The 10 Cheapest Places To Live In New Hampshire In 2023

The 10 cheapest places to live in New Hampshire for 2023

We’ll kick off our tour of the most affordable places to live in New Hampshire with Newport, a small town an hour outside of Concord. Homes in Newport go for a median price of $146,800, the third cheapest in the state. Even more importantly, Newport residents spend the second smallest percentage of their on homes statewide. Newport is also in the top ten for income to rent ratio, with a median rent of $1,107. As for keeping yourself occupied on a budget, Mt. Sunapee State Park is just a short drive away and has all the hiking, boating, fishing, and alpine skiing you could want.

We’re going to take a very short drive west from Somersworth to arrive at our second most affordable city in New Hampshire, Rochester. If you decide to move to Rochester, you’ll have no trouble getting friends to visit thanks to all the concerts and shows put on at the Rochester Opera House. Homes in Rochester go for about $208,500, the sixth lowest price in New Hampshire. Additionally, Rochester’s residents pay the fifth smallest portion of their income on homes statewide. That’s all the good news; the bad news is that Rochester was also named the most dangerous city and overall worst place to live in New Hampshire.

You don’t need to book a flight to Germany to get a sweet deal in Berlin. It might help to know some French though, because, as a city near Quebec, around 65% of Berlin’s population speaks a variant of New England French. Berlin’s the type of place you’ll want to settle down in for the long haul, because it’s where you’ll find the cheapest homes and, more importantly, the best home price to income ratio in the state. Add to that the fact that Berlin is one of the best places for families in New Hampshire, and you’ve got a recipe for a successful long-term stay. On the downside, Berlin is the least economical place to rent on this list. But we promise that once you see the stunning views from Jericho Mountain, your financial anxieties will be far from your mind.

Franklin ranks as the fourth least expensive place to call home in the Granite State thanks to strong affordabiliy numbers across the board. Franklin’s got some of the cheapest homes for sale you’ll find in New Hampshire, with a median price tag of $205,300. If you’re not ready to settle down here just yet, renting in Franklin costs about $948/month. Renting or buying, Franklin has excellent housing to income ratios. Not to mention that it’s one of the best cities for singles in New Hampshire thanks to great date spots like Tarbin Gardens. Looking for love has never been so affordable!

Franklin is about a half hour north of Concord.

Keene, located in new hampshire, is a great place to live for those looking to save money. With a median home value of $193,400 and a median rent of $1,085, Keene is one of the most affordable places to live in New Hampshire. In fact, the home price to income ratio is only 6.0th in the state, making it much easier for residents to afford housing compared to other areas.

Keene has a population of 22,969 and offers a high quality of life with plenty of amenities. With an overall cost of living rating of 110.0, residents can enjoy a comfortable, low-cost lifestyle.

We turn now to South Hooksett, an affluent suburb of Manchester. As one of the richest places in New Hampshire, South Hooksett’s affordability statistics are a little different than most places listed here. For example, don’t get hung up on the fact that, at a cost of $289,500, South Hooksett has the priciest homes on this list. Because, thanks to a median income of $91,806, South Hooksett residents spend the seventh lowest proportion on their income on homes statewide. The deal is even better for renters, who get the best rent to income ratio in New Hampshire.

Concord, nh, ranks as one of the most affordable places to live in new hampshire. With a median home value of $245,800 and median rent of only $1,160, it is easy to see why this city is a great option for those looking for affordable housing. In fact, the home price to income ratio in Concord is quite low at only 3.36, making it an ideal location for those who want to keep their housing costs low.

As the capital city of new hampshire, Concord has a bustling downtown area with plenty of shops and restaurants. It also boasts a low unemployment rate of only 4.8%, making it a great place to find work.

Claremont’s story is very similar to that of Berlin; super affordable homes, with less impressive prices on rent. Claremont’s median home price of $136,600 is the second lowest in New Hampshire and residents spend the fourth smallest proportion of their income on homes statewide. Plus there are tons of parks around for every type of activity — skateboarding, snowshoeing, skiing, snowboarding, tubing, ice-skating. You name it, Claremont’s got a park for it.

Located between Manchester and Concord, Suncook ranks as the ninth least expensive place in New Hampshire. Suncook owes its high position on this list to its incredibly affordable rent. You can get rent a spot in Suncook for just $1,031/month, less than half the average rent in New Hampshire. And with a median income of $63,047, Suncook enjoys the tenth best rent to income ratio in the state. If you’re looking to reward yourself for your smart financial planning, head on down to Oddball Brewing Co. for a Suncook Lager.

Londonderry is tenth on the list of the cheapest places to live in nh. With a median home value of $349,100, median rent of $1,627, and median income of $107,401, it has a home price-to-income ratio of 3.25, which is below the state average. This means that residents can find affordable housing options without breaking the bank.

Londonderry has a population of 11,955 and is located in western Rockingham County, new hampshire, with easy access to both Manchester and Derry. It’s also known for its apple orchards, making it a picturesque and charming place to call home. Additionally, Londonderry is home to the headquarters of Stonyfield Farm and partial home to Manchester-Boston Regional Airport, providing ample job opportunities for residents.

Cheapest places to live in New Hampshire FAQs

Methodology: How we determined the most affordable places to live in the Granite State for 2023

Determining affordability for places in New Hampshire boils down to two factors:

1. How much money do I make?
2. How much does it cost to live here?

You need to understand your costs in the context of how much money you make to determine affordability. For example, imagine a place in New Hampshire where median incomes are $100,000 and housing costs $200,000 to buy. That’s more affordable than living in a place with a median income of $50,000 where houses cost $101,000. The ratio of income to home prices is higher in the first example.

With that logic in mind, we derived several cost of living statistics from the latest Census American Community Survey 2017-2021 for New Hampshire. The cost of living statistics are:

• Median Home Price / Median Income (lower is better)
• Median Income / Median Rent (higher is better)
• Median Home Price

You can include median home price as a stand alone variable because high home prices generally correlate with higher costs for all goods and services (heating, electricity, food, etc). You then compare these cost of living metrics for each place in New Hampshire to figure out which is the least expensive.

We aggregate those rankings into a “Cost of Living Index” for each city in New Hampshire. The “Cost of Living Index” allows you to rank all of the 26 places in New Hampshire that have more than 5,000 people from least expensive to most expensive.

The place in New Hampshire with the lowest cost of living according to the data is Newport. You can download the entre cost of living data set for New Hampshire here.