The 10 Richest Counties In New Hampshire For 2026

The richest counties in New Hampshire are Rockingham County and Hillsborough County for 2026 based on Saturday Night Science.

You’re probably never going to make enough money to live in the richest counties in New Hampshire.

The median household income in Rockingham County, the richest county in New Hampshire is $118,331, significantly higher than the US median of $74,580, which means based purely on math most people never make enough to live there.

And that’s okay because it’s still fun to look at the people living in the lap of luxury.

So we used Saturday Night Science and the most recent Census to rank home prices and incomes for all 10 counties in the Granite State. Let’s star gaze together.

What is the richest county in New Hampshire? The richest county in New Hampshire is Rockingham County. In contrast, the poorest county in the state is Coos County, according to the Census data.

1

No. 1 richest county in New Hampshire

Rockingham County, NH

319,082 people
$118,331 median income · $619,521 median home price
Median income +19% vs NH
$118,331
NH $99k
Median home value +22% vs NH
$619,521
NH $507k
2

No. 2 richest county in New Hampshire

Hillsborough County, NH

426,378 people
$103,545 median income · $517,338 median home price
Median income +5% vs NH
$103,545
NH $99k
Median home value +2% vs NH
$517,338
NH $507k
3

No. 3 richest county in New Hampshire

Belknap County, NH

64,659 people
$92,783 median income · $505,416 median home price
Median income -6% vs NH
$92,783
NH $99k
Median home value 0% vs NH
$505,416
NH $507k
4

No. 4 richest county in New Hampshire

Strafford County, NH

132,575 people
$88,570 median income · $500,025 median home price
Median income -11% vs NH
$88,570
NH $99k
Median home value -1% vs NH
$500,025
NH $507k
4

No. 4 richest county in New Hampshire

Merrimack County, NH

155,967 people
$97,004 median income · $483,959 median home price
Median income -2% vs NH
$97,004
NH $99k
Median home value -5% vs NH
$483,959
NH $507k
6

No. 6 richest county in New Hampshire

Carroll County, NH

51,804 people
$86,463 median income · $496,497 median home price
Median income -13% vs NH
$86,463
NH $99k
Median home value -2% vs NH
$496,497
NH $507k
7

No. 7 richest county in New Hampshire

Grafton County, NH

92,120 people
$88,261 median income · $423,252 median home price
Median income -11% vs NH
$88,261
NH $99k
Median home value -17% vs NH
$423,252
NH $507k
8

No. 8 richest county in New Hampshire

Cheshire County, NH

77,297 people
$83,329 median income · $380,746 median home price
Median income -16% vs NH
$83,329
NH $99k
Median home value -25% vs NH
$380,746
NH $507k
9

No. 9 richest county in New Hampshire

Sullivan County, NH

43,715 people
$80,858 median income · $378,842 median home price
Median income -18% vs NH
$80,858
NH $99k
Median home value -25% vs NH
$378,842
NH $507k
10

No. 10 richest county in New Hampshire

Coos County, NH

31,271 people
$57,677 median income · $251,611 median home price
Median income -42% vs NH
$57,677
NH $99k
Median home value -50% vs NH
$251,611
NH $507k

The receipts

Compare the top ten

Pick a metric. The bars rescale. The red line is New Hampshire’s statewide median.

City Median income vs NH
1 Rockingham County $118,331 +19%
2 Hillsborough County $103,545 +5%
3 Belknap County $92,783 -6%
4 Strafford County $88,570 -11%
4 Merrimack County $97,004 -2%
6 Carroll County $86,463 -13%
7 Grafton County $88,261 -11%
8 Cheshire County $83,329 -16%
9 Sullivan County $80,858 -18%
10 Coos County $57,677 -42%

New Hampshire statewide median: $99,031

City Median home value vs NH
1 Rockingham County $619,521 +22%
2 Hillsborough County $517,338 +2%
3 Belknap County $505,416 0%
4 Strafford County $500,025 -1%
4 Merrimack County $483,959 -5%
6 Carroll County $496,497 -2%
7 Grafton County $423,252 -17%
8 Cheshire County $380,746 -25%
9 Sullivan County $378,842 -25%
10 Coos County $251,611 -50%

New Hampshire statewide median: $507,347

City Population vs NH
1 Rockingham County 319,082
2 Hillsborough County 426,378
3 Belknap County 64,659
4 Strafford County 132,575
4 Merrimack County 155,967
6 Carroll County 51,804
7 Grafton County 92,120
8 Cheshire County 77,297
9 Sullivan County 43,715
10 Coos County 31,271

On the map

Where New Hampshire’s richest counties are

Saturday Night Science

Methodology: How do you determine which New Hampshire county is the richest?

To determine the richest county in New Hampshire, we have to look at a handful of metrics that correlate with how rich people are. To do that, we made assumptions about what makes a county rich. For reference, we are trying to make the kind of argument you’d make at a bar using facts, Saturday Night Science.

With that in mind, we went to the American Community Survey data and Zillow for the most recent reporting period for data on the following:

  • Average Home Price
  • Median Income

We then ranked each county in New Hampshire for each of the criteria from one to 10, with one being the richest.

Taking the average rank across the two criteria, we created a Rich Score with the county posting the lowest overall score being the “Richest County In New Hampshire.”

The result is some of the places with the most expensive real estate and highest earners in the Granite State.

We updated this article for 2026. This report is our first time ranking the richest counties to live in New Hampshire.

The full plate

Detailed List Of The Richest Counties In New Hampshire

Click any column to sort. Search by county name.

RankCountyPopulationMedian IncomeAverage Home Price
1Rockingham County319,082$118,331$619,521
2Hillsborough County426,378$103,545$517,338
3Belknap County64,659$92,783$505,416
4Strafford County132,575$88,570$500,025
4Merrimack County155,967$97,004$483,959
6Carroll County51,804$86,463$496,497
7Grafton County92,120$88,261$423,252
8Cheshire County77,297$83,329$380,746
9Sullivan County43,715$80,858$378,842
10Coos County31,271$57,677$251,611

Source: U.S. Census ACS + Zillow via Saturday Night Science. All 10 New Hampshire counties.

Summary

Summary: The Richest Counties In New Hampshire For 2026

Living in New Hampshire can vary from one part of the state to the next, with pretty extreme variance in home prices and incomes across counties.

The richest counties in New Hampshire are Rockingham County, Hillsborough County, Belknap County, Strafford County, Merrimack County, Carroll County, Grafton County, Cheshire County, Sullivan County, and Coos County.

Now you know the parts of the state where Goodwill will have the best goodies, and that’s what you came here to learn at the end of the day.

You are welcome.

Keep reading

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Chris Kolmar
About the author

Chris Kolmar has been in the real estate business for almost ten years now. He originally worked for Movoto Real Estate as the director of marketing before founding HomeSnacks.

He believes the key to finding the right place to live comes down to looking at the data, reading about things to do, and, most importantly, checking it out yourself before you move.

If you've been looking for a place to live in the past several years, you've probably stumbled upon his writing already.

You can find out more about him on LinkedIn or his website.

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