Why is household median income so high in New Hampshire? (Concord: low income, real estate)

[POhdNcrzy]

Okay guys, I don't usually lurk around the NH forum but I am doing some research so forgive any ignorance on my part about NH please.

New Hampshire has a high median income. It is near the top of the list of the 52 US states & territories. It ranks up there with urban/suburban prosperous industrialized states like Connecticut and Massachusetts.

But I thought New Hampshire was pretty rural, with an economy based on (heck, I don't know) tourism and farming and bucolic stuff like that.

Can someone explain this to me, please??

[seamusnh]

High levels of professionals, people with college educations, etc. A lot of entreprenuers live in NH even if they work in MA or conduct a lot of their business in NH (we have no capital gains tax or income tax). We also have less people moving here as our government funded programs are not as generous as other states such as MA, CT, NY, NJ....

[POhdNcrzy]

Originally Posted by seamusnh

High levels of professionals, people with college educations, etc. A lot of entreprenuers live in NH even if they work in MA or conduct a lot of their business in NH (we have no capital gains tax or income tax). We also have less people moving here as our government funded programs are not as generous as other states such as MA, CT, NY, NJ....

Yep, that's pretty much the answer I was expecting. I trust that your judgment is sound on this issue.

Oh and thanks for sharing!

[maestramommy]

High tech is pretty strong out here. It's not as big as Silicon Valley or the Research Triangle, but still pretty strong. That probably contributes to some of the higher incomes.

[Dwatted Wabbit]

^^ Just about my opinion too.

Plus, smart people move to NH to avoid the taxes their smarts will cost them in places like The Lower 3, the News York and Joisey, etc.

Then half of them turn around and vote for the same type people who made their taxes impossible in other less-enlightened locations.
Humans...not as smart as we think we are.

[GregW]

It is way harder to live in NH on a low income than just about anywhere else in New England and the well paid executives like it that way. Yes, NH has a high median income but that only applies to the part of the state south of Concord. Mid state has a lower income level and North of the Notch has dismal income levels since the paper mills closed down and they did not pay all that well.

One of the ways NH discourages anyone without high level skills from moving in is having very little state aid to towns. The towns are operated on property taxes that are paid by property owners or by the folks that rent housing through their landlords. This allows the state to be under funded by a myriad of taxes and fees without having even a flat income tax. NH is a great place to live if you can afford it.

[seamusnh]

Originally Posted by GregW

Yes, NH has a high median income but that only applies to the part of the state south of Concord. Mid state has a lower income level and North of the Notch has dismal income levels since the paper mills closed down and they did not pay all that well.

Anything to back that up? A link to some research for example?

Of course those that live north of Concord have lower cost real estate and lower property taxes, so that helps their economic situation. I wonder how many people that live north of Concord decide that they would be better off moving to Maine, Vermont, or Massachusetts? Surely those states have much more equitable income levels than mean old NH...

[thisguyrighthere]

Originally Posted by GregW

It is way harder to live in NH on a low income than just about anywhere else in New England and the well paid executives like it that way.

I took a 50% + paycut when I moved out of CT and into central NH.

My expendable income is far greater as my cost of living is far less and my rate of saving remains constant at 20% yet I gross less than 30K.

Hmmm.....

I must be some sort of freak.

[buck naked]

as others have pointed out - there is no income tax so people can also retire to this state and live on pensions, etc or inheritances without being taxed on it by the state.


I have to agree with Greg on the existence of poverty in the state - it's clearly visible in the northern part of the state and practically invisible in the southern part of the state.

Ellen Shemitz of the Children's Alliance says the problem is bigger than a lack of affordable housing, or poor paying jobs.
She says state and federal policies make it harder for children to get out of poverty.
4:05 NH still has amongst the lowest reimbursement rates in the country for child care providers. on a federal level we have seen cutbacks on policies that want to limit some of the social services. Head Start has proven to be one of the most effective programs affecting child well being. We can now only serve 20% of the eligible children in NH.
http://www.nhpr.org/node/11126

"Despite the overall well-being of the state, one in seven New Hampshire families lives in poverty,” says report author Allison Churilla, a Carsey Institute policy fellow and Ph.D. candidate in sociology at UNH.


and consider this: a family of 6 living in a tar paper shack on an acre of land and get's a property tax bill that jumped by $90K in home value because they have a view.

[GraniteStater]

Originally Posted by seamusnh

Of course those that live north of Concord have lower cost real estate and lower property taxes, so that helps their economic situation. I wonder how many people that live north of Concord decide that they would be better off moving to Maine, Vermont, or Massachusetts? Surely those states have much more equitable income levels than mean old NH...

Every town in the state has a different equalized tax rate. Some of the poorest towns in the state have the highest equalized rate. Examples would include: Berlin, Claremont, Northumberland (including Groveton village), Lisbon, Pittsfield, etc. These towns do tend to have very low property values, but the historically high tax rate tends to act as a limiter for future economic development potential.

The median household income as of 2007 for Coos County was $40,857 which is over $21,000 below the state average. 11.7% of the population in the county live below the poverty line. This is from the Census Data.
The other three northern counties (Grafton, Carroll, and Belknap) fare better.
The median household income for Grafton was 51.8K, the median household income for Carroll was 49.1K, and the median household income for Belknap was 54.4K.