NAHANT ― While it might not be by a lot, the population of the smallest town in the state ― geographically speaking ― is shrinking, according to the latest U.S. Census data.
Nahant is the only municipality on the North Shore that saw its population diminish. Between 2010 and 2020, the population dwindled by 76 residents, which represents a 2.2 percent decline overall.
Town Administrator Antonio Barletta said that he is sure that the numbers are accurate, seeing that the town worked extensively with the U.S. Census Bureau to ensure that residents participated.
“We made a tremendous amount of effort pushing the census,” Barletta said. “We worked with the census to promote it. In fact, they commented positively about how involved our town, beyond just our clerk’s office, was involved in getting the census filled out or getting residents to fill out the census.”
Barletta did note that Nahant’s population is on the older side.
“It’s possible that more residents passed away than new residents being born,” he said. “We do have quite a large elderly community.”
Barletta mentioned that almost 60 percent of the community is over 50 years old, with 12 percent of the community being 75 years of age or older. Also, only 3 percent of the community is ages 12 to 15.
The town administrator also mentioned that, according to a 2019 estimate by the Census Bureau, the town was expected to lose 179 residents. Still, he said that the dwindling numbers could have some effects on the town.
“It’s not ideal,” said Barletta. “Obviously, a number of federal and state resources are calculated based on that population, which is based on the census data. We want to see the number increase, but we’re limited.”
While the population is decreasing, Barletta has said that he saw a relative “baby boom” happening in the town within the last two years. He added that he wished he could see the year-by-year numbers because he believes that the population numbers have started to trend upwards.
Nahant also has the least diverse population on the North Shore with 91 percent of its population identifying as white in the most-recent census. Still, the town saw an increase in the number of Black residents as well as Hispanic and Latino residents. The Black population now makes up 1.1 percent of Nahant’s population and the Latino population now makes up 3.2 percent of the total population.
Barletta said that he was happy to see the uptick in racial diversity among residents, and ― despite the spacial limitations of the community ― hopes to see those numbers continue to grow in the future.
“As I mentioned before, new housing opportunities isn’t really in our future unfortunately, because our community is only one square mile, it’s pretty dense, and regardless of race, there isn’t really isn’t much room for new housing opportunities,” said Barletta. “So to see that number increase by that amount, given those types of limitations for our town is a great sign.”
