New Hampshire
New Hampshire’s Median Household Income Increased in 2023, Poverty Remained Steady
New data released by the U.S. Census Bureau provide key insights into the economic well-being of Granite Staters. The American Community Survey’s 2023 state-level data showed that median household income recovered to 2021 levels after adjusting for inflation, following a decline in 2022. While the median household income increased, the poverty rate held steady at 7.2 percent, reflecting that nearly 100,000 New Hampshire residents had very little income despite purchasing power growing for the median household.
Household Incomes
The estimated median household income in New Hampshire was $96,838, based on data collected by the American Community Survey during 2023. This median income estimate increased from the $89,992 estimated for 2022, even after adjusting for inflation and accounting for statistical uncertainty. After taking inflation into account, the median household income effectively rebounded to about 2021 levels; in 2022, median household income fell behind inflation, and spending power dropped relative to 2021. The 2023 data show this median income recovered to 2021 levels after the inflation adjustment of 2021 dollars to 2023 purchasing power. The inflation-adjusted 2023 household incomes were higher than before the COVID-19 pandemic and prior to the Great Recession of 2007-2009, and reflected the relative speed of the post-pandemic recovery compared to the slow recovery from the Great Recession.
Of the estimated 569,493 households in New Hampshire in 2023, 25 percent, or one in four, had pre-tax incomes below $50,000 annually. About 17 percent had incomes lower than $35,000, and nearly 11 percent had estimated incomes below $25,000 during 2023. About 48 percent had incomes over $100,000, and almost 16 percent had incomes of $200,000 or more.
The average household size in New Hampshire was 2.39 people in the 2023 data. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology estimated the living wage income for a two-person household in New Hampshire in 2024 was $67,155 for two adults, $88,074 for one adult with one child, and $97,876 for two working adults with one child. The Economic Policy Institute estimated the income a family needed in 2024 for a “modest yet adequate standard of living,” which does not include costs such as paying for student loans or for homeownership as well as for any form of entertainment, ranged from $72,501 to $94,597 for a household with two adults and one child, depending on where they lived in New Hampshire.
Poverty in New Hampshire
The U.S. Census Bureau calculates poverty thresholds for different household sizes. The Official Poverty Measure poverty threshold is not adjusted for changes in living costs between the 48 contiguous United States; other measures of hardship differ, such as the regional housing cost variations incorporated into the Supplemental Poverty Measure. The Official Poverty Measure thresholds for 2023 are $15,852 for a single person under 65 years old, $21,002 for a two-person household with one child and one adult under 65, $24,526 for a three-person household with one child, and $30,900 for a four-person household with two children.
An estimated 98,000 people lived with incomes below Official Poverty Measure poverty thresholds in 2023. This estimate is slightly larger than the estimated 2023 populations of Claremont, Concord, Laconia, and Portsmouth combined. That total number of people in poverty included about 20,000 children and 21,000 older adults.
The overall poverty rate in New Hampshire was 7.2 percent, according to the Official Poverty Measure, which was the same estimated rate as 2022 and 2021, and statistically indistinguishable from the 7.3 percent poverty rate from 2019. The poverty rate for children was 8.0 percent, which was statistically indistinguishable from the 2022 rate. Poverty for older adults, at an estimated 7.6 percent, was also substantially unchanged from 2022, but remained higher than it was in 2019.
New Hampshire had the lowest Official Poverty Measure poverty rate among the states, with Utah’s 9.0 percent and both Colorado’s and Minnesota’s 9.3 percent rates as the next closest estimates. However, other measures of hardship, also published by the U.S. Census Bureau in September, complicate that conclusion. Using the Supplemental Poverty Measure, which adjusts for certain expenses, taxes and noncash benefits, household compositions, and geographic differences in housing costs, New Hampshire’s 7.4 percent poverty rate for the 2021-2023 period was higher than Maine’s 5.9 percent; Maine’s rate was statistically tied for the lowest in the country with several other states, including Minnesota and South Dakota. The Supplemental Poverty Measure, while not a replacement of the Official Poverty Measure, can capture key economic conditions impacting household well-being that are missed by the Official Poverty Measure, such as the reduction of child poverty by half in 2021 due largely to the expansion of the Child Tax Credit.
