New Hampshire Mobility and Homeownership
Latinos in New Hampshire appear to be highly mobile. This mobility is not due to recent migration, because many Latinos are not recent arrivals to the United States. Colombians are the newest-arriving migrant group, as nearly a quarter of Colombians lived outside the United States 5 years prior to the 2000 census. All
other Latino groups have resided in the United States for longer periods of time, but they are highly mobile. Over half of all the Latinos lived in a different home 5 years prior to the 2000 census. As noted, Massachusetts is the largest source of Latino migration to the state. The present concentration of Latinos in southern New Hampshire could be a harbinger of increased internal and international migration to the state.
Homeownership is a way for Latinos to further integrate in the community. It has also been shown to be important for building sustainable social networks and social capital. Latinos have been highly mobile, and as a result they do not have high rates of homeownership only 38.6 percent of Latinos in New Hampshire own a home. This is lower than the national Latino homeownership rate of 45.6 percent, and significantly below the homeownership rate (70.1 percent) for non-Latino whites in the state.
