Nashua, New Hampshire

Area Profile

91,294 residents. Public schools, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Nashua, in Hillsborough County.

62out of 100
Area Score
Top 40% of 4,196 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 15 sources
OpportunityTop 13% of 4,199 cities measured77
SchoolsTop 46% of 4,162 cities measured52
Growth3,498th of 4,224 cities measured32
Housing affordabilityTop 35% of 4,218 cities measured72
Climate3,484th of 4,225 cities measured61
Physical resilience2,288th of 4,226 cities measured53
AccessTop 23% of 4,226 cities measured97
Economic stabilityTop 28% of 4,226 cities measured68
The quick read

Nashua ranks in the top 13% of cities measured for employment opportunity, with unemployment at 3.4% and median household income of $96,326.

In the public schools here, 44% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 12.3 students for every teacher.

Residential permitting has slowed: 113 units authorized over the past twelve months, 31% below the prior year.

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
91,294
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$96,326
Top 20% nationally
Density
2,961/sq mi
30.8 sq mi of land
Median age
40.0
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
New Hampshire
Nearest major airport
MHT
13 mi · Manchester Boston Rgnl
Median home value
$403,900
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 3.4%, lower than in 84% of the 4,226 measured US cities.

Employment grew 0.5% over the past year, to 50,314 employed residents.

41% of adults hold a four-year degree, higher than 82% of measured US cities.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Income of new arrivalsHillsborough County, NH’s figurefiling years 2022–2023$84,95666th percentileof 4,101filing years 2022–2023
Income of those who leftHillsborough County, NH’s figurefiling years 2022–2023$86,33872nd percentileof 4,101filing years 2022–2023
Median household income ±$5,0402024 ACS 5-Year$96,326Top 20%of 29,2232024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$1,8952024 ACS 5-Year$52,564Top 15%of 31,4202024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year7.7%Top 37%of 31,7732024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±1.0 min2024 ACS 5-Year28.2 minBottom 42%of 31,5432024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year41.2%Top 18%of 31,9192024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year69.5%27th percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentJuly 202650,314Bottom 47%of 4,226July 2026
Employment change (3 years)July 2026+0.2%Top 43%of 4,226July 2026
Employment change (year over year)July 2026+0.5%Top 28%of 4,226July 2026
Labor forceJuly 202652,10547th percentileof 4,226July 2026
Labor force participation ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year84.3%Top 27%of 31,5132024 ACS 5-Year
Mean annual wageManchester-Nashua, NH Metro Area’s figure2025 OEWS$72,800Top 36%of 3,7292025 OEWS
Median annual wageManchester-Nashua, NH Metro Area’s figure2025 OEWS$56,530Top 29%of 3,7292025 OEWS
Public transit to work ±0.5%2024 ACS 5-Year1.3%86th percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)July 2026−0.3%Top 37%of 4,226July 2026
Unemployment rateJuly 20263.4%Top 16%of 4,226July 2026
Worked from home ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year17.4%81st percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year

Unemployment rate

2021/072022/072023/072024/072025/072026/075.02.4
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 3.4% 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

202120222023202496k79k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $96,326 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 — Manchester-Nashua, NH

OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
Retail Salespersons6,660$35,350
Registered Nurses5,210$98,600
General and Operations Managers4,990$124,990
Cashiers4,880$31,700
Customer Service Representatives4,680$49,630
Fast Food and Counter Workers4,440$31,120

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.

44% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 54% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 12.3 students for every full-time teacher across 22 public schools, fewer than in most measured places.

Public schools
23
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
12.3
across 22 of them
Math proficiency
44.0%
Bottom 43% in New Hampshire
Reading proficiency
54.0%
Bottom 43% in New Hampshire
The 12 largest of 23 public schools, by enrollment.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Nashua High School SouthNashua School District1,68612.834%57%
Nashua High School NorthNashua School District1,54313.034%59%
Pennichuck Middle SchoolNashua School District76811.633%43%
Fairgrounds Middle SchoolNashua School District58512.229%39%
Bicentennial Elementary SchoolNashua School District48112.767%68%
Ledge Street SchoolNashua School District45411.123%31%
Fairgrounds Elementary SchoolNashua School District44513.141%45%
Academy for Science and Design Charter (M) · charterAcademy for Science and Design Charter School40815.786%88%
Charlotte Ave Elementary SchoolNashua School District36211.761%57%
Dr. Norman W. Crisp SchoolNashua School District36110.022%27%
Main Dunstable SchoolNashua School District35913.872%67%
Sunset Heights SchoolNashua School District35611.951%48%

37.1% 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 6% above the national average — the Bureau of Economic Analysis index reads 105.6, 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 Manchester-Nashua, NH Metro Area is up 52% over five years, and up 4.8% 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 $6,799 a year in real estate taxes, about 1.68% of the median home value.

The typical renter household here spends 29% of its income on rent, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $1,737 a month.

A median home at $403,900 costs 3.3 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $121,066, above the historic benchmark of about 3 times income.

Cost of living
105.6

Prices here run about 6% above the national average. The spread between places is driven mostly by housing — goods vary far less — and this excludes taxes.

