Rockingham County, NH

County Profile

319,082 residents. Safety, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Rockingham County, NH.

Several figures AreaProfile publishes are measured by county and nowhere finer — death rates by intent among them. On this page those describe the geography they are printed on, which is not true of the city and ZIP pages that inherit them.

72out of 100
Area Score
Top 10% of 1,453 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 13 sources
OpportunityTop 1% of 1,463 counties measured87
GrowthTop 13% of 1,453 counties measured71
Housing affordability1,135th of 1,462 counties measured65
Climate1,309th of 1,463 counties measured55
Physical resilienceTop 50% of 1,463 counties measured60
AccessTop 19% of 1,463 counties measured93
Economic stabilityTop 3% of 1,463 counties measured95
The quick read

Rockingham County ranks in the top 1% of counties measured for employment opportunity, with unemployment at 2.9% and median household income of $118,331.

Development activity is both elevated and accelerating — 1,866 housing units permitted over the past twelve months, up 21% on the prior year.

Rent takes 30% of renter income here, at the 30% threshold conventionally called cost-burdened, and the median home is 3.7 times what its owners earn.

These sentences are written by fixed rules from the measurements below — a statement appears because a number crossed a stated threshold, and the values behind it are stored with it. No figure anywhere on this site is invented, estimated or inferred to fill a gap. How this works.

At a glance

Population
319,082
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$118,331
Top 2% nationally
Density
459/sq mi
695.4 sq mi of land
Median age
45.0
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Rockingham County
New Hampshire
Nearest major airport
MHT
17 mi · Manchester Boston Rgnl
Median home value
$497,500
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 2.9%, lower than in 93% of the 1,467 measured US counties.

Employment grew 0.6% over the past year, to 184,490 employed residents.

46% of adults hold a four-year degree, higher than 95% of measured US counties.

Median household income of $118,331 is higher than in 98% of measured US counties.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Income of new arrivalsfiling years 2022–2023$124,22997th percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Income of those who leftfiling years 2022–2023$92,95894th percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Median household income ±$2,8202024 ACS 5-Year$118,331Top 2%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$1,1592024 ACS 5-Year$61,558Top 2%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Per-capita personal income2023$95,714Top 4%of 1,3892023
Poverty rate ±0.4%2024 ACS 5-Year4.7%Top 1%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±0.5 min2024 ACS 5-Year30.9 minBottom 20%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±0.9%2024 ACS 5-Year45.7%Top 5%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year72.1%21st percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentJuly 2026184,490Top 13%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (3 years)July 2026+1.9%Top 28%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (year over year)July 2026+0.6%Top 27%of 1,467July 2026
Labor forceJuly 2026189,95086th percentileof 1,467July 2026
Labor force participation ±0.7%2024 ACS 5-Year83.8%Top 11%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Public transit to work ±0.1%2024 ACS 5-Year0.4%70th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)July 2026−0.5%Top 27%of 1,467July 2026
Unemployment rateJuly 20262.9%Top 7%of 1,467July 2026
Worked from home ±1.0%2024 ACS 5-Year19.4%95th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year

Unemployment rate

2021/072022/072023/072024/072025/072026/074.12.1
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 2.9% in July 2026. It has been rising, over a series running from 2020-01 to 2026-07. A break in the line is a month the Bureau of Labor Statistics did not publish for this area — it is left empty rather than estimated.

Median household income, successive ACS releases

2021202220232024118k102k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $118,331 in the 2024 ACS 5-Year. Consecutive releases share four years of sample, so AreaProfile shows them as a record of successive estimates and does not compute a year-over-year change from them.

Largest occupations — Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH

OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
Home Health and Personal Care Aides72,420$40,910
General and Operations Managers70,950$133,800
Registered Nurses64,240$106,180
Retail Salespersons64,150$36,850
Fast Food and Counter Workers60,130$36,290
Janitors and Cleaners, Except Maids and Housekeeping Cleaners43,160$46,550

Searches the 40 largest occupations here that have a published wage.