Within the Official Poverty Measure data for New Hampshire, 2023 continued to show longstanding differences in economic hardship between groups, reflecting both historical and present-day barriers to opportunity that hinder upward mobility. While data limitations prevent a reliable, comprehensive analysis of 2023 data, the estimated poverty rate for Granite Staters identifying as of two or more races was higher than for white residents who did not identify as Hispanic or Latino. The poverty rate for New Hampshire residents who identified themselves as Asian was lower than for non-Hispanic white residents. Data to be published in December 2024 will provide more reliable insights into the well-being of groups and geographies within the Granite State.
Other Key Data
Beyond these topline numbers, the American Community Survey provides a wealth of information on the lives and well-being of Granite Staters. For example, about 51 percent of the estimated 149,626 renter households in New Hampshire paid more than 30 percent of their incomes on rent and utilities during 2023. About 13 percent of workers age 16 and over commuted out of state for employment, while about 16 percent worked from home. Income inequality, as measured by the Gini Index, is not higher than it was just before the COVID-19 pandemic, but is higher than it was in 2010. These data, as well as other information recently provided by the U.S. Census Bureau, provide additional insights into the well-being of Granite Staters.
– Phil Sletten, Research Director
New Hampshire
N.H. lawmakers to vote on increasing tolls, civil rights, and k-12 education – The Boston Globe
One proposal (Senate Bill 627) would generate more than $53 million per year in estimated revenue for turnpike projects by essentially doubling what certain cars pay on the state’s toll roads.
The cash fare for Hampton’s main toll booth on Interstate 95, for example, would jump from $2 to $4 for cars and pickup trucks. The toll wouldn’t increase at all for motorists who use New Hampshire’s E-ZPass transponders.
“Surrounding states already have the same in-state discount structure in place,” Democratic Representative Martin Jack of Nashua wrote on behalf of a House committee that unanimously recommended the bill.
A potential hitch: Governor Kelly Ayotte. She’s expressed opposition to the whole toll-hiking idea, and proven she’s not afraid to use her veto pen.
Modifying civil rights standard
Another proposal (Senate Bill 464) would add a few words to the state’s Civil Rights Act. Instead of addressing conduct that is merely “motivated by” a legally protected characteristic, the proposed revision would address conduct that is “substantially motivated by hostility towards the victim’s” protected characteristic (such as their race, color, religion, national origin, ancestry, sexual orientation, sex, gender identity, or disability).
The prime sponsor, Republican Senator Daryl Abbas, an attorney, testified the change was small and aligned with the law’s intent. But the attorney who oversees the Civil Rights Unit at the New Hampshire Department of Justice, Sean Locke, testified in opposition, saying the proposal could reduce protections, especially since the meaning of “substantially” is somewhat vague.
The House is also weighing a proposed amendment that would add a few more words than Abbas’s version, potentially narrowing the Civil Rights Act’s applicability a bit further.
Open enrollment for K-12 schools
A third proposal up for a vote on Thursday (Senate Bill 101) would make every K-12 public school in New Hampshire an “open enrollment” school. That way, students could freely choose to transfer to a district other than the one where they live.
The proposed policy is controversial, partly because of how schools are funded. Districts rely mostly on local property taxes to cover their costs, as the state government chips in relatively little, and property tax rates vary widely from one community to the next. That generates concern about who will foot the bill when a student transfers.
In light of those concerns, Republicans are offering a compromise amendment to SB 101 that would require the state to provide more money per pupil that a district receives via open enrollment, as the New Hampshire Bulletin reported. Democrats are offering their own amendment to establish a study commission on this topic, rather than adopt the proposed policy now.
Lawmakers have until May 14 to take action on the bills that came from the other chamber, though they have until June 4 to iron out any discrepancies.
Amanda Gokee of the Globe staff contributed to this report.
This story appears in Globe NH | Morning Report, a free email newsletter focused on New Hampshire, including great coverage from the Boston Globe and links to interesting articles elsewhere. Sign up here.
