03868 — Rochester, New Hampshire
Area Profile
Income, jobs, climate, physical risk and development data for ZIP code 03868.
03868 ranks in the top 12% of published ZIP profiles for employment opportunity, with unemployment at 2.2% and median household income of $81,530.
Residential permitting has slowed: 146 units authorized over the past twelve months, 24% below the prior year.
Housing is more affordable relative to local incomes than in most published city profiles: rent takes 18% of median household income and the median home is 3.3 times it.
At a glance
Jobs & opportunity
Unemployment of 2.2% is lower than 100% of the 6,544 measured US ZIP areas.
Employment held steady over the past year, at 18,837 employed residents.
| Metric | Value | Compared nationally | Source period |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income ±$14,149 | $81,530 | Top 36%of 31,295 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Per capita income ±$3,959 | $39,695 | Top 40%of 32,822 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Poverty rate | 3.0% | Bottom 11%of 32,970 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Average commute | 24.8 min | Bottom 34%of 32,887 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Bachelor's degree or higher | 29.2% | Top 36%of 33,193 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Employment | 18,837 | Bottom 17%of 6,544 | June 2026 |
| Employment change (3 years) | 1.2% | Top 34%of 6,542 | June 2026 |
| Employment change (year over year) | -0.0% | Top 30%of 6,544 | June 2026 |
| Labor force | 19,254 | Bottom 16%of 6,544 | June 2026 |
| Labor force participation | 59.4% | Bottom 45%of 33,252 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Mean annual wage | $89,620 | Top 8%of 6,072 | 2025 OEWS |
| Median annual wage | $66,620 | Top 8%of 6,072 | 2025 OEWS |
| Unemployment change (year over year) | -0.6% | Bottom 15%of 6,544 | June 2026 |
| Unemployment rate | 2.2% | Bottom 1%of 6,544 | June 2026 |
| Occupation | People employed | Median annual wage |
|---|---|---|
| Home Health and Personal Care Aides | 72,420 | $40,910 |
| General and Operations Managers | 70,950 | $133,800 |
| Registered Nurses | 64,240 | $106,180 |
| Retail Salespersons | 64,150 | $36,850 |
| Fast Food and Counter Workers | 60,130 | $36,290 |
| Janitors and Cleaners, Except Maids and Housekeeping Cleaners | 43,160 | $46,550 |
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 does not publish labor-force data for ZIP areas. This is the figure for Rochester, NH, the city containing this ZIP code.
Schools
How it’s calculated →There are 10.3 students for every full-time teacher, fewer than in most measured places.
| School | District | Students | Per teacher | Math | Reading |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| East Rochester School | Rochester School District | 300 | 10.3 | 41% | 43% |
29.7% of students here are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. That describes the circumstances families arrive with rather than how the schools perform, which is why AreaProfile shows it and does not score it.
Public schools only, from the NCES Common Core of Data. Schools are placed by ZIP code, so this is which schools are in this place rather than which one a particular address is zoned for — district boundaries do not follow municipal ones, and enrollment zones change. Fully virtual schools are excluded: they enroll students from across the state while reporting one administrative address, and counting them here would describe a school population this place does not have. The assessment covers grades 3 through 8, so a high school shows no proficiency figure — a dash in those columns means the test was not given at that school, not that it performed badly. Proficiency is measured against New Hampshire’s own standard, so it compares cleanly within the state and only broadly against other states; AreaProfile therefore ranks it within state. The directory is current, while the proficiency figures are from the last school year with national coverage before the pandemic interrupted testing.
Housing & affordability
How it’s calculated →Prices for everything a household buys run about 10% above the national average, on the Bureau of Economic Analysis index. Housing drives most of that difference.
Median rent of $1,203 takes 18% of median household income, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened.
A median home costs 3.3 times median household income here, above the historic benchmark of about three times income.
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.
| Metric | Value | Compared nationally | Source period |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cost of living index | 110.4 | Top 19%of 6,071 | 2023 |
| Home price to income | 3.30 | Top 45%of 30,404 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Homeownership rate | 78.1% | Bottom 48%of 32,910 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Housing units ±300 | 2,565 | Top 38%of 33,772 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Median gross rent ±$222 | $1,203 | Top 35%of 26,618 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Median home value ±$18,501 | $268,800 | Top 38%of 30,941 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Rent as a share of income | 17.7% | Top 50%of 26,470 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Vacancy rate | 3.6% | Bottom 15%of 33,028 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
Both affordability measures come from the same ACS release as the income they are compared with, so the comparison is like for like. They describe housing cost against local earnings and are not a cost-of-living index — transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes are not included, and a place can look affordable here and still be expensive to live in for reasons this does not capture.
Growth & development
How it’s calculated →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.
At 4.4 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is above the median for measured US ZIP areas.
The Building Permits Survey is not published for ZIP areas. This is the figure for Rochester, NH, the city containing this ZIP code.
