This appendix provides all of the population and housing statistics that are used in this report. The Office of State Planning provides population estimates every year, as required by New Hampshire law (see methodology in Appendix A). The Office of State Planning bases these statistics upon building permit activity, as reported by municipalities. These are the most current official comparative statistics available.

In addition to Census data and OSP estimates, many of the derivations found in this chapter have been taken from Regional Housing Needs Assessment, 1999 by NRPC.

Since the 1930’s, the population has increased to the estimated level of 1,982 in 1998 largely due to the proximity of Mont Vernon to major employment centers in the region. Major increases began to occur between 1950 and 1960, when the population grew a yearly average of 4.4%. The following decades saw a population increase of 5.5% and 5.9% respectively. Between 1980 and 1990, the population of the Town grew at a rate of 2.6%. In 1998, the rate of population growth was 1.2%.

Despite the decreasing rate of growth, between 1990 and 1998, Mont Vernon (9.4%) has grown faster than the Nashua Region (8.6%), Hillsborough County (8.4%) and the State of New Hampshire (6.8%).

Mont Vernon’s population is expected to continue growing by approximately 1.7% annually over the next 20 years. If projections hold true, this growth may add more than 1,000 persons by 2020; however, the actual rate of growth in any community is unpredictable and due to forces beyond the local control. Keeping this in mind, it can be reasonably expected that Mont Vernon will likely grow slower than the NRPC communities of Brookline, Litchfield and Hollis, but at a similar rate with the remaining communities with the exception of Nashua.

The percentage of school children in 1990 age 5-19 was greater than that for the region, 24.0% compared to 20.8%. While the relative percentage of individuals in this category has declined since 1970 from 31.2% to 24.0%, the actual number had increased from 283 to 434. The percentage of pre-school children was slightly higher than that for the region.

The working age population between ages 20 to 64 has steadily increased in numbers and percentages, from 49% in 1970 to 59.6% in 1990. The greatest increase occurred in the population aged 35-64 . Between 1970 and 1990, this age group increased from 247 to 727 persons representing 27.3% and 40.1 % of the total population. As of 1990, the percentage of Mont Vernon’s population aged 35-64, was higher than the same category for the region, county, or state, 35.6, 34.2, and 34.5% respectively. The other segment of the working population aged 20-34 actually showed a decrease between 1980 and 1990 from 25.3 to 19.5%. The data suggests that the age distribution in Mont Vernon, as it is throughout the country is fast approaching retirement age.

During the 1970’s, the population increased by nearly 60%, and housing units increased by 81%. The 1980’s saw increases in population and housing at similar rates. Other communities in the region had housing growth outstripping population growth, in part due to more conspicuous reductions in household size. An economic downturn in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s slowed the growth of both housing and population. Between 1990 and 1997, a total of 78 building permits were issued, indicating that growth continues, but at a more reasonable rate.

Tables A-10 and A-11 show the extent of growth in new dwelling units that has occurred in the Nashua region and state between 1990 and 1997. Mont Vernon (12.7%) ranked well above the regional (8.6%) and State (7.5%) in terms of growth rate during this time. Mont Vernon was the seventh fastest growing community in the region during this time.

Table A-10 shows that the while the Town demonstrated a high rate of growth between 1990 and 1998, its fastest growing period was actually during the 1970s, when the number of units increased by 81.0%. It should be noted that the larger a community becomes, the less impact new dwelling units have on the rate of growth.

Table-A-11 describes the local breakdown of housing types. As the data clearly suggests, the single family detached home with occupied units is the most common followed by manufactured homes (86), and multi-family units (including duplexes) (25).

Housing tenure refers to whether or not a housing unit is owned or rented by the occupants. Most Mont Vernon residents own the dwellings they occupy. Table A-12 presents the tenure for Mont Vernon and the NRPC region in 1990. Of 614 housing units, 585 or 95.3% were occupied, 91.9% of those by owners and 8.1% by renters. Only Hollis (93.1%) had a higher percentage of owner occupied housing. In 1990, the number of rental units offered in Mont Vernon was less than any other town in the region. The U.S. Census defined the rental housing sub-population as about 29% of the regional housing stock in 1990. On a regional basis, Mont Vernon falls below the regional average in terms of the proportion of rental units. Since virtually all of the permits issued since then in Mont Vernon have been single family, it is safe to assume that this percentage has remained stable.

Table A-13 indicates that a total of 116 housing units were permitted. Of these, 98 (84.5%) were single family, and 18 (15.5%) were manufactured.

As Table A-14 depicts, in 1998 Mont Vernon’s average sales price was $214,000, which ranked second in the region. Mont Vernon also had the fastest increase in average sales price for the both the periods of 1991-1998 (59.0%) and 1994-1998 (49.0%).

The purposes of conducting a "fair share" analysis is discussed directly in the Population and Housing chapter. Table A-16 illustrates the analysis over eight years, from 1990-98 using residential building permits issued as the basis of comparison. The first tier is described as those towns immediately abutting Mont Vernon. The second tier are those towns surrounding the first tier. The table illustrates the growth rates in residential housing units within the two tiers and describes the proportional distribution of growth for a one year period from 1997 to 1998 and for the period from 1990 to 1998.

The rate of growth for Mont Vernon from 1990 to 1998, 15.5% or 1.7% per annum, is similar to the total change in the first tier, 15.2%, and lower than the second tier, 19%. This change is within the range for the two-tier region where housing growth varied from 6.2% in Francestown to 49.4% in Brookline. The housing growth in Mont Vernon at 15.5%, is less than the total change for the two tiers, which increased by 17.9% over the eight-year period. The number of building permits issued in Mont Vernon has been relatively steady through the period from 1991 to 1998, with a high of 16 in 1994 and a low of 3 in 1997, for an average of 10.6 building permits per year.

Mont Vernon’s share of the regional population increased slightly from 0.8% in 1950 to 1.1% in 1990. Regionally, the most significant trend has been the decreasing proportion of Nashua's population to the region. The greatest gains in the regional population share have been Merrimack and Hudson, communities that are adjacent to Nashua. The data suggests that population growth in the region has radiated out from Nashua.

Population densities (population/land area) of the NRPC region are presented in Table A-17. While Mont Vernon comprises about 5% of the land area of the region, it contained only about 1% of the 1990 population. Mont Vernon’s density was 108 persons/square mile in 1990, up from the 1980 density of 86. The density ranking compares Mont Vernon to the other communities; for both years Mont Vernon maintained the same ranking. In 1998 the density in Mont Vernon increased to 118 people per square mile.

Table A-18 describes the breakdown of household size in the Town and the NRPC region. Mont Vernon’s population has proportionately fewer single person households (11.5%) and more four-person households (24.4%) than the NRPC region (19.8% and 18.7%, respectively). The average household size between 1980-90 in Mont Vernon decreased from 3.18 to 3.07 persons per household according to the US Census.

Mont Vernon had an educational attainment slightly higher than that of the NRPC Region in 1990. Mont Vernon residents with either a Bachelor’s or Masters degree account for 30.8% of the 18 and over population, in comparison to 27.4% regionally, and 22.1% statewide.