The median household income in New Hampshire falls nearly $2000 short of covering annual necessities, according to a new report from the New Hampshire Fiscal Policy Institute. The report found families had about $17,000 less disposable income annually in 2024 than they did a decade ago, in 2005.
Just about every basic living expense – including costs related to housing, health care, child care, and education – has gone up in recent years, while incomes have lagged behind.
“Young New Hampshire families are facing an entirely different economic landscape that sets them up on a different financial trajectory than young families ten years ago,” said Nicole Heller, a senior policy analyst at the N.H. Fiscal Policy Institute, who co-authored the report.
Housing costs have outpaced income growth
According to the report, the main driver of higher cost of living is housing expenses. Since 2015, mortgage rates have more than doubled for a median-price single family home.
That median price for a single family home reached a record high of nearly $570,000 in 2025, more than four times the 1999 median home price of about $137,000.
In that same quarter-century period, median family income increased by only 30%.
Different factors fuel this crunch, according to the report, including limited housing stock, prohibitive zoning rules and demographic changes.
Heller said the lack of accessible housing could mean young people who want to stay in the state can’t, or people who want to move here won’t be able to.
“If that's the case, as a state, we could see population and economic shrinkage,” Heller said, since the state's population growth is driven primarily by in-migration.
Local advocates have said the state isn’t doing enough to address the problem. Earlier this year, numerous laws were enacted to encourage more development and slash red tape, but some affordable housing advocates say crucial funding was cut simultaneously.
“We can't just regulate our way out of this. We also have to fund it,” said Matt Mooshian, the program director of 603 Forward, a nonprofit that encourages young people to get involved with New Hampshire politics. He spoke at an event in Manchester for state lawmakers and housing advocates Wednesday.
More expensive healthcare and food, less government support
Healthcare costs have also increased substantially, with typical annual family expenditures increasing from $6,400 in 2005 to $10,850 in 2025. Deductibles have jumped 323% since 2005.
The analysis found that the regional average price of food increased 72% since 2005.
Local food assistance providers have seen high demand in recent years, with need further increasing following cuts to federally-funded food assistance programs, enacted this summer.
At Gather Community Food Hub in Portsmouth, the average daily number of people served has increased by a third in recent weeks, and is expected to rise even more if the government shutdown continues into November, when benefits for the month may not be distributed.
Gather’s Executive Director Anne Hayes said cuts to assistance programs squeeze people living at the margins, forcing them to rely increasingly on the charitable food system.
“When that funding gets cut, that means people's expenses go up,” she said.
Heller with the N.H. Fiscal Policy Institute said research suggests that implementing policies that support middle and low-income people would benefit New Hampshire’s overall economic vitality. Those families “are more likely to spend money on living essentials, and then that money tends to stay in and support the local and state economies,” she said.