Occupational employment and wages are published for metropolitan areas rather than for individual cities or ZIP areas, so these describe the wider labor market this location sits in. 2025 OEWS, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

54% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 64% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 11.5 students for every full-time teacher across 90 public schools, fewer than in most measured places.

Public schools
91
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
11.5
across 90 of them
Math proficiency
53.9%
2018-19 school year
Reading proficiency
64.3%
2018-19 school year
The 12 largest of 91 public schools, by enrollment.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Pinkerton AcademyPinkerton Academy School District2,99013.941%63%
Exeter High SchoolExeter Region Cooperative School District1,34812.157%77%
Londonderry Senior High SchoolLondonderry School District1,28912.061%73%
Salem High SchoolSalem School District1,11611.340%58%
Golden Brook Elementary SchoolWindham School District1,11318.0——
Portsmouth High SchoolPortsmouth School District1,01711.452%72%
Winnacunnet High SchoolWinnacunnet Cooperative School District99310.152%72%
Cooperative Middle SchoolExeter Region Cooperative School District9459.554%68%
Windham High SchoolWindham School District94512.966%83%
Timberlane Regional High SchoolTimberlane Regional School District94411.443%69%
Londonderry Middle SchoolLondonderry School District91811.146%58%
Woodbury SchoolSalem School District76212.749%59%

12.8% of students here are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. That describes the circumstances families arrive with, not how the schools perform, so it is shown and not scored.

Public schools only, from the NCES Common Core of Data, placed by ZIP code — which schools are in this place, not which one a particular address is zoned for. A dash in a proficiency column is a gap in the federal file, not a bad result. Proficiency is measured against New Hampshire’s own standard, so it is ranked within state. How to read school figures.

Prices for everything a household buys run about 10% above the national average — the Bureau of Economic Analysis index reads 110.4, against 100 for the nation. Nationally, housing drives most of the spread between places in this index; other goods vary far less.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency’s house price index for the Rockingham County-Strafford County, NH Metropolitan Division is up 54% over five years, and up 3.8% over the last year. It follows repeat sales of the same homes, so it measures price change rather than which homes happened to sell.

Homeowners here who pay a tax bill pay a median of $7,839 a year in real estate taxes, about 1.58% of the median home value.

The typical renter household here spends 30% of its income on rent, at the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $1,687 a month.

A median home at $497,500 costs 3.7 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $136,086, above the historic benchmark of about 3 times income.

Cost of living
110.4

Prices here run about 10% above the national average. The spread between places is driven mostly by housing — goods vary far less — and this excludes taxes.

Published for the Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH Metro Area as a whole. Prices are regional — people shop, commute and rent across a metropolitan area rather than within a city boundary — so this describes the cost of living around this place better than a figure drawn to its own limits would.

Rent as a share of income
30.1%
Above the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
3.7×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Median gross rent
$1,687
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$497,500
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against Rockingham County’s median household income of $118,331, which describes the place rather than you. Enter your own and the ratio is recomputed against it. It stays in this browser.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Cost of living indexthe Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH Metro Area’s figure2023110.4Bottom 6%of 8872023
Home price change (1 year)the Rockingham County-Strafford County, NH Metropolitan Division’s figure2026 Q2+3.8%57th percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price change (5 years)the Rockingham County-Strafford County, NH Metropolitan Division’s figure2026 Q2+53.5%84th percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price change (10 years)the Rockingham County-Strafford County, NH Metropolitan Division’s figure2026 Q2+118.4%87th percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price to income ±0.12024 ACS 5-Year3.7Bottom 16%of 3,2172024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±0.8%2024 ACS 5-Year78.4%73rd percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±932024 ACS 5-Year137,79493rd percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Median gross rent ±$462024 ACS 5-Year$1,687Bottom 5%of 3,2152024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$6,1912024 ACS 5-Year$497,50096th percentileof 3,2192024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$1092024 ACS 5-Year$7,83999th percentileof 3,1722024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$3,8152024 ACS 5-Year$136,086Top 2%of 3,2182024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.03%2024 ACS 5-Year1.58%92nd percentileof 3,1262024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year30.1%Bottom 27%of 3,2162024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±5862024 ACS 5-Year5,43195th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year3.9%60th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year3.5%4th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±8152024 ACS 5-Year10,22491st percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year

These measures come from the same ACS release as the income they are compared with. They compare housing cost with local earnings only: transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes are not in them. How to read affordability, the two rent figures and the cost-of-living index.

