Durham, New Hampshire

Area Profile

10,681 residents. Public schools, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Durham, in Strafford County.

Area Score unavailable

Missing required signal: opportunity. AreaProfile withholds a score rather than inferring the missing dimensions.

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 13 sources
SchoolsTop 1% of 4,162 cities measured99
GrowthTop 29% of 4,224 cities measured60
Climate3,681st of 4,225 cities measured59
Physical resilienceTop 44% of 4,226 cities measured63
Access3,218th of 4,226 cities measured82
Economic stabilityTop 15% of 4,226 cities measured74
The quick read

Public schools test above most of the state: 72% of students met the mathematics standard, placing the area in the top 1% of published profiles for schools.

552 housing units were authorized over the past twelve months, within 10% of the prior year — steady rather than turning. The permit count and 1 other measure here are published for Strafford County, NH, which contains Durham, rather than for Durham alone.

A typical July reaches 81°F and a typical January falls to 15°F, on thirty-year normals.

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
10,681
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
—
Density
3,531/sq mi
3 sq mi of land
Median age
20.1
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
New Hampshire
Nearest major airport
MHT
30 mi · Manchester Boston Rgnl
Median home value
$498,000
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment across Strafford County, NH, which contains Durham, is 2.5%, lower than in 99% of the 4,226 measured US cities.

Employment across Strafford County, NH, which contains Durham, grew 0.8% over the past year, to 76,702 employed residents.

75% of adults hold a four-year degree, higher than 98% of measured US cities.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Income of new arrivalsStrafford County, NH’s figurefiling years 2022–2023$71,99949th percentileof 4,101filing years 2022–2023
Income of those who leftStrafford County, NH’s figurefiling years 2022–2023$86,26472nd percentileof 4,101filing years 2022–2023
Per capita income ±$2,5752024 ACS 5-Year$25,585Bottom 22%of 31,4202024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate ±11%2024 ACS 5-Year4.0%Top 19%of 31,7732024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±1.9 min2024 ACS 5-Year18.5 minTop 13%of 31,5432024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±9%2024 ACS 5-Year75.4%Top 2%of 31,9192024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±6%2024 ACS 5-Year43.2%4th percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentStrafford County, NH’s figureJuly 202676,702Top 46%of 4,226July 2026
Employment change (3 years)Strafford County, NH’s figureJuly 2026+2.2%Top 18%of 4,226July 2026
Employment change (year over year)Strafford County, NH’s figureJuly 2026+0.8%Top 20%of 4,226July 2026
Labor forceStrafford County, NH’s figureJuly 202678,65353rd percentileof 4,226July 2026
Labor force participation ±8%2024 ACS 5-Year82.5%Top 33%of 31,5132024 ACS 5-Year
Mean annual wageBoston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH Metro Area’s figure2025 OEWS$89,620Top 10%of 3,7292025 OEWS
Median annual wageBoston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH Metro Area’s figure2025 OEWS$66,620Top 10%of 3,7292025 OEWS
Public transit to work ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year1.1%85th percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)Strafford County, NH’s figureJuly 2026−0.4%Top 32%of 4,226July 2026
Unemployment rateStrafford County, NH’s figureJuly 20262.5%Top 1%of 4,226July 2026
Worked from home ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year15.6%78th percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year

Median household income, successive ACS releases

2021202220232024112k71k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $112,070 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.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes city-level labor data only for places of 25,000 or more. This is the figure for Strafford County, NH, which contains this city.

72% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 81% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 11.3 students for every full-time teacher across 3 public schools, fewer than in most measured places.

Public schools
3
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
11.3
across all schools here
Math proficiency
72.0%
Top 1% in New Hampshire
Reading proficiency
80.8%
Top 1% in New Hampshire
All 3 public schools on record, largest first.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Oyster River High SchoolOyster River Coop School District82512.372%87%
Oyster River Middle SchoolOyster River Coop School District5859.972%72%
Oyster River Preschool Education ProgramOyster River Coop School District3015.0——

8.7% 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.

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
—
Home price to income
—
median home value ÷ owner household income
Median gross rent
—
what tenants now pay ·
Median home value
$498,000
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against Durham’s median household income, 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 22%of 3,7002023
Home price change (1 year)the Rockingham County-Strafford County, NH Metropolitan Division’s figure2026 Q2+3.8%63rd percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price change (5 years)the Rockingham County-Strafford County, NH Metropolitan Division’s figure2026 Q2+53.5%87th percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price change (10 years)the Rockingham County-Strafford County, NH Metropolitan Division’s figure2026 Q2+118.4%84th percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Median home value ±$44,6302024 ACS 5-Year$498,00089th percentileof 29,1112024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes2024 ACS 5-Year$10,000+—2024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$8,0772024 ACS 5-Year$169,517Top 4%of 27,5482024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±672024 ACS 5-Year9088th percentileof 32,3302024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year3.9%78th percentileof 31,8952024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±1552024 ACS 5-Year67192nd percentileof 32,3302024 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

60/ 100
Top 29% of 4,224 published city profiles

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.

Federal tax returns show Strafford County, which contains Durham, 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 $71,999, below the $86,264 of households that moved out.

At 4.2 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is above the median for measured US cities. The permit rate is published for Strafford County, NH, which contains Durham, rather than for Durham alone.

