Census: 17% of N.H. commuters work out of state

It will probably come as no surprise to the New Hampshire commuters who battle traffic each weekday morning into Massachusetts that, according to a new U.S. Census report, about 17 percent of working New Hampshire residents commute outside the state for work and that nearly one in 10 workers has a commute that lasts at least an hour.That works out to about 107,000 New Hampshire residents who leave the state for work and is the highest percentage as a share of the state’s workforce in New England. Rhode Island, however — which also has a large share of commuters to Massachusetts — trailed close behind, with 15.6 percent of its workers leaving the state for work. Vermont came third, with 7.2 percent of workers working out of state, followed by Connecticut at 6.4 percent, Maine at 4.7 percent and Massachusetts at 4.5 percent. But New Hampshire also imports a fair number of workers who live in other states — about 10.8 percent of the state’s workforce, or about 63,000 people, work here but reside in another state, the report found. In New England, only Rhode Island imports a larger share of its workforce, 12.8 percent. In the region, Massachusetts imports the most workers — nearly 197,000 — but that makes up only 6.3 percent of its workforce.The report also found that 9.7 percent, or about 61,000, New Hampshire-residing workers have a commute of longer than 60 minutes, which is greater than the national average of 8.1 percent. More than half of those — about 37,000 people – do not leave the state for work but still commute more than 60 minutes to get there.Nationally, the average commute lasts 25.5 minutes, or 24.7 minutes for those who work in state. For those who work out of state, the national average commute is 44.8 minutes.The report on out-of-state and long commutes was compiled by the Census Bureau with data from the 2011 American Community Survey, an ongoing survey that helps the federal government determine where and how to disburse funding. – KATHLEEN CALLAHAN/NEW HAMPSHIRE BUSINESS REVIEW