New Hampshire attracted more than 40,000 net migrants between 2020 and 2024, despite recording more deaths than births during that period, according to a new white paper from State Rep. Joe Sweeney. The report, titled "The Granite State Migration," finds that the state's population growth has been driven entirely by people moving in from other states, with Massachusetts residents accounting for the largest share of newcomers. The analysis suggests these migrants are drawn by New Hampshire's low taxes, lower cost of living, and economic freedom.
Nearly three-quarters of New Hampshire's population growth came from domestic migration, with Massachusetts supplying the biggest wave of new residents. IRS migration data show that households moving into New Hampshire earned significantly more income than those leaving the state, creating an influx of billions of dollars. Among more than 236,000 voters who registered after March 2020, Republicans outnumbered Democrats by nearly 18,000, while modeled voter data found substantially more Republican-leaning than Democratic-leaning registrants.
The report finds little evidence supporting critics' claims that migration from Massachusetts would turn New Hampshire into another liberal New England state. According to Sweeney's analysis, the voter registration data suggest New Hampshire's low-tax policy model continues to appeal to new voters who aren't shifting the state's politics to the left. The report concludes that as Massachusetts residents continue fleeing north toward the "Live Free or Die" state, they help tilt the balance of power toward those who oppose the high-tax, big-government policies of their old home.
New Hampshire is one of the few states without either a broad-based income tax or a statewide sales tax, and it ranks among the nation's most competitive tax systems while maintaining one of the lowest overall tax burdens in the country. Those policies have made the state attractive to families, workers, entrepreneurs, and employers alike, the report explains. The analysis comes as Americans continue relocating from high-tax, high-cost states to states that embrace lower taxes and limited government, with Florida, Texas, Tennessee, and New Hampshire leading the trend. Republicans currently control the House and Governor's mansion in New Hampshire, plus a supermajority in the Senate, and Sweeney himself has twice won his competitive legislative races by roughly 60-40 margins.
The report concludes that lawmakers have a mandate to continue protecting the "New Hampshire Advantage" by keeping taxes low, restraining spending, and expanding housing and development opportunities. Sweeney points to data from the Pine Tree Public Policy Institute showing that new residents from Massachusetts do support the policies of freedom that attracted them north in the first place. Voters are rewarding pro-growth policies by choosing to live where they can keep more of what they earn.