Development Momentum

71/ 100
Top 13% of 1,453 published county profiles
Permitting has been rising for the last 2 years of a series running from 2020 to 2025. That is the direction of the recent run. The chart below compares the first year with the last, which can point the other way.

An AreaProfile calculation combining permit volume per resident, its direction over one and three years, population change and employment growth. Permit volume alone is not the measure.

Population has grown 2% since 2020, reaching 322,433 in 2024.

Federal tax returns show Rockingham County gained about 0.4% of its residents through moves within the US in the most recent year, counting those who arrived against those who left. Households that moved in reported an average income of $124,229, above the $92,958 of households that moved out.

At 5.8 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is above the median for measured US counties.

Units permitted
1,866
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
5.8
Top 23% nationally
Year over year
+21%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
33.8%
units in 5+ unit buildings

Population, annual estimates

20202021202220232024322k315k
Census Population Estimates Program, July 1 of each year. These annual estimates are designed for year-over-year comparison, unlike the ACS five-year figure shown as this profile's population. It has been rising for the last 4 years, over a series running from 2020 to 2024.

People moving in and out

Net migration
+0.4%
of residents, in a year
Arrivals from another state
67%
of people moving in
Income of arrivals
$124,229
average per tax return
Income of those who left
$92,958
average per tax return

Where newcomers came from

  1. Essex County, MA 2,649 people · 18% of arrivals
  2. Hillsborough County, NH 2,568 people · 17% of arrivals
  3. Middlesex County, MA 1,689 people · 11% of arrivals
  4. Strafford County, NH 1,140 people · 7.7% of arrivals
  5. Merrimack County, NH 584 people · 3.9% of arrivals

Where people who left went

  1. Hillsborough County, NH 2,520 people · 18% of departures
  2. Strafford County, NH 1,515 people · 11% of departures
  3. Essex County, MA 1,280 people · 9.3% of departures
  4. Middlesex County, MA 827 people · 6.0% of departures
  5. Merrimack County, NH 720 people · 5.2% of departures

Based on the address on federal tax returns, compared with the same filers a year earlier. It counts people who file, and sees a move only when the address on a return changes. Domestic moves only: people arriving from abroad are left out. IRS Statistics of Income, filing years 2022–2023.

Housing units permitted per year

2020202120222023202420252k807
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was higher than 2020 (+63%).

Weather & climate

4 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 81°F and January a low of 14°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 47.0 inches.

Air quality measures a median index of 38, in the Good band, and one day a year passes 100, the threshold at which the air is unhealthy for sensitive groups.

0°20°40°60°80°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station DURHAM 2 SSW, 11.3 miles from this location.

Precipitation

JFMAMJJASOND4.6"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
90th percentile air quality index2024 calendar year562024 calendar year
Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals47.0"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals14°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high1991-2020 Normals81°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals41991-2020 Normals
Days above AQI 1002024 calendar year12024 calendar year
Median air quality index2024 calendar year382024 calendar year
Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals46°F1991-2020 Normals

Air quality

Median air quality index
38
Good on a typical day
Worst tenth of days
56
90th percentile index
Days above 100
1
unhealthy for sensitive groups

A comfortable median and a bad tail are different problems. Wildfire smoke and summer ozone show up in the worst tenth of days, not in the middle of the year.

Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. Air quality is measured by EPA monitors and published by county only where a monitor sits; a county without one shows nothing rather than an estimate, and a county reading is still the county’s. How to read climate and air quality.

Physical risk

60 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are inland flooding, coastal flooding and earthquake, with inland flooding alone responsible for 60% of it.