Steven Porter can be reached at steven.porter@globe.com. Follow him @reporterporter.
Boston MedFlight often touches down at the scene of some of the worst tragedies in New England – where minutes can mean life or death for a victim. The critical care transport operation is now expanding with a new base in New Hampshire.
The organization is hosting an open house at the new Manchester location on Thursday.
Boston MedFlight flies a critical care transport paramedic and nurse on every flight. Jaik Hanley-McCarthy says their helicopters and ground vehicles are equipped to handle just about any emergency medical procedure.
“Anything that can be done in the ICU,” explained Hanley-McCarthy. “We have a mobile lab so we can draw blood and run labs in real time.”
Boston MedFlight now has five bases across the region.
“Having a base in Manchester just expands this Boston-level care even further north to the more remote areas of the state,” said Hanley-McCarthy.
Boston MedFlight operates as a network of bases and some of the locations are staffed 24 hours.
Chief Executive Officer Maura Hughes says the nonprofit operation survives on public and private donations.
“We provide about $7 million in free care every year to patients,” said Hughes. “Not every hospital can be everything to every patient. We’re really the glue that keeps the health care system together.”
Heather Young says her daughter, Teighan, is still alive because she was flown for a critical assessment and procedure after falling off a truck and hitting her head.
“She should not be driving and walking and talking and all the things she’s doing as quickly as she is,” said Young.
Teighan just turned 18 and plans to go to college to study the medical field.
“I want to be a nurse and help other people,” she said.
It’s stories like this that keep the men and women who work Boston MedFlight focused on their mission.
“I think we just go call by call and try to do the best we can,” said Hanley-McCarthy. “I think when we stop and truly think about it, I think that weight is pretty heavy.”
Boston MedFlight also has a yearly reunion where patients and the team get together here in Bedford to meet and check in on their progress. It really shows you how connected they are to the people they help.
New Hampshire
Hiker who set out in warm spring weather found dead after snowstorm in New Hampshire mountains
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A Massachusetts hiker who set out in warm spring weather was found dead deep in New Hampshire’s White Mountains after a snowstorm dumped several inches of snow in the area, authorities said.
Kent Wood, 61, of West Roxbury, was discovered Tuesday evening on a remote section of the Kinsman Pond Trail in Franconia Notch, about 5.5 miles from his vehicle, according to New Hampshire Fish and Game.
Wood had driven to Franconia Notch on April 17 for a weekend camping and hiking trip, and set out on a hike the next morning in warm, clear weather, officials said. Family and friends last heard from him Saturday afternoon.
When he failed to return or make contact for two days, officials said relatives reported him missing Tuesday morning, prompting a large-scale search.
HIKER IDENTIFIED, POPULAR TRAIL CLOSED AFTER DEADLY FALL A UTAH’S ZION NATIONAL PARK
An aerial view of Franconia Notch State Park in New Hampshire, where a hiker was found dead on Tuesday. (Joseph Sohm/Universal Images Group, File)
Rescuers quickly learned Wood had packed for mild conditions, not the three to five inches of snow that fell in the area between Sunday and Monday.
Fog hovers over a narrow road through Franconia Notch in the White Mountain National Forest in New Hampshire on Dec. 27, 2021. (Andrew Lichtenstein/Corbis)
Search teams from Fish and Game, PEMI Valley Search and Rescue, and the Army National Guard launched a coordinated effort, focusing on the Lonesome Lake and Kinsman Pond areas.
FAMILY’S SPRING BREAK HIKE TURNS INTO LIFE-OR-DEATH RESCUE AFTER PARENT FALLS 70 FEET OFF UTAH CLIFF
Conservation officers located Wood’s body around 7:41 p.m. Tuesday. Crews carried him out overnight, reaching the trailhead shortly after 1 a.m. Wednesday.
Franconia Notch and the Appalachian Trail are seen in New Hampshire on Sept. 21. (Carol M. Highsmith/Buyenlarge/Getty Images)
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Since Friday, six hikers from Massachusetts have been rescued in the White Mountains, Fish and Game said.
Officials are reminding hikers that winter conditions still grip the mountains, with snow, freezing temperatures and rapidly changing weather.
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