Like all states, New Hampshire has certain places that are going on hard times. These New Hampshire places have an above-average percentage of people living in poverty, out of work, or not making as much as they should be.
Even as the economy continues to improve, it’s worthwhile to look at the places in each state struggling to make ends meet. So we set our sites on locating the poorest places in New Hampshire.
To do so, we used Saturday Night Science to analyze the newest Census data from the American Community Survey for the 26 cities in New Hampshire with more than 5,000 people.
Table Of Contents: Top Ten | Methodology | Summary | Table
What’s the poorest city in New Hampshire? According to the facts, Claremont is the poorest place in New Hampshire for 2024.
This isn’t a commentary on the people that live there or the vibrant culture and traditions of these places. Instead, it’s just a look at the facts.
For more New Hampshire reading, check out:
- Best Places To Live In New Hampshire
- Cheapest Places To Live In New Hampshire
- Most Dangerous Cities In New Hampshire
- The poorest states in the US
- The poorest cities in the US
The 10 Poorest Cities In New Hampshire For 2024
1. Claremont
/10
Population: 13,018
Rank Last Year: 1 (No Change)
Median Income: $53,697 (2nd lowest)
Poverty Rate: 15.8% (2nd highest)
People In Poverty: 2,063
More on Claremont: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living
Claremont, unfortunately, ranks as the poorest place in New Hampshire thanks to combination of low pay and and a lack of jobs.
The city of 13,018 people averages the 2nd lowest median household income in New Hampshire and the 2nd highest poverty rate. At the very least, the cost of living ranks in the bottom 15% of place in the state, so things like housing are relatively affordable.
2. Berlin
/10
Population: 9,485
Rank Last Year: 2 (No Change)
Median Income: $41,638 (lowest)
Poverty Rate: 14.6% (4th highest)
People In Poverty: 1,385
More on Berlin: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living
The second poorest city in New Hampshire is Berlin.
The city ranks as having the 4th highest incidence of poverty and lowest median household income. However, the unemployment rate ‘only’ ranks as the 3rd highest in the Granite State.
3. Newport
/10
Population: 5,228
Rank Last Year: 3 (No Change)
Median Income: $67,500 (4th lowest)
Poverty Rate: 15.1% (3rd highest)
People In Poverty: 790
More on Newport: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living
Placing as the third poorest city, Newport’s median income ranks as the 4th lowest.
And that’s a sign that there’s a relatively substantial jump in the quality of the economy from second to third place on our list. The poverty rate is 15.12% and ranks near the bottom of places in the state.
But what makes up for the relatively low incomes of the city is its low cost of living. The income you do make here goes further than in most parts of the Granite State.
4. Keene
/10
Population: 22,907
Rank Last Year: 4 (No Change)
Median Income: $69,381 (6th lowest)
Poverty Rate: 11.2% (7th highest)
People In Poverty: 2,554
More on Keene: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living
Keene ranks as the fourth poorest place in New Hampshire.
The town ranks as having the 6th lowest median household income and the 7th highest incidence of poverty in the state.
That being said, there’s still a ton of cultural diversity in the city as it hosts many events throughout the year.
5. Suncook
/10
Population: 5,235
Rank Last Year: 8 (Up 3)
Median Income: $72,375 (8th lowest)
Poverty Rate: 14.0% (5th highest)
People In Poverty: 732
More on Suncook:
The fifth poorest city in New Hampshire is Suncook.
The city ranks as having the 8th lowest median income in the state. However, an extremely low cost of living prevents a good number of folks from living in poverty as the poverty rate only ranks as the 5th highest in New Hampshire.
Still not the best news for Suncook.
6. Laconia
/10
Population: 16,898
Rank Last Year: 7 (Up 1)
Median Income: $67,856 (5th lowest)
Poverty Rate: 10.2% (9th highest)
People In Poverty: 1,723
More on Laconia: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living
Laconia ranks as the sixth poorest place in the Granite State.
It ranks as having the 9th highest incidence of poverty and the 16th highest unemployment rate.
7. Manchester
/10
Population: 115,037
Rank Last Year: 6 (Down 1)
Median Income: $74,040 (9th lowest)
Poverty Rate: 11.6% (6th highest)
People In Poverty: 13,298
More on Manchester: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living
Manchester places as the seventh poorest city in New Hampshire.
The city of over 115,037 ranks as having the 6th highest incidence of poverty in the state. However, it has a very low cost of living which helps to pay the bills each month.
8. Rochester
/10
Population: 32,573
Rank Last Year: 10 (Up 2)
Median Income: $74,882 (10th lowest)
Poverty Rate: 9.8% (11th highest)
People In Poverty: 3,195
More on Rochester: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living
Rochester ranks as the eighth poorest city in New Hampshire.
The big issue for the town is the unemployment rate which ranks as one of the highest in the state.
