New Americans in the Granite State

The Political and Economic Power of Immigrants, Latinos, and Asians in New Hampshire.

Immigrants and their children are growing shares of New Hampshire’s population and electorate.

• The foreign-born share of New Hampshire’s population rose from 3.7% in 1990 [1], to 4.4% in 2000 [1], to 5.0% in 2008 [2], according to the U.S. Census Bureau.  New Hampshire was home to 65,581 immigrants in 2008 [2].

• 53.5% of immigrants (or 35,099 people) in New Hampshire were naturalized U.S. citizens in 2008 [2]—meaning that they are eligible to vote.

• 5.1% (or 35,030) of registered voters in New Hampshire were “New Americans”—naturalized citizens or the U.S.-born children of immigrants who were raised during the current era of immigration from Latin America and Asia which began in 1965—according to an analysis of 2006 Census Bureau data by Rob Paral & Associates [3].

Nearly 1 in 20 Granite Staters are Latino or Asian.

• The Latino share of New Hampshire’s population grew from 1.0% in 1990 [4], to 1.7% in 2000 [4], to 2.6% (or 34,211 people) in 2008 [2].  The Asian share of the population grew from 0.8% in 1990 [5], to 1.3% in 2000 [5], to 2.0% (or 26,316 people) in 2008 [2], according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
• Latinos accounted for 1.1% (or 8,000) of New Hampshire voters in the 2008 elections, according to the U.S. Census Bureau [6].
• In New Hampshire, nearly nine-in-ten (or 89% of) children in immigrant families were U.S. citizens in 2007 [7], according to the Center for Social and Demographic Analysis at the University of Albany.

Latino and Asian entrepreneurs and consumers add billions of dollars and thousands of jobs to New Hampshire’s economy.

• The 2009 purchasing power of Asians in New Hampshire totaled $963.2 million—an increase of 540.9% since 1990.  Latino buying power totaled $902.4 million—an increase of 511.8% since 1990, according to the Selig Center for Economic Growth [8] at the University of Georgia.

• New Hampshire’s 1,528 Asian-owned [9] businesses had sales and receipts of $403.6 million and employed 4,119 people in 2002, the last year for which data is available.  The state’s 913 Latino-owned [10] businesses had sales and receipts of $194.0 million and employed 1,742 people in 2002, according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s Survey of Business Owners.

Immigrants are integral to New Hampshire’s economy as workers and taxpayers.

• Immigrants comprised 5.6% of the state’s workforce in 2008 [2] (or 42,229 workers), according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

• Unauthorized immigrants comprised roughly 1.7% of the state’s workforce (or 15,000 workers) in 2008 [11], according to a report by the Pew Hispanic Center.

• If all unauthorized immigrants were removed from New Hampshire, the state would lose $893.2 million in economic activity, $396.7 million in gross state product, and approximately 5,220 jobs, even accounting for adequate market adjustment time, according to a report by the Perryman Group [12].

Immigrants are integral to New Hampshire’s economy as students.

• New Hampshire’s 2,371 foreign students contributed $75.8 million to the state’s economy in tuition, fees, and living expenses for the 2008-2009 academic year, according to NAFSA: Association of International Educators [13].

Naturalized Citizens Excel Educationally.

• In New Hampshire, 35.8% of foreign-born persons who were naturalized U.S. citizens in 2008 [14] had a bachelor’s or higher degree.

• The number of immigrants in New Hampshire with a college degree increased by 63.9% between 2000 and 2008, according to data [15] from the Migration Policy Institute.

• In New Hampshire, 82.7% of all children between the ages of 5 and 17 in families that spoke a language other than English at home also spoke English “very well” as of 2008 [15].

UPDATED: JULY 2010

Published On: Thu, Apr 01, 2010 | Download File [16]