Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
Make a sustaining gift today to support local journalism!

Manufacturing in New Hampshire

Chris Jensen
/
NHPR

Manufacturing in New Hampshire

Over the past 15 years or so, New Hampshire’s manufacturing economy has been moving away from traditional mill workand toward high-tech and so-called “smart” manufacturing.  In high-tech manufacturing, workers produce technological components, like computer parts.  And in smart manufacturing, advanced technology allows fewer and more skilled workers to be more efficient as they produce traditional goods.

This new-school manufacturing economy has weathered relatively well, but New Hampshire’s transition toward tech hasn’t always been a smooth one.  More automation on production lines and decades of manufacturing decline across the country have shrunk opportunities for manufacturing work.  Twenty-five years ago, about one out of every four jobs in New Hampshire was in manufacturing.  Today, only about one in six jobs fall into that sector.

All of New Hampshire’s counties host manufacturing operations.  But according to the New Hampshire Center for Public Policy, the sector is more dominant in the southwest corner of the state, covering parts of the Merrimack Valley, Monadnock, and Dartmouth-Lake Sunapee regions.  For example, in Sullivan County, nearly a third of wages come from manufacturing; in Cheshire and Hillsborough Counties, the sector accounts for about one-fifth of residents’ earnings.

Summary provided by StateImpact NH

You make NHPR possible.

NHPR is nonprofit and independent. We rely on readers like you to support the local, national, and international coverage on this website. Your support makes this news available to everyone.

Give today. A monthly donation of $5 makes a real difference.