NH welcomes Gen Z’ers — affordability challenges await

A new report says an influx of new Granite Staters is coming primarily from neighboring Massachusetts, and most of them are younger, part of Gen Z, the cohort of people born roughly between 1997 and 2012.

But another report says the newbies, like already established residents here, face affordability challenges when it comes to housing and child care.

An analysis by StorageCafe of U.S. Census Bureau state-to-state migration data in 2024 shows Massachusetts sent 16,944 people to New Hampshire, outpacing other New England state — 10,977 to Rhode Island and 6,828 to Maine in 2024. StorageCafe is a nationwide online marketplace and search engine that helps users find and rent self-storage units.

Its June 9 report says the new Granite Staters skew young with Gen Z, making up 31% of the inflows, making it the leading cohort above millennials, Gen X, baby boomers, and the Silent Generation.

And they accept that affordability is relative. While there are certainly affordability challenges in New Hampshire, they believe it is less of a challenge than in Massachusetts, where the median priced single-family home is $668,000, compared to $580,000 in New Hampshire.

According to StorageCafe, New Hampshire converts 56.5% of newcomers into homeowners within year one. Maine converts 56%. Both rank among the highest first-year homeownership rates in the country. Rhode Island, more rent-first overall, still saw 41% of arrivals buy within the first year.

“These aren’t reluctant movers, they’re prepared buyers,” said Emilia Man, senior research analyst at StorageCafe. “Years of saving against Massachusetts prices means that when they land somewhere 25% to 44% cheaper, the math for buying works immediately. The first-year ownership rates in New Hampshire and Maine reflect that.”

The StorageCafe analysis notes that interstate migration nationally slowed sharply in 2024 to 2.1% of the U.S. population, compared to 2.3% in 2023 and 2.5% in 2022.

But, for the first time on record, Gen Z is America’s most mobile generation, accounting for nearly one in three interstate moves. In 2024, 2.2 million young adults moved to a different state overtaking millennials (born between 1981 and 1996) after years of millennial dominance and a near tie between the two generations in 2023, said the report.

According to the New Hampshire Fiscal Policy Institute (NHFPI), New Hampshire relies more on interstate movement to grow its population compared to most other states. The majority — about 60% — of the Granite State’s 1.42 million people are not native born.

About one-third (33.0%) were born elsewhere in New England, including about 25.4% who were born in Massachusetts. Approximately 19.7% were born in states outside of the New England region, while 6.8% of residents were born outside of the United States.

A May 27 brief written by Jessica Williams, a senior policy analyst at NHFPI, says New Hampshire has long relied on interstate movement to grow its population and support the workforce.

“Based on the recent data, younger working-age adults have led New Hampshire’s recent net population gains, which could help offset the state’s aging population and ongoing population decline due to more deaths than births within the state,” she said in her brief.

However, she added, “ongoing affordability challenges may hinder people’s ability to move to, and remain in, the Granite State. Housing constraints, child care access, and educational and workforce opportunities continue to influence interstate movement decisions, particularly among younger adults and families.”

Williams took a look at U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) data on tax filers that move between states, counties, and other countries, along with other data from other sources, such as the University of New Hampshire survey center.

Here is some of what else she found:

• Tax filers ages 26 to 44 represented 57% of NH’s net gains from interstate movement from 2022 to 2023. However, the state experienced a net loss of nearly 1,000 tax filers under age 26, likely, said NHFPI, due to steep in-state higher education costs;
• New Hampshire gained a net 4,009 tax filers from Massachusetts, while also experiencing net gains from Connecticut, New Jersey, New York, and California. At the same time, New Hampshire on net lost residents to Maine, Florida, North Carolina, and South Carolina;
• Nearly 60% of New Hampshire residents were born outside the state, including about one-quarter who were born in Massachusetts. Only four states had a smaller share of residents born within their own state than New Hampshire;
• International migration into New Hampshire remains relatively small compared to domestic interstate movement. However, the state saw a net loss of 122 tax filers to other countries, a sharp increase in the number of Granite Staters moving abroad compared to pre-pandemic years;
• Survey data showed younger adults are drawn to New Hampshire for employment opportunities, family ties, outdoor recreation, the state’s natural environment, and a sense of safety;
• Survey data also showed many cited housing and child care costs, health care access, and career opportunities as concerns shaping whether they stay long term.

What follows are recommendations from Williams to state policymakers:

• Increase housing construction, through infrastructure investments or regulatory and zoning changes, which may help increase the availability of homes on the market and in turn bring down costs. Williams said this should include not only the availability of housing units, but the variety of housing types available as well, which could provide new homebuyers with options to meet their differing housing and financial needs;
• Support for current homeowners or renters, such as mortgage or rental assistance or property tax relief, could also help families remain in their homes and afford other essential costs;
• Make additional investment and support for assistance programs, such as the New Hampshire Child Care Scholarship Program that provides financial support for eligible families to help afford child care. She noted this could help keep young parents in the workforce and reduce financial strain on household budgets;
• Williams noted that New Hampshire provided the smallest amount of state and local funding for public higher education of any state in the nation during fiscal year 2024. Students, therefore, may seek more affordable options in other states and not return. She suggested increased support for higher education, such as expanded scholarships for in-state students and more investments in internship-to-career pathways, which, she said, could help encourage more young adults to remain in New Hampshire upon graduation.