Rochester, New Hampshire

Area Profile

33,144 residents. Public schools, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Rochester, in Strafford County.

66out of 100
Area Score
Top 26% of 4,196 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 14 sources
OpportunityTop 7% of 4,199 cities measured81
Schools2,353rd of 4,162 cities measured44
GrowthTop 37% of 4,224 cities measured56
Housing affordabilityTop 23% of 4,218 cities measured76
Climate3,662nd of 4,225 cities measured60
Physical resilienceTop 44% of 4,226 cities measured63
Access3,379th of 4,226 cities measured79
Economic stabilityTop 36% of 4,226 cities measured65
The quick read

Rochester ranks in the top 7% of cities measured for employment opportunity, with unemployment at 2.5% and median household income of $80,836.

In the public schools here, 43% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 11.6 students for every teacher.

Residential permitting has slowed: 146 units authorized over the past twelve months, 24% 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
33,144
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$80,836
Top 32% nationally
Density
736/sq mi
45 sq mi of land
Median age
43.0
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
New Hampshire
Nearest major airport
MHT
34 mi · Manchester Boston Rgnl
Median home value
$279,100
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 2.5%, lower than in 99% of the 4,226 measured US cities.

Employment grew 0.8% over the past year, to 18,991 employed residents.

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
Median household income ±$3,2482024 ACS 5-Year$80,836Top 32%of 29,2232024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$2,2442024 ACS 5-Year$42,462Top 28%of 31,4202024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year8.3%Top 40%of 31,7732024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±1.6 min2024 ACS 5-Year28.0 minBottom 43%of 31,5432024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year27.1%Top 35%of 31,9192024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±4%2024 ACS 5-Year78.0%53rd percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentJuly 202618,991Bottom 21%of 4,226July 2026
Employment change (3 years)July 2026+1.9%Top 21%of 4,226July 2026
Employment change (year over year)July 2026+0.8%Top 20%of 4,226July 2026
Labor forceJuly 202619,48321st percentileof 4,226July 2026
Labor force participation ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year83.5%Top 30%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 ±0.7%2024 ACS 5-Year1.1%85th percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)July 2026−0.4%Top 32%of 4,226July 2026
Unemployment rateJuly 20262.5%Top 1%of 4,226July 2026
Worked from home ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year11.8%67th percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year

Unemployment rate

2021/072022/072023/072024/072025/072026/073.31.6
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 2.5% 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

202120222023202481k71k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $80,836 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.

43% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 49% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 11.6 students for every full-time teacher across 10 public schools, fewer than in most measured places.

Public schools
10
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
11.6
across all schools here
Math proficiency
42.5%
Bottom 36% in New Hampshire
Reading proficiency
49.3%
Bottom 29% in New Hampshire
All 10 public schools on record, largest first.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Spaulding High SchoolRochester School District1,29813.229%45%
Rochester Middle SchoolRochester School District80313.435%47%
Chamberlain Street SchoolRochester School District3169.652%45%
McClelland SchoolRochester School District3109.437%47%
East Rochester SchoolRochester School District30010.362%62%
William Allen SchoolRochester School District2809.067%57%
Gonic SchoolRochester School District21110.667%57%
Maple Street Magnet SchoolRochester School District11411.485%65%
Bud Carlson AcademyRochester School District9619.2——
School Street SchoolRochester School District507.135%55%

33.9% 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 $5,334 a year in real estate taxes, about 1.91% 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 $1,369 a month.

A median home at $279,100 costs 3.0 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $94,248, close to the historic benchmark for an affordable market.

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
28.6%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
3.0×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Median gross rent
$1,369
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$279,100
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against Rochester’s median household income of $80,836, 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
Home price to income ±0.42024 ACS 5-Year3.0Bottom 36%of 26,8152024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year66.0%30th percentileof 31,7172024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±4692024 ACS 5-Year14,69896th percentileof 32,1772024 ACS 5-Year
Median gross rent ±$722024 ACS 5-Year$1,369Bottom 24%of 23,1202024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$10,2412024 ACS 5-Year$279,10069th percentileof 29,1112024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$2302024 ACS 5-Year$5,33491st percentileof 26,4402024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$10,7292024 ACS 5-Year$94,248Top 32%of 27,5482024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.11%2024 ACS 5-Year1.91%91st percentileof 20,5432024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year28.6%Bottom 48%of 22,9502024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±1032024 ACS 5-Year8588th percentileof 32,3302024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year0.6%58th percentileof 31,8952024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year4.6%37th percentileof 31,7692024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±2432024 ACS 5-Year76693rd 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

56/ 100
Top 37% of 4,224 published city profiles
The most recent move in permitting was broadly flat, in 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 3% since 2020, reaching 33,598 in 2024.

Federal tax returns show Strafford County, which contains Rochester, 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 4.4 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is above the median for measured US cities.

Units permitted
146
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
4.4
Top 32% nationally
Year over year
−24%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
41.8%
units in 5+ unit buildings

Population, annual estimates

2020202120222023202434k33k
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 holding roughly steady, 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
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.

Housing units permitted per year

20202021202220232024202521971
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was higher than 2020 (+201%).

Weather & climate

5 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 82°F and January a low of 15°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 41.2 inches.

0°20°40°60°80°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station ROCHESTER SKYHAVEN AP, 3.1 miles from this location.

Precipitation

JFMAMJJASOND4.4"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals41.2"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals15°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high1991-2020 Normals82°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals51991-2020 Normals
Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals47°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
106
per 100,000 residents · 2025 calendar year
Property crime
1,235
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.

Rochester's police department reported 106 violent offenses per 100,000 residents, lower than most places with a department reporting. Property crime runs at 1,235.

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.

Offenses are reported to the FBI by Rochester’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 Rochester (Strafford County) rather than Rochester 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.

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 34 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±0.8%2024 ACS 5-Year93.2%Top 34%of 31,5882024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle34 miBottom 23%of 4,226NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle2Bottom 8%of 4,226NASR current cycle
No internet access ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year5.2%Top 38%of 31,5882024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Manchester Boston RgnlMHT34 mi9,250 ft
General Edward Lawrence Logan IntlBOS65 mi10,083 ft
Westover ARB/MetroCEF110 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.

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Area Score
66
Your Score
—

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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 Rochester
CambridgeMiddlesex County118,79670Cambridge vs Rochester
LowellMiddlesex County118,36860Lowell vs Rochester
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 Rochester side by side with a similar place.

Rochester vs CartersvilleRochester vs Somersworth

Moving to Rochester 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
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimate
Access, 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 Rochester

3 ZIP areas

Every ZIP area in Rochester 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 Rochester 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
0386722,732$78,674$273,900—
038686,133$81,530$268,800—
038394,279$88,346$335,60070