Units permitted
552
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
4.2
Top 34% nationally
Year over year
−10%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
37.7%
units in 5+ unit buildings

People moving in and out

Net migration
+0.4%
of residents, in a year
Arrivals from another state
58%
of people moving in
Income of arrivals
$71,999
average per tax return
Income of those who left
$86,264
average per tax return

Where newcomers came from

  1. Rockingham County, NH 1,515 people · 24% of arrivals
  2. York County, ME 718 people · 11% of arrivals
  3. Hillsborough County, NH 398 people · 6.3% of arrivals
  4. Essex County, MA 327 people · 5.2% of arrivals
  5. Carroll County, NH 236 people · 3.8% of arrivals

Where people who left went

  1. Rockingham County, NH 1,140 people · 19% of departures
  2. York County, ME 849 people · 14% of departures
  3. Carroll County, NH 327 people · 5.6% of departures
  4. Hillsborough County, NH 299 people · 5.1% of departures
  5. Belknap County, NH 212 people · 3.6% 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. This is the figure for Strafford County, NH. IRS Statistics of Income, filing years 2022–2023.

The Census Bureau's Building Permits Survey lists only jurisdictions that issue their own permits, and Durham, NH is not one. This is the figure for Strafford County, NH, which contains this city.

Weather & climate

5 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 15°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 47.8 inches.

0°20°40°60°80°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station DURHAM 2 N, 2.0 miles from this location.

Precipitation

JFMAMJJASOND4.8"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals47.8"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals15°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high1991-2020 Normals81°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals51991-2020 Normals
Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals46°F1991-2020 Normals

Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. How to read climate and air quality.

Physical risk

63 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are inland flooding, earthquake and hurricane, with inland flooding alone responsible for 71% of it.

Ice stormElevated
EarthquakeElevated
HurricaneModerate
Inland floodingModerate
LightningModerate
DroughtModerate
Heat waveModerate

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

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). FEMA publishes at county level. City values are the population-weighted mean of the counties the city overlaps, using AreaProfile place-to-county land-area weights. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

Violent crime
92
per 100,000 residents · 2025 calendar year
Property crime
204
per 100,000 residents · 2025 calendar year

Below these are deaths rather than offenses, published for the county. The two measure different things and are not comparable with each other.

Durham's police department reported 92 violent offenses per 100,000 residents, lower than most places with a department reporting. Property crime runs at 204.

Strafford County has a modeled homicide rate of about 1.9 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 13.5 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, since the figure counts suicides and accidents as well as homicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at 21.8 per 100,000 residents in Strafford County.

Homicide
1.9
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Firearm deaths, all intents
13.5
per 100,000 residents
Drug overdose
21.8
per 100,000 residents
Suicide
21.0
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.

Reported by Durham Police Department for a population of 15,196, across all twelve months of 2025. That department covers a noticeably different population from the 10,681 in this place itself, so it polices an area wider or narrower than the boundary used elsewhere on this page. Offenses are published by police department rather than by town, so this department was matched to this city by name within the state. Reported crime counts what was reported to and recorded by police.

Offenses are reported to the FBI by Durham’s own police department and shown only where it reported every month of the year; a partial year is withheld rather than scaled up. Reported crime is what police recorded, which is not the same as what happened. 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 the county around Durham (Strafford County) rather than Durham itself. Neither is part of the Area Score. How to read crime rates and death rates.

What this profile does not cover

Each of these is absent for a reason, not by oversight. This profile has no Area Score, and that is because of a missing input above rather than anything on this list; the rule is on the methodology page.

Air quality
The EPA publishes an air-quality index only where a monitor sits. There is none in this county, and a modeled value would be a different kind of number from the measured ones everywhere else on this page.
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

2 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest Manchester Boston Rgnl at 30 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle30 miBottom 28%of 4,226NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle2Bottom 8%of 4,226NASR current cycle
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Manchester Boston RgnlMHT30 mi9,250 ft
General Edward Lawrence Logan IntlBOS54 mi10,083 ft
Rhode Island TF Green IntlPVD101 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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Other cities in Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH

Same metropolitan area, measured the same way
CityCountyPopulationArea ScoreCompare
BostonSuffolk County666,44262Boston vs Durham
CambridgeMiddlesex County118,79670Cambridge vs Durham
LowellMiddlesex County118,36860Lowell vs Durham
BrocktonPlymouth County105,38651
QuincyNorfolk County102,11469
LynnEssex County101,70954
NewtonMiddlesex County89,04472
LawrenceEssex County88,73648
SomervilleMiddlesex County81,03666
FraminghamMiddlesex County72,39963
HaverhillEssex County67,69856
MaldenMiddlesex County65,90663

Every city here is measured on the same scale from the same source releases, so the comparison is like for like. A higher Area Score reflects AreaProfile’s standardized weighting rather than a judgment about which is the better place to live.

Compare

Put Durham side by side with a similar place.

Durham vs Steiner RanchDurham vs Murphy

Moving to Durham from somewhere else?

You get the difference in prices, rent and weather, and the income that would keep pace.

Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource period
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle
SafetyFederal Bureau of Investigation, Crime Data Explorer
Summarized offense counts by law enforcement agency
2025 calendar year
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
HousingU.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis
Regional price parities and county personal income
2023
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics
2025 OEWS
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
July 2026
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026
Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-Year
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
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 codes in Durham

1 ZIP area

Every ZIP area in Durham with census figures of its own, largest first. The ones linked below diverge enough from the city as a whole to carry a full profile; the rest track Durham closely, so their figures are here rather than on a page that would repeat this one. An Area Score is calculated for published profiles only, which is why it is blank on those rows.

ZIPPopulationMedian household incomeMedian home valueArea Score
0382415,080$124,056$504,300—