9. Durham
/10
Population: 10,789
Rank Last Year: 5 (Down 4)
Median Income: $93,542 (22nd lowest)
Poverty Rate: 16.6% (highest)
People In Poverty: 1,788
More on Durham: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living
Durham couldn’t stay out of the top ten poorest places in New Hampshire; it ranks number 9.
While the median income is the 22nd lowest, there are a substantial number of people that live below the poverty line. Overall, Durham ranks as having the most people living in poverty of all the places we analyzed in New Hampshire.
10. Franklin
/10
Population: 8,746
Rank Last Year: 11 (Up 1)
Median Income: $66,942 (3rd lowest)
Poverty Rate: 6.3% (20th highest)
People In Poverty: 547
More on Franklin: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living
And rounding out the top ten poorest cities in New Hampshire is Franklin.
The city of 8,746 people ranks in the bottom 20% for both median income and poverty rate in the Granite State.
Methodology: How We Determined The Poorest Places In New Hampshire for 2024
The first thing that comes to most people’s minds when they think about determining the poorest places is to simply the poverty rate. That is, the number of people living below a federally established level of income for a household of a certain size.
However, we don’t think that one statistic wholly encompasses what it means to be one of the “poorest places”. So we used Saturday Night Science to look at this set of criteria from the newly released 2018-2022 American Community Survey:
- Poverty Level
- Median Household Income
After we collected the data for all 26 places with more than 5,000 people in New Hampshire, we ranked each place from 1 to 26 for each of the criteria, with 1 being the poorest.
We then averaged all the rankings for a place into a “Poor Score” with the place having the lowest overall Poor Score, Claremont, crowned the “Poorest Place In New Hampshire For 2024”.
This report has been updated for 2024, which is our tenth time ranking the poorest places in New Hampshire.
Summary: The Poorest Cities In New Hampshire For 2024
Like we said earlier, when we set out to identify the poorest places in New Hampshire, we weren’t sure what we’d encounter, but it ended up being some of the best places to live in New Hampshire.
When you look at the data, the cities and places mentioned above meet the criteria for being at the very bottom of the income ladder for everyone that lives there.
If you’re curious enough, here are the richest cities in New Hampshire, according to data:
-
Richest: Londonderry
2nd Richest: South Hooksett
3rd Richest: Portsmouth
For more New Hampshire reading, check out:
- Richest Cities In New Hampshire
- Safest Places In New Hampshire
- Worst Places To Live In New Hampshire
- Most Expensive Places To Live In New Hampshire
Detailed List Of The Poorest Places To Live In New Hampshire
| Rank | City | Population | Poverty Rate | Median Income | People In Poverty |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Claremont | 13,018 | 15.8% | $53,697 | 2,063 |
| 2 | Berlin | 9,485 | 14.6% | $41,638 | 1,385 |
| 3 | Newport | 5,228 | 15.1% | $67,500 | 790 |
| 4 | Keene | 22,907 | 11.2% | $69,381 | 2,554 |
| 5 | Suncook | 5,235 | 14.0% | $72,375 | 732 |
| 6 | Laconia | 16,898 | 10.2% | $67,856 | 1,723 |
| 7 | Manchester | 115,037 | 11.6% | $74,040 | 13,298 |
| 8 | Rochester | 32,573 | 9.8% | $74,882 | 3,195 |
| 9 | Durham | 10,789 | 16.6% | $93,542 | 1,788 |
| 10 | Franklin | 8,746 | 6.3% | $66,942 | 547 |
| 11 | Somersworth | 11,994 | 8.7% | $75,841 | 1,039 |
| 12 | Concord | 44,049 | 9.6% | $77,874 | 4,228 |
| 13 | Milford | 8,530 | 7.6% | $71,065 | 646 |
| 14 | Derry | 23,027 | 9.8% | $83,750 | 2,268 |
| 15 | Exeter | 9,918 | 7.4% | $79,813 | 729 |
| 16 | Hanover | 8,234 | 10.5% | $111,958 | 861 |
| 17 | Dover | 32,849 | 7.6% | $90,844 | 2,499 |
| 18 | Nashua | 90,943 | 7.6% | $88,766 | 6,902 |
| 19 | Hooksett | 5,268 | 6.4% | $83,456 | 337 |
| 20 | Lebanon | 14,515 | 8.4% | $90,911 | 1,225 |
| 21 | Newmarket | 5,829 | 6.1% | $88,295 | 354 |
| 22 | Hudson | 7,003 | 3.6% | $80,901 | 251 |
| 23 | Hampton | 10,050 | 3.8% | $92,907 | 383 |
| 24 | Portsmouth | 22,138 | 6.0% | $100,169 | 1,321 |
| 25 | South Hooksett | 5,808 | 3.0% | $113,024 | 174 |
| 26 | Londonderry | 12,143 | 2.0% | $113,557 | 242 |
Two of the towns, Durham and Keene, host large state universities, with lots of students living off-campus.