State profile
New Hampshire Cost of Living Comparison
New Hampshire's 2024 price level is 104.165, 4.17% above the national level; it has no general sales tax and repealed its income-tax chapter in 2025, but owners pay the second-highest property taxes in the country.
Updated
104.165New Hampshire all-items price level, U.S. = 100 · rank 43 of 51, lowest first
| Measure | New Hampshire | Connecticut | First − second |
|---|---|---|---|
| All-items price level | 104.165 | 103.610 | +0.555 points |
| Rent price level | 114.947 | 117.048 | −2.101 points |
| Home value | $402,500±$2,808 | $366,900±$1,621 | +$35,600 |
| Two-bedroom gross rent | $1,642±$21 | $1,584±$15 | +$58 |
| Household income | $99,031±$1,123 | $95,781±$732 | +$3,250 |
| Real estate taxes paid | $6,667±$35 | $6,643±$25 | +$24 |
$4,000 of monthly spending in New Hampshire scales to $3,979 in Connecticut at the 2024 all-items price ratio.
BEA 2024 and ACS 2020–2024; ± marks the Census 90% margin. How to read a gap
New Hampshire: almost no broad state taxes, very high property taxes
The state government raises little and the towns raise a lot. Census records no general sales tax in New Hampshire, and RSA chapter 77, Taxation of Incomes, was repealed in its entirety effective January 1, 2025; individual income tax was only 2.7% of fiscal 2025 collections. Total state collections were $2,383 per resident, rank 50, led by corporate taxes (32.9%) and other selective sales (25.6%). Meanwhile the median real estate tax paid by owners is $6,667 a year, second-highest of 51, and owners without a mortgage report median monthly costs of $995, rank 4.
Prices are high outside goods. Other services, at 103.879, are the second-most expensive in the country, utilities are 33.66% above the national level, and rents are 14.95% above. Goods, at 98.578, are slightly below the U.S. level, which matters for a state where purchases carry no sales tax.
Incomes support the costs. The median household income of $99,031 ranks seventh and real per capita personal income, adjusted for prices, is $64,632, rank 9. Renters face a two-bedroom gross-rent median of $1,642 (rank 10) and spend 29.4% of income on gross rent.
The relative price level has swung: 105.269 in 2020, 102.568 in 2021, a peak of 107.847 in 2022, and 104.165 in 2024.
Massachusetts, the dearer neighbour at 105.757, has a two-bedroom median of $1,876 and a median home value of $562,100; Vermont (97.958) and Maine (97.050) are cheaper on price level, rents and home values. Connecticut (103.610) is the nearest price level nationally.
Category price levels in New Hampshire
| Category | Parity | Rank, low first | vs U.S. |
|---|---|---|---|
| All items | 104.165 | 43 | 4.17% above |
| Goods | 98.578 | 35 | 1.42% below |
| Housing (rents) | 114.947 | 40 | 14.95% above |
| Utilities | 133.663 | 44 | 33.66% above |
| Other services | 103.879 | 50 | 3.88% above |
| Real income per person, 2017 $ | $64,632 | 9 | U.S. $59,195 |
All items by year: 2020 105.269 · 2021 102.568 · 2022 107.847 · 2023 105.393 · 2024 104.165 (−1.104 since 2020). How to read categories and trends
Monthly housing costs
- Owners with a mortgage
- $2,367±$13 · rank 9, high first
- Owners without a mortgage
- $995±$8 · rank 4
- Renters: gross rent / income
- 29.4%±0.4 · rank 25
New Hampshire state tax collections, FY2025
$3.37 billion in total, $2,383 per resident. Scope of these figures
| Tax | FY2025 | Share | Per resident |
|---|---|---|---|
| Individual income | $91.2 million | 2.7% | $64 |
| General sales | not levied | ||
| Property | $413.6 million | 12.3% | $292 |
| Motor fuel | $188.1 million | 5.6% | $133 |
| Other selective sales | $861.7 million | 25.6% | $609 |
| Corporate income | $1.11 billion | 32.9% | $785 |
| Licenses | $504.5 million | 15.0% | $356 |
| Severance | not levied | ||
| Other taxes | $202.3 million | 6.0% | $143 |
New Hampshire income tax on wages
New Hampshire's legislature lists RSA chapter 77, Taxation of Incomes, as repealed in its entirety effective January 1, 2025 (2021 session laws, chapter 91).
Read : New Hampshire RSA chapter 77 (repealed). Price parities exclude income taxes.
New Hampshire beside its neighbours
| Jurisdiction | All items | Rents | Goods | 2BR rent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New Hampshire | 104.165 | 114.947 | 98.578 | $1,642 |
| Maine | 97.050 | 78.940 | 97.171 | $1,224 |
| Massachusetts | 105.757 | 128.068 | 98.820 | $1,876 |
| Vermont | 97.958 | 86.502 | 97.274 | $1,384 |
Before you budget a move
For New Hampshire, prepare the full household budget using approved annual taxes and actual housing quotes. The historical property-tax dollar median and the proposed parcel’s annual bill are different facts. Obtain the actual local assessment and exemption treatment rather than infer an ownership cost from the statewide home-value median.
If the job is in Massachusetts or another state, preserve the work and residence details for tax preparation. A New Hampshire price index cannot resolve a nonresident filing. Compare the offered annual compensation with the real commute and lease, keeping relocation cash separate from recurring living expenses.
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