebanon and Rochester — grew by more than 1,000 people.
“This uneven population shift highlights broader challenges, including rising housing costs and limited child care, that may be deterring younger families from settling in the state,” the study concluded.
An interactive map of the study can be seen at the NHFPI website, nhfpi.org.
David Brooks can be reached at dbrooks@cmonitor.com.
