The Population of New Hampshire 



By J. R. BowRiNG, M. C. Purington, 0. B. Durgin* 



T^HERE IS a continuous movement of residents into and out of New 

 J*- Hampshire as there is in other populated areas of the United States. 

 The U. S. Bureau of Census estimates that a number of people, approxi- 

 mating 25 percent of the total population, move across state lines within a 

 10-year period. The size or rate of the movement depends among other 

 factors, on economic incentives and alternative opportunities for improved 

 standards of living. The number entering and leaving a state will very 

 likely reflect the availability of such alternatives in that state. 



Similarly there is a m.ovement of people within the state across coun- 

 ty lines. Nationally the number so moving in a 10-year period is equivalent 

 to approximately two thirds of the total population for any one year. A 

 movement of such magnitude is of economic and sociological interest be- 

 cause of its relation to resource utilization, taxation, the problems of repre- 

 sentation, and the provision of public services. 



This study is an attempt to measure migration to and from counties of 

 the State of New Hampshire between 1940 and 1950. It will also approxi- 

 mate mobility of rural farm, rural nonfarm, and urban residents between 

 these years. 



Of particular significance is the measure of migration by sex and age 

 which isolates those ages at which net in-migration and net out-migration 

 are greatest. This measure provides an analytical technique which may 

 prove of value to local government agencies and those concerned with vital 

 statistics. In addition, the study includes measures of the importance of 

 children up to 14 vears of age and people over 65 relative to the working 

 age groups in each county. This is known as the dependency ratio and 

 points to the significance of the aged in the population structure. The num- 

 ber of children born in this decade has increased the fertility ratio for all 

 counties and the significance of this measure is discussed. 



Previous Work 



Bulletin 413 of the New Hampshire Agricultural Experiment Station. 

 the first in this series, provides summary data of the population distribu- 

 tion and trends in numbers up to 1950 by counties. These data are based 

 on the U. S. Census and illustrate that population of the northern towns 

 and counties has been decreasing and in the southern counties it has been 

 increasing during the past few decades. Of some importance is the increase 

 in the rural nonfarm population and the decline in rural farm residents. 

 It shows the increase in birth rates, the education of residents, and the 

 distribution of families by cash income. Brief mention is made of migration. 



* Dr. Bowring is Associate Agricultural Economist of the Agricultural Experiment 

 Station; Mr. Purington, a Graduate Research Assistant in Agricultural Economics, 

 resigned in April, 1956; and Mr. Durgin is Sociologist of the Agricultural Experiment 

 Station. 



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