03878Somersworth, New Hampshire

Area Profile

Income, jobs, climate, physical risk and development data for ZIP code 03878.

63out of 100
Area Score
Top 40% of 5,298 published profiles

How we calculate this

How this area ranks
OpportunityTop 13% of 6,210 published ZIP areas75
Schools3036th of 4,422 published ZIP areas37
GrowthTop 46% of 5,428 published ZIP areas53
Housing affordability4040th of 6,685 published ZIP areas73
Climate5854th of 6,789 published ZIP areas60
Physical resilienceTop 44% of 6,709 published ZIP areas63
Access5476th of 6,791 published ZIP areas78
Economic stabilityTop 39% of 6,742 published ZIP areas66
The quick read

03878 ranks in the top 13% of published ZIP profiles for employment opportunity, with unemployment at 2.2% and median household income of $75,136.

In the public schools here, 17% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 11.7 students for every teacher.

34 housing units were authorized over the past twelve months, within 6% of the prior year — steady rather than turning.

At a glance

Population
12,205
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$75,136
Top 45% nationally
Density
1,243/sq mi
9.8 sq mi of land
Median age
38.5
2024 ACS 5-Year
City
Somersworth
New Hampshire
Metro area
Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH
Nearest major airport
MHT
35 mi · Manchester Boston Rgnl
Median home value
$317,900
2024 ACS 5-Year

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 7,250 employed residents.

MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Median household income ±$12,640$75,136Top 45%2024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$3,871$42,408Top 33%2024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate11.2%Top 47%2024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute28.2 minTop 47%2024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher31.3%Top 32%2024 ACS 5-Year
Employment7,250Bottom 1%June 2026
Employment change (3 years)1.2%Top 34%June 2026
Employment change (year over year)-0.0%Top 30%June 2026
Labor force7,416Bottom 1%June 2026
Labor force participation71.4%Top 12%2024 ACS 5-Year
Mean annual wage$89,620Top 8%2025 OEWS
Median annual wage$66,620Top 8%2025 OEWS
Unemployment change (year over year)-0.3%Bottom 31%June 2026
Unemployment rate2.2%Bottom 1%June 2026
Median household income, successive ACS releases
202120222023202480k69k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $75,136 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

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 Somersworth, NH, the city containing this ZIP code.

17% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 30% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 11.7 students for every full-time teacher, fewer than in most measured places.

Public schools
4
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
11.7
across all schools here
Math proficiency
16.9%
Bottom 21% in New Hampshire
Reading proficiency
29.5%
Bottom 26% in New Hampshire
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Somersworth High SchoolSomersworth School District39911.7
Idlehurst Elementary SchoolSomersworth School District34113.1
Somersworth Middle SchoolSomersworth School District2869.922%32%
Maple Wood Elementary SchoolSomersworth School District28512.412%27%

35.6% 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 →

Median rent of $1,479 takes 24% of median household income, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened.

A median home costs 4.2 times median household income here, above the historic benchmark of about three times income.

Rent as a share of income
23.6%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
4.2×
median home value ÷ median income
Median gross rent
$1,479
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$317,900
2024 ACS 5-Year
MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Home price to income4.23Top 25%2024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate58.0%Bottom 14%2024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±3635,690Top 26%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median gross rent ±$135$1,479Top 22%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$23,063$317,900Top 30%2024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income23.6%Top 19%2024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate7.8%Bottom 37%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 →
Development Momentum
53/ 100
Top 46% of 5,428 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.

New construction is predominantly single-family: only 0% of permitted units are in buildings of five or more homes.

At 2.8 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is below the median for measured US ZIP areas.

Units permitted
34
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
2.8
Bottom 49% nationally
Year over year
−6%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
0.0%
units in 5+ unit buildings

The Building Permits Survey is not published for ZIP areas. This is the figure for Somersworth, 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.

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, 2.4 miles from this location.
Precipitation
JFMAMJJASOND4.4"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation41.2"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low15°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high82°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months51991-2020 Normals
Seasonal temperature swing47°F1991-2020 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

63 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are inland flooding, earthquake and hurricane.

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.

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.

These are deaths, not offences. AreaProfile does not publish reported crime, and this is not a substitute for it — it says 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.

Homicide
1.8
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths
Firearm deaths, all intents
15.0
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths
Drug overdose
22.5
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths
Suicide
21.8
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths

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 03878 rather than 03878 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
The FBI’s Crime Data Explorer is the only source for reported offences with national coverage and a published method, and it requires an API key AreaProfile does not hold. Arrest counts, news volume and commercial “safety scores” are not substituted in the meantime. What is published above under Safety is a different measurement — deaths rather than offences, from death certificates rather than police returns — and it covers no property crime at all.
Taxes
No tax dataset has met the source admission test for coverage, transparent methodology and update cadence. Nothing here is individualized tax advice.
Full cost of living
No public source publishes one with national coverage and a documented method. Housing affordability above is computed from published rent, price and income, and excludes transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes — commuting cost in particular tends to offset suburban housing savings.

Access

2 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest 35 miles away.

AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Manchester Boston RgnlMHT35 mi9,250 ft
General Edward Lawrence Logan IntlBOS62 mi10,083 ft
Rhode Island TF Green IntlPVD109 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
63
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Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource periodUpdated
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle28-day NASR cycle
Physical riskFederal Emergency Management Agency
National Risk Index
National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0)Periodic dataset versions (v1.20.0 current)
ClimateNOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly)
1991-2020 NormalsEvery ten years (next release follows the 2001–2030 period)
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
June 2026Monthly
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics
2025 OEWSAnnual (spring release)
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimateAnnual (vintage released each spring)
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026Monthly, roughly three weeks after the reference month
Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-YearAnnual (5-year estimates released each December)
safetyU.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics
Provisional county-level mortality by intent
April, 2025 to March, 2026Quarterly, with a rolling twelve-month window alongside complete calendar years
schoolsU.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics
Common Core of Data and EDFacts assessments
2019-20 school year; 2024-25 school yearDirectory 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.

03878 vs Somersworth

How this ZIP area compares with Somersworth as a whole. Both figures come from the same ACS release, so the comparison is like for like.

03878
Somersworth
Median household income
$75,136
vs
$74,504
Per capita income
$42,408
vs
$42,320
Population density
1,243/sq mi
vs
1,235/sq mi
Median home value
$317,900
vs
$318,400
Median gross rent
$1,479
vs
$1,477
Homeownership rate
58.0%
vs
57.8%
Bachelor's degree or higher
31.3%
vs
31.4%
Poverty rate
11.2%
vs
11.2%
Median age
38.5
vs
38.4

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.