Poorest Cities In New Hampshire For 2023


We analyzed the cities and towns in New Hampshire to determine which ones are at the bottom of the income ladder.

New Hampshire brings to mind images of Concord, beautiful landscapes, and some of the best people you’ll find in the good ole US of A.

However, like all states, New Hampshire has certain places that are going on hard times. These New Hampshire places have an above average percent of people that are living in poverty, out of work, or not making as much as they should be.

With all the talk about income inequality going on around the country, we thought it prudent to take a look at the places in each state that are struggling to make it even as the economy continues to improve. So we set our sites on bringing attention to the poorest places in New Hampshire.

To do so, we analyzed the newest Census data from the American Community Survey for the 26 places in New Hampshire with more than 5,000 people.

Here are the ten poorest places in New Hampshire for 2023:

  1. Berlin
  2. Newport
  3. Durham
  4. Manchester
  5. Keene
  6. Claremont
  7. Derry
  8. Somersworth
  9. Laconia
  10. Concord

Again, this isn’t a commentary on the people that live there or the vibrant culture and traditions of these places. Instead, it’s just a look at the facts.

What’s the poorst city in New Hampshire? According to the facts, Berlin is the poorest place in New Hampshire for 2023.

Rich people more your cup of tea? Feel free to check out the best places in New Hampshire or the most dangerous.

For more on how we calculated the top ten, and for more information about these places, read on.

If you’re looking for something more national, check out the poorest states in America or the poorest cities in America.

For more New Hampshire reading, check out:

Editor’s Note: This article is an opinion based on facts and is meant as infotainment. Don’t freak out we updated this article for 2023. This is our tenth time ranking the poorest places in New Hampshire.

The 10 Poorest Cities In New Hampshire For 2023

1. Berlin

Berlin, unfortunately, ranks as the poorest place in New Hampshire thanks to combination of low pay and and a lack of jobs.

The city of 9,710 people averages the lowest median household income in New Hampshire and the 4th highest poverty rate. At the very least, the cost of living ranks in the bottom 15% of place in the state, so things like housing are relatively affordable.

Overall SnackAbility

4
/10

Population: 9,710
Rank Last Year: 1 (No Change)
Median Income: $39,479 (lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 5.8% (2nd highest)
Poverty Rate: 13.9% (4th highest)
More on Berlin:  Data | Photos

Berlin, NH

Source: Public domain

2. Newport

The second poorest city in New Hampshire is Newport.

The city ranks as having the 2nd highest incidence of poverty and 7th lowest median household income. However, the unemployment rate ‘only’ ranks as the 6th highest in the Granite State.

Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 5,333
Rank Last Year: 8 (Up 6)
Median Income: $64,968 (7th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 4.9% (6th highest)
Poverty Rate: 21.1% (2nd highest)
More on Newport:  Data | Photos

Newport, NH

3. Durham

Placing as the third poorest city, Durham’s median income ranks as the 12th lowest.

And that’s a sign that there’s a relatively substantial jump in the quality of the economy from second to third place on our list. The poverty rate is 24.442586399108137% and ranks near the bottom of places in the state.

But what makes up for the relatively low incomes of the city is its low cost of living. The income you do make here goes further than in most parts of the Granite State.

Overall SnackAbility

7
/10

Population: 11,616
Rank Last Year: 2 (Down 1)
Median Income: $70,938 (12th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 5.6% (3rd highest)
Poverty Rate: 24.4% (highest)
More on Durham:  Data | Photos

Durham, NH

4. Manchester

Manchester ranks as the fourth poorest place in New Hampshire.

The town ranks as having the 8th lowest median household income and the 5th highest incidence of poverty in the state.

That being said, there’s still a ton of cultural diversity in the city as it hosts many events throughout the year.

Overall SnackAbility

7
/10

Population: 114,730
Rank Last Year: 3 (Down 1)
Median Income: $66,929 (8th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 4.7% (9th highest)
Poverty Rate: 12.5% (5th highest)
More on Manchester:  Data | Photos

Manchester, NH

Source: Public domain

5. Keene

The fifth poorest city in New Hampshire is Keene.

The city ranks as having the 5th lowest median income in the state. However, an extremely low cost of living prevents a good number of folks from living in poverty as the poverty rate only ranks as the 6th highest in New Hampshire.

Still not the best news for Keene.

Overall SnackAbility

8
/10

Population: 22,969
Rank Last Year: 5 (No Change)
Median Income: $63,490 (5th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 3.4% (16th highest)
Poverty Rate: 11.6% (6th highest)
More on Keene:  Data | Photos

Keene, NH

6. Claremont

Claremont ranks as the sixth poorest place in the Granite State.

It ranks as having the 3rd highest incidence of poverty and the 23rd highest unemployment rate.

Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 12,955
Rank Last Year: 9 (Up 3)
Median Income: $46,414 (2nd lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 2.0% (23rd highest)
Poverty Rate: 16.7% (3rd highest)
More on Claremont:  Data | Photos

Claremont, NH

Source: Public domain

7. Derry

Derry places as the seventh poorest city in New Hampshire.

The city of over 23,571 ranks as having the 13th highest incidence of poverty in the state. However, it has a very low cost of living which helps to pay the bills each month.

Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 23,571
Rank Last Year: 10 (Up 3)
Median Income: $73,968 (16th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 6.3% (highest)
Poverty Rate: 8.3% (13th highest)
More on Derry:  Data | Photos

Derry, NH

8. Somersworth

Somersworth ranks as the eighth poorest city in New Hampshire.

The big issue for the town is the unemployment rate which ranks as the 15th highest in the state.

Overall SnackAbility

8
/10

Population: 11,964
Rank Last Year: 13 (Up 5)
Median Income: $68,762 (9th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 3.5% (15th highest)
Poverty Rate: 10.9% (7th highest)
More on Somersworth:  Data | Photos

Somersworth, NH

9. Laconia

Laconia couldn’t stay out of the top ten poorest places in New Hampshire; it ranks number 9.

While the median income is the 6th lowest, there are a substantial number of people that live below the poverty line. Overall, Laconia ranks as having the 8th most people living in poverty of all the places we analyzed in New Hampshire.

Overall SnackAbility

7
/10

Population: 16,786
Rank Last Year: 6 (Down 3)
Median Income: $63,711 (6th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 3.3% (18th highest)
Poverty Rate: 10.3% (8th highest)
More on Laconia:  Data | Photos

Laconia, NH

10. Concord

And rounding out the top ten poorest cities in New Hampshire is Concord.

The city of 43,552 people ranks in the bottom 20% for both median income and poverty rate in the Granite State.

Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 43,552
Rank Last Year: 12 (Up 2)
Median Income: $73,156 (15th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 4.8% (7th highest)
Poverty Rate: 9.3% (11th highest)
More on Concord:  Data | Photos

Concord, NH

Methodology: How We Determined The Poorest Places In New Hampshire for 2023

The first thing that comes to most people’s minds when they think about determining the poorest places is to simply the poverty rate. That is, the number of people living below a federally established level of income for a household of a certain size.

However, we don’t think that one statistic wholly encompasses what it means to be one of the “poorest places”. So we looked at this set of criteria from the newly released 2017-2021 American Community Survey:

  • Poverty Level
  • Median Household Income adjusted for the cost of living
  • Unemployment Rate

The “median household income adjusted for the cost of living” attempts to gauge how expensive it is to live in a place and how that impacts the quality of life. For example, a town might have fewer people living below the official poverty line, but the cost of living is so high they’d still feel poor.

The unemployment rate tries to capture the prospects for improvement in the city or town. If more people are employed, the brighter the future looks and vice versa.

After we collected the data for all 26 places with more than 5,000 people in New Hampshire, we ranked each place from 1 to 26 for each of the criteria, with 1 being the poorest.

We then averaged all the rankings for a place into a “Poor Score” with the place having the lowest overall Poor Score, Berlin, crowned the “Poorest Place In New Hampshire For 2023”.

Summary: The Poorest Places In New Hampshire For 2023

Like we said earlier, when we set out to identify the poorest places in New Hampshire, we weren’t sure what we’d encounter, but it ended up being some of the best places to live in New Hampshire.

When you look at the data, the cities and places mentioned above meet the criteria for being at the very bottom of the income ladder for everyone that lives there.

If you’re curious enough, here are the richest cities in New Hampshire, according to data:

    Richest: Hampton
    2nd Richest: Portsmouth
    3rd Richest: Lebanon

For more New Hampshire reading, check out:

Detailed List Of The Poorest Places To Live In New Hampshire

Rank City Population Poverty Rate
1 Berlin 9,710 13.9%
2 Newport 5,333 21.1%
3 Durham 11,616 24.4%
4 Manchester 114,730 12.5%
5 Keene 22,969 11.6%
6 Claremont 12,955 16.7%
7 Derry 23,571 8.3%
8 Somersworth 11,964 10.9%
9 Laconia 16,786 10.3%
10 Concord 43,552 9.3%
11 Rochester 32,317 9.3%
12 Nashua 90,659 8.0%
13 Milford 8,437 8.1%
14 Suncook 5,008 9.6%
15 Franklin 8,766 4.8%
16 Hanover 8,813 10.3%
17 Dover 32,599 8.0%
18 Hooksett 5,669 6.3%
19 Exeter 9,908 6.7%
20 Londonderry 11,955 3.4%
21 Hudson 6,756 3.4%
22 South Hooksett 5,906 2.9%
23 Newmarket 5,621 6.6%
24 Lebanon 14,316 7.8%
25 Portsmouth 21,897 6.0%
26 Hampton 9,900 3.2%