Published for the Manchester-Nashua, 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
28.7%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
3.3×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Median gross rent
$1,737
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$403,900
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against Nashua’s median household income of $96,326, 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 Manchester-Nashua, NH Metro Area’s figure2023105.6Bottom 33%of 3,7002023
Home price change (1 year)the Manchester-Nashua, NH Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+4.8%76th percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price change (5 years)the Manchester-Nashua, NH Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+52.4%86th percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price change (10 years)the Manchester-Nashua, NH Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+117.7%84th percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price to income ±0.22024 ACS 5-Year3.3Bottom 27%of 26,8152024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year55.8%15th percentileof 31,7172024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±8402024 ACS 5-Year38,76099th percentileof 32,1772024 ACS 5-Year
Median gross rent ±$412024 ACS 5-Year$1,737Bottom 13%of 23,1202024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$10,8312024 ACS 5-Year$403,90083rd percentileof 29,1112024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$1382024 ACS 5-Year$6,79996th percentileof 26,4402024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$6,0522024 ACS 5-Year$121,066Top 15%of 27,5482024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.06%2024 ACS 5-Year1.68%85th percentileof 20,5432024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year28.7%Bottom 48%of 22,9502024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±1212024 ACS 5-Year20694th percentileof 32,3302024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year0.5%57th percentileof 31,8952024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year3.7%31st percentileof 31,7692024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±4232024 ACS 5-Year1,62697th 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

32/ 100
Ranks 3,498 of 4,224 published city profiles
Permitting has been falling 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 1% since 2020, reaching 91,851 in 2024.

Federal tax returns show that people moving in from elsewhere in the US and people moving out roughly balanced across Hillsborough County, which contains Nashua, in the most recent year. Households that moved in reported an average income of $84,956, close to the $86,338 of households that moved out.

At 1.2 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is below the median for measured US cities.

Units permitted
113
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
1.2
Bottom 29% nationally
Year over year
−31%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
52.2%
units in 5+ unit buildings

Population, annual estimates

2020202120222023202492k91k
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 2 years, over a series running from 2020 to 2024.

People moving in and out

Net migration
−0.1%
of residents, in a year
Arrivals from another state
69%
of people moving in
Income of arrivals
$84,956
average per tax return
Income of those who left
$86,338
average per tax return

Where newcomers came from

  1. Middlesex County, MA 3,235 people · 18% of arrivals
  2. Rockingham County, NH 2,520 people · 14% of arrivals
  3. Merrimack County, NH 1,573 people · 8.9% of arrivals
  4. Essex County, MA 1,041 people · 5.9% of arrivals
  5. Worcester County, MA 547 people · 3.1% of arrivals

Where people who left went

  1. Rockingham County, NH 2,568 people · 14% of departures
  2. Merrimack County, NH 2,121 people · 12% of departures
  3. Middlesex County, MA 1,666 people · 9.3% of departures
  4. Essex County, MA 627 people · 3.5% of departures
  5. Cheshire County, NH 537 people · 3.0% 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 Hillsborough County, NH. IRS Statistics of Income, filing years 2022–2023.

Housing units permitted per year

20202021202220232024202536931
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was higher than 2020 (+100%).

Weather & climate

5 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 84°F and January a low of 17°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 40.4 inches.

Air quality measures a median index of 37, in the Good band, and no day in the year passed 100.

10°30°50°70°90°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station MANCHESTER AP, 13.0 miles from this location.

Precipitation

JFMAMJJASOND4.0"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
90th percentile air quality index2024 calendar year512024 calendar year
Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals40.4"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals17°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high1991-2020 Normals84°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals51991-2020 Normals
Days above AQI 1002024 calendar year02024 calendar year
Median air quality index2024 calendar year372024 calendar year
Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals48°F1991-2020 Normals

Air quality

Median air quality index
37
Good on a typical day
Worst tenth of days
51
90th percentile index
Days above 100
0
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

53 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are inland flooding, hurricane and tornado, with inland flooding alone responsible for 63% of it. Tornado is independently rated low or minimal nationally, so this describes how the loss is composed, not how large that hazard is.

Ice stormModerate
LightningModerate
Inland floodingModerate
HurricaneElevated
EarthquakeElevated
LandslideModerate
Heat waveModerate
DroughtModerate

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

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
110
per 100,000 residents · 2025 calendar year
Property crime
1,030
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.

Nashua's police department reported 110 violent offenses per 100,000 residents, lower than most places with a department reporting. Property crime runs at 1,030.

Hillsborough County has a modeled homicide rate of about 1.3 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 8.9 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, since the figure counts suicides and accidents as well as homicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at 20.1 per 100,000 residents in Hillsborough County.

Homicide
1.3
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Firearm deaths, all intents
8.9
per 100,000 residents
Drug overdose
20.1
per 100,000 residents
Suicide
16.8
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.

Offenses are reported to the FBI by Nashua’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 Nashua (Hillsborough County) rather than Nashua 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. The Area Score is calculated without them; the weighting is on the methodology 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

6 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest Manchester Boston Rgnl at 13 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year93.3%Top 33%of 31,5882024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle13 miTop 36%of 4,226NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle6Top 27%of 4,226NASR current cycle
No internet access ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year5.5%Top 39%of 31,5882024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Manchester Boston RgnlMHT13 mi9,250 ft
General Edward Lawrence Logan IntlBOS36 mi10,083 ft
Westover ARB/MetroCEF66 mi11,597 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.

Customize your score

What matters to you?

Choose what you weight most heavily. Nothing is saved to an account — your preferences stay in this browser, and the Area Score never changes.

Area Score
62
Your Score
—

Select one or more priorities to see how this location scores against them.

Other cities in Manchester-Nashua, NH

Same metropolitan area, measured the same way
CityCountyPopulationArea ScoreCompare
ManchesterHillsborough County115,64357Manchester vs Nashua

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 Nashua side by side with a similar place.

Nashua vs RowlettNashua vs Orem

Moving to Nashua 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
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
July 2026
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics
2025 OEWS
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
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026
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 codes in Nashua

4 ZIP areas

Every ZIP area in Nashua 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 Nashua 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
0306031,657$79,855$362,60061
0306229,441$107,540$436,60064
0306315,805$107,630$391,40064
0306414,391$96,393$423,200—