First published in Valley News, February 17, 2025.
New U.S. Census Bureau data offer a detailed look at how New Hampshire residents have fared in the years during and following the COVID-19 public health crisis. Released in late January, the new five-year data set covering 2020-2024 provides insight into long-term trends in income, poverty, and housing affordability across regions and demographic groups in New Hampshire.
Below are five key takeaways from the newly released data.
First, median household income varied widely by region. Rockingham County, New Hampshire’s second most populous county, had a median household income of about $118,300. In contrast, Coos County, the northernmost and least populous county, had a median household income of $57,700, or approximately half as much.
Although both counties experienced income growth compared to the prior 2015-2019 period, affordability remains a challenge for many Granite Staters. According to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Living Wage Calculator, the estimated cost of living for two working adults and one child was $109,665 in Rockingham County and $88,949 in Coos County in 2026, underscoring how even higher incomes may not fully offset rising costs.
Second, poverty rates were highest in New Hampshire’s northern and western regions. County-level poverty rates during the 2020-2024 period were the highest in Coos County, where approximately 13.2% of residents lived in poverty. Grafton and Sullivan Counties also experienced elevated poverty rates of 10.4% and 10.1%, respectively, compared to a statewide poverty rate of 7.2%.
While poverty rates tended to be higher in more rural regions, the largest number of people living in poverty were concentrated in southeastern New Hampshire due to larger population sizes. For example, Hillsborough County alone was home to approximately 28,000 people living in poverty, despite having a lower poverty rate than several rural communities. Similarly, Rockingham County, although it had the lowest poverty rate statewide at 4.8%, still had the second-highest number of people (15,000 people) living in poverty.
Most county-level poverty rates remained statistically unchanged from the 2015-2019 period, although Hillsborough County experienced a modest decline and Merrimack County saw a slight increase.
Third, poverty rates differed sharply across different demographic groups. Poverty rates varied significantly by educational attainment, race and ethnicity, disability status, and family structure, reflecting long-standing structural barriers to economic opportunity for certain demographic groups. For example, Granite Staters without a high school diploma experienced a poverty rate of 20.6% – more than six times higher than the 3.1% rate among those with a bachelor’s degree or higher.
Approximately one in six Granite Staters with a disability lived in poverty. Poverty rates were also notably higher among Hispanic or Latino residents (13.3%), Black or African American residents (11.2%), and Biracial or Multiracial residents (10.6%), compared to 6.8% among white, non-Hispanic residents.
Family structure also mattered. Nearly one-quarter of families with children headed by a single woman lived in poverty, more than three times higher than the statewide rate for families with children overall.
Fourth, some poverty rates have declined since the pre-pandemic period. Despite persistent disparities, the data also show meaningful declines in poverty for some groups compared to the 2015-2019 period. Poverty rates fell by approximately 3.1 percentage points among Hispanic or Latino Granite Staters and by 8.6 percentage points among Black or African American Granite Staters. Families with children headed by a single woman also experienced a decline of about 3.4 percentage points.
These improvements suggest that economic trends during the pandemic may have bolstered some incomes, although rates remain elevated for many groups.
Fifth, renters with low incomes faced severe housing cost burdens. Housing costs continued to strain household budgets, particularly for renters with low incomes. During the 2020-2024 period, more than three-quarters of renters earning less than $35,000 per year were housing cost burdened, meaning they spent more than 30% of their income on rent and utilities. More than half were severely cost burdened, devoting over half of their income to housing, which was an increase from the prior five-year period.
Between 2015 and 2024, the median cost of rent and utilities for a two-bedroom unit in New Hampshire increased by 58.4%, further exacerbating affordability challenges.
Taken together, the latest Census data highlight an uneven economic recovery across New Hampshire. Barriers to opportunity remain, particularly in rural regions Disparities by education, race and ethnicity, disability status, and family structure persist. At the same time, rising housing costs continue to put pressure on household budgets, especially for renters and those with the lowest incomes.
Policies that support broad-based prosperity, reduce poverty, and expand access to affordable housing will be essential to helping ensure that all Granite Staters can afford to live in the communities they call home as the state continues to recover from the pandemic.