Coastal floodingHigh
Ice stormModerate
Inland floodingModerate
EarthquakeHigh
HurricaneModerate
DroughtModerate
LightningModerate
LandslideModerate
Heat waveModerate

Low or minimal exposure: tornado, strong wind, winter weather, cold wave, wildfire, hail, avalanche, tsunami, volcanic activity.

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). These are FEMA’s own figures for this county rather than a value derived from surrounding geographies. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

These are deaths, not offenses — they say nothing about burglary, theft or assault.

Rockingham County has a modeled homicide rate of about 1.1 per 100,000 residents a year, because the CDC suppresses counts this small, lower than most counties measured. The CDC does not publish this below county level.

Firearm deaths of all intents run at 7.5 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, since the figure counts suicides and accidents as well as homicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at 7.8 per 100,000 residents in Rockingham County.

Homicide
1.1
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Firearm deaths, all intents
7.5
per 100,000 residents
Drug overdose
7.8
per 100,000 residents
Suicide
13.4
per 100,000 residents

Firearm deaths count every intent together, and nationally the majority are suicides rather than homicides, so the firearm figure and the homicide figure above it count some of the same deaths twice over. They overlap and should not be added together.

Death rates are crude rates — deaths divided by population, not adjusted for age — except where a count was too small for the CDC to publish and it modeled the rate, which the card marks. They come from provisional death certificate records, published by the CDC by county and not below it. So they describe Rockingham County as a whole. They are shown and not scored. How to read death rates.

What this profile does not cover

Each of these is absent for a reason, not by oversight. The Area Score is calculated without them; the weighting is on the methodology page.

Reported crime
Offenses reported to police are published by department rather than by town, so AreaProfile shows a rate only on city profiles, and only where that city’s department submitted every month of a year. City profiles inside this area carry their own figure where their department reported a full year. A partial year is never scaled up to look complete, and arrest counts or news volume are never substituted for it.
Taxes
Income and sales taxes are not published: no source covers them nationally with a method open enough to check. Property taxes are shown in the housing section but are not part of the score. The cost-of-living index above is a price level for all consumption, not a household budget, and it excludes taxes. Nothing here is individualized tax advice.
Anything about a specific address
Every figure describes an area, not a street or a house.

Access

4 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest Manchester Boston Rgnl at 17 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±0.5%2024 ACS 5-Year95.0%Top 2%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle17 miTop 22%of 1,463NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle4Top 43%of 1,463NASR current cycle
No internet access ±0.4%2024 ACS 5-Year3.2%Top 2%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Manchester Boston RgnlMHT17 mi9,250 ft
General Edward Lawrence Logan IntlBOS43 mi10,083 ft
Rhode Island TF Green IntlPVD89 mi8,700 ft

Airport identity, position and runway data come from the FAA. “Major airport” is an AreaProfile classification — a public-use civil airport with a paved runway of at least 8,000 feet — not an FAA hub designation. Distances are straight-line, not driving distance.

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Area Score
72
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Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource period
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle
Physical riskFederal Emergency Management Agency
National Risk Index
National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0)
Demographics, IncomeInternal Revenue Service, Statistics of Income Division
U.S. Population Migration Data (county to county)
filing years 2022–2023
ClimateNOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly)
1991-2020 Normals
Housing, IncomeU.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis
Regional price parities and county personal income
2023
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
July 2026
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026
Access, Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-Year
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimate
SafetyU.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics
Provisional county-level mortality by intent
March 2025 to February 2026; May 2025 to April 2026
SchoolsU.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics
Common Core of Data and EDFacts assessments
2018-19 school year; 2024-25 school year
ClimateU.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Air Quality System
Daily Air Quality Index by county
2024 calendar year
HousingU.S. Federal Housing Finance Agency
House Price Index (traditional, all-transactions)
2026 Q2
Current conditionsNOAA National Weather Service
National Weather Service current conditions
Live observation, read when the page opens

Profile recalculated October 8, 2026. Recalculation is not the same as new source data — each figure above shows the period its source actually covers. Read the full methodology, or every source with how often each updates.

ZIP areas

Only ZIP areas whose income or home value differ from their city’s by at least ten percent get a profile of their own, so this is a selection rather than every ZIP code in the county.