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.
| Metric | Value | Source period |
|---|---|---|
| Annual precipitation | 41.2" | 1991-2020 Normals |
| Average January low | 15°F | 1991-2020 Normals |
| Average July high | 82°F | 1991-2020 Normals |
| Comfortable months | 5 | 1991-2020 Normals |
| Seasonal temperature swing | 47°F | 1991-2020 Normals |
Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. They describe what a typical year looks like rather than what the weather is doing today.
Physical risk
The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are inland flooding, earthquake and hurricane.
Low or minimal exposure: landslide, winter weather, coastal flooding, strong wind, tornado, cold wave, wildfire, hail.
Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). FEMA publishes at county level. ZIP values are the land-area-weighted mean of the counties the ZIP Code Tabulation Area intersects. Expected annual loss is not allocated below county level. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.
Safety
How it’s measured →These are deaths, not offences — they say nothing about burglary, theft or assault.
Strafford County records 1.8 homicide deaths per 100,000 residents a year, lower than most counties measured. The CDC does not publish this below county level.
Firearm deaths of all intents run at 15.0 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, because nationally most firearm deaths are suicides.
Drug overdose deaths run at 22.5 per 100,000 residents in Strafford County.
Firearm deaths count every intent together, and nationally the majority are suicides rather than homicides. The two columns overlap and should not be added.
Age-adjusted rates from provisional death certificate records, published by the CDC for Strafford County as a whole — these rates are not published below county level. A county can hold both a dense city centre and a suburb whose experience of it is nothing alike, so this describes the county around 03868 rather than 03868 itself. That is why AreaProfile shows these figures and does not put them in the Area Score. Where fewer than ten deaths were recorded the count is suppressed at source, and a rate built on single figures moves sharply between releases. What this measure has that reported crime does not: a death certificate is filed whether or not the local police agency submitted a return that year, so the figures stay comparable between places and over time.
What this profile does not cover
Three things people look for are missing from every AreaProfile page, and each is missing for a reason rather than by oversight. The Area Score is calculated without them and the weighting is documented on the methodology page.
- Reported crime
- Offences reported to police are published by department rather than by town, and only where a department reported every month of the year. No municipal department reports for this place — many smaller communities are policed by the county — so there is no figure to show. A partial year is never scaled up to look complete, and arrest counts or news volume are never substituted for it.
- Taxes
- Taxes are not published: no source covers them nationally with a method open enough to check. Cost of living now is — the index above is the Bureau of Economic Analysis price parity for this area — but it is a price level for all consumption rather than a budget for a household, its spread is driven mostly by housing, and it excludes taxes. Housing affordability is computed separately from rent, price and income, because that answers a narrower and more actionable question. Nothing here is individualised tax advice.
- Anything about a specific address
- Every figure describes an area, not a street or a house. School attendance zones, insurance pricing and the character of a neighbourhood all vary within the places measured here.
Access
2 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest 37 miles away.
| Airport | Code | Distance | Longest runway |
|---|---|---|---|
| Manchester Boston Rgnl | MHT | 37 mi | 9,250 ft |
| General Edward Lawrence Logan Intl | BOS | 67 mi | 10,083 ft |
| Rhode Island TF Green Intl | PVD | 113 mi | 8,700 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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Data & methodology
| Used for | Source | Source period | Updated |
|---|---|---|---|
| Access | Federal Aviation Administration Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service | NASR current cycle | 28-day NASR cycle |
| Physical risk | Federal Emergency Management Agency National Risk Index | National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0) | Periodic dataset versions (v1.20.0 current) |
| Climate | NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly) | 1991-2020 Normals | Every ten years (next release follows the 2001–2030 period) |
| Housing | U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis Regional price parities and county personal income | 2023 | Annually, each December |
| Jobs | U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Local Area Unemployment Statistics | June 2026 | Monthly |
| Jobs | U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics | 2025 OEWS | Annual (spring release) |
| Development | U.S. Census Bureau Building Permits Survey | 12 months ending July 2026 | Monthly, roughly three weeks after the reference month |
| Demographics | U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program | July 1, 2024 estimate | Annual (vintage released each spring) |
| Demographics, Housing, Income, Jobs | U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File) | 2024 ACS 5-Year | Annual (5-year estimates released each December) |
| safety | U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics Provisional county-level mortality by intent | April, 2025 to March, 2026 | Quarterly, with a rolling twelve-month window alongside complete calendar years |
| schools | U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics Common Core of Data and EDFacts assessments | 2024-25 school year | Directory annually; assessment results as EDFacts releases them |
Profile recalculated August 30, 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 browse every source.
03868 vs Rochester
How this ZIP area compares with Rochester as a whole. Both figures come from the same ACS release, so the comparison is like for like.
Some demographic statistics use Census ZIP Code Tabulation Areas, which approximate but do not exactly match USPS ZIP delivery geography. See the methodology for how AreaProfile maps between them.