Strafford County vs. New Hampshire Comparative Trends Analysis: Population Growth and Change, 1969-2022 Introduction Strafford County: 2022 Population = 132,275 2022 Percent of State = 9.48% 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 Strafford County with comparisons to New Hampshire and the nation at large. This analysis features alternative approaches toward discussing, diagnosing and comparing Strafford 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 tracks Strafford County's annual population for the period 1969-2022 to illustrate population patterns over time. During this 54-year period, Strafford County's population rose from 69,594 in 1969 to 132,275 in 2022, for a net gain of 62,681, or 90.07%. 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 shows Strafford 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. Strafford County's overall population growth was 90.07% over 1969-2022 trailed New Hampshire's increase of 92.71%, and outpaced 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 comparing the population growth of Strafford County is to trace 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, Strafford County's population totaled 9.61% of New Hampshire's population, while in 2022 it totaled 9.48% thereby yielding a -0.13% share-shift.
Strafford County Population: Annual Percent Change, 1970-2022 Figure 5. Figure 5 highlights the short-run pattern of Strafford 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 illustrated 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, Strafford County's population grew at an annual rate of 1.22% over 1970-2022. The county posted its highest growth in 1972 (5.52%) and posted its lowest growth in 1991 (-0.63%). In 2022, Strafford County's population grew by 0.56% Strafford 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 Strafford County's population since 1970, but this time they are displayed with average growth rates for the decade of the 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, 2000s, 2010s, and 2020-2022. During the 1970s, Strafford County's annual population growth rate averaged 2.01%. It averaged 2.06% throughout the 1980s, 0.67% throughout the 1990s, 1.03% throughout the 2000s, 0.58% throughout the 2010s, 0.50% 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 Strafford County noted in the previous graph with the corresponding decade averages for New Hampshire and the nation. As the chart reveals, Strafford County's average annual population growth fell below New Hampshire's average in the 1970s (2.01% vs. 2.33%), outgained New Hampshire's average during the 1980s (2.06% vs. 1.94%), fell below New Hampshire's average throughout the 1990s (0.67% vs. 1.02%), exceeded New Hampshire's average in the 2000s (1.03% vs. 0.75%), exceeded New Hampshire's average during the 2010s (0.58% vs. 0.42%), and fell below New Hampshire's average over the 3 year period of the current decade, 2020-2022 (0.50% vs. 0.57%). Finally, relative to nationwide population growth trends, Strafford County registered above the nation during the 1970s (2.01% vs. 1.10%), recorded above the nation in the 1980s (2.06% vs. 0.95%), recorded underneath the nation over the 1990s (0.67% vs. 1.23%), outpaced the nation throughout the 2000s (1.03% vs. 0.95%), fell under the nation during the 2010s (0.58% vs. 0.74%), and outperformed the nation over 2020-2022 (0.50% vs. 0.31%).
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