Hillsborough County vs. New Hampshire Comparative Trends Analysis: Population Growth and Change, 1969-2022 Introduction Hillsborough County: 2022 Population = 426,594 2022 Percent of State = 30.58% New Hampshire: 2022 Population = 1,395,231 2022 Percent of U.S. = 0.42% Attracting and retaining people to live, work, raise a family, and retire underlies the economic vitality of any region. Population growth is both a cause--and a consequence--of economic growth. Patterns of population growth and change reflect differences among regions to attract and retain people both as producers and consumers in their economy. The following graphs offer a broad overview of trends in the pattern of population growth and change of Hillsborough County with comparisons to New Hampshire and the nation at large. This analysis features alternative approaches toward discussing, diagnosing and comparing Hillsborough County vs. New Hampshire's population growth over 1969-2022. The data used are those compiled by the Regional Income and Product Divisions of the Bureau of Economic Analysis, U.S. Department of Commerce. Population, 1969-2022 Figure 1. Figure 1 traces Hillsborough County's annual population for the period 1969-2022 to illustrate population patterns over time. During this 54-year period, Hillsborough County's population rose from 221,149 in 1969 to 426,594 in 2022, for a net gain of 205,445, or 92.90%. NOTE: The county and state population totals reported by the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) are from the Bureau of Census midyear (July 1) estimates. These estimates may differ from those prepared independently in some states by various agencies and/or universities. Population, 1969-2022 Figure 2. Figure 2 traces New Hampshire's annual population for the period 1969-2022 to illustrate population patterns over time. During this 54-year period, New Hampshire's population rose from 724,000 in 1969 to 1,395,231 in 2022, for a net gain of 671,231, or 92.71%. NOTE: The county and state population totals reported by the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) are from the Bureau of Census midyear (July 1) estimates. These estimates may differ from those prepared independently in some states by various agencies and/or universities. Population Indices (1969=100): 1969-2022 Figure 3. Figure 3 portrays Hillsborough County's population growth in a broader context by offering direct comparisons across time with New Hampshire, the United States. The growth indices shown here express each region's population in 1969 as a base figure of 100, and the populations in later years as a percentage of the 1969 base figure. This method allows for more direct comparison of differences in population growth between regions that may differ vastly in size. Hillsborough County's overall population growth was 92.90% over 1969-2022 outpaced New Hampshire's increase of 92.71%, and topped the United States' increase of 65.57%. Population as a Percent of the New Hampshire Total: 1969-2022 Figure 4. Another interesting and insightful way of highlighting the population growth of Hillsborough County is to compare its individual percentage contributions to New Hampshire's statewide population over time, as shown in Figure 4. A rising share means a region's population grew faster, or declined less, than New Hampshire's population, while a declining share shows it grew more slowly. In 1969, Hillsborough County's population totaled 30.55% of New Hampshire's population, while in 2022 it equated to 30.58% thereby yielding a +0.03% share-shift.
Hillsborough County Population: Annual Percent Change, 1970-2022 Figure 5. Figure 5 shows the short-run pattern of Hillsborough County's population growth by tracking the year-to-year percent change over 1970-2022. The average annual percent change for the entire 53-year period is also traced on this chart to provide a benchmark for gauging periods of relative high--and relative low--growth against the backdrop of the long-term average. On average, Hillsborough County's population grew at an annual rate of 1.25% over 1970-2022. The county recorded its highest growth in 1971 (4.89%) and recorded its lowest growth in 1972 (-0.66%). In 2022, Hillsborough County's population grew by 0.49% Hillsborough County Population: Annual Percent Change and Decade Averages Over 1970-2022 Figure 6. Over the past five decades some counties have experienced extreme swings in growth, and often such swings have tended to coincide with the decades themselves. Figure 6 again traces the annual percent change in Hillsborough County's population since 1970, but this time they are overlayed with average growth rates for the decade of the 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, 2000s, 2010s, and 2020-2022. During the 1970s, Hillsborough County's annual population growth rate averaged 2.22%. It averaged 1.99% throughout the 1980s, 1.17% in the 1990s, 0.61% during the 2000s, 0.52% during the 2010s, 0.40% thus far this decade (2020-2022). Population Growth: Average Annual Percent Change by Decade Figure 7. Figure 7 compares the decade average growth rates for Hillsborough County noted in the previous graph with the corresponding decade averages for New Hampshire and the nation. As the chart reveals, Hillsborough County's average annual population growth lagged New Hampshire's average throughout the 1970s (2.22% vs. 2.33%), outgained New Hampshire's average throughout the 1980s (1.99% vs. 1.94%), led New Hampshire's average throughout the 1990s (1.17% vs. 1.02%), lagged New Hampshire's average in the 2000s (0.61% vs. 0.75%), topped New Hampshire's average throughout the 2010s (0.52% vs. 0.42%), and fell below New Hampshire's average over the 3 year period of the current decade, 2020-2022 (0.40% vs. 0.57%). Finally, relative to nationwide population growth trends, Hillsborough County topped the nation over the 1970s (2.22% vs. 1.10%), surpassed the nation in the 1980s (1.99% vs. 0.95%), recorded underneath the nation throughout the 1990s (1.17% vs. 1.23%), fell below the nation throughout the 2000s (0.61% vs. 0.95%), fell under the nation during the 2010s (0.52% vs. 0.74%), and recorded above the nation over 2020-2022 (0.40% vs. 0.31%).
| Analysis Options Menu |