In early 2026, the U.S. Census Bureau released new aggregated five-year data for 2020-2024, building on less detailed one-year estimates for 2024. These data provide a clearer picture of county-level trends in household income, poverty, and health coverage, among other measures. Overall, New Hampshire’s southeastern counties had higher median household incomes, while some of the state’s more rural regions experienced larger income gaps, higher poverty rates, and greater public health coverage utilization.

Here’s what we learned regarding poverty in particular:

In 2026, people residing in the 48 contiguous states are considered to be living below the official federal poverty guidelines if they have a household income of $15,960 for a household of one and $33,000 for a household of four. Based on aggregated data from 2020-2024, New Hampshire’s statewide poverty rate was 7.2%, with significant variation across counties. Coos County experienced the highest share of its residents living in poverty (13.2%) during the five-year period. Grafton and Sullivan Counties also had poverty rates above the statewide average, at 10.4% and 10.1%, respectively.

Although poverty rates were generally higher in the state’s more rural counties, the greatest numbers of residents living in poverty were concentrated in the more populous counties in southeastern New Hampshire. In Hillsborough County, the state’s most populous county, about 28,200 residents lived in poverty, which was approximately equal to the combined estimated 2024 populations of Bristol, Lebanon, and Weare. Rockingham County had the lowest poverty rate in the state at 4.8%, and experienced the second-largest number of residents living in poverty (about 15,100 people), which was more than the population of Claremont and nearly the population of Durham.