New Hampshire and New Jersey have exactly the same statewide two-bedroom fair market rent: $1,950 a month.
They do not have the same rent burden, and the difference is worth measuring precisely because it isolates one variable.
| New Hampshire | New Jersey | |
|---|---|---|
| Statewide 2-bedroom | $1,950 | $1,950 |
| Income a 3x screen demands | $70,200 | $70,200 |
| Take-home at that income, per month | $4,851 | $4,657 |
| Rent as % of take-home | 40.2% | 41.9% |
Same rent. Same required income. A 1.7-point difference in what it actually costs you. That gap is New Jersey's income tax, and it is $2,331 a year at that salary.
A note before you start. This is general education, not housing, legal or financial advice. Rent figures come from HUD's Fair Market Rents for FY2026, published under 24 CFR 888.113. An FMR is the 40th percentile of GROSS rent — rent plus tenant-paid utilities — for standard-quality units in a defined rent area, so roughly 60% of units cost more. HUD defines New Hampshire rent areas by TOWN rather than county, so the county figures below are this site's medians across towns, flagged as aggregates. Take-home figures are computed by this site's own tax engine for tax year 2026 on a single filer. New Hampshire landlord-tenant law is outside this dataset.
1. What HUD says renting costs in New Hampshire
| Unit size | Statewide fair market rent |
|---|---|
| Studio | $1,383 |
| 1 bedroom | $1,486 |
| 2 bedroom | $1,950 |
| 3 bedroom | $2,554 |
| 4 bedroom | $2,766 |
Third-highest in the country, tied with New Jersey and behind only Hawaii ($2,492) and Massachusetts ($2,067).
That surprises people. New Hampshire's rents sit in the same band as New Jersey's and above Connecticut's ($1,827), Rhode Island's ($1,729) and California's ($1,625) — the last of which is an artefact of California's unweighted 51-area median, but the first two are not.
The southern tier of New Hampshire is a Boston commuter market, and the rents reflect it.
Work out what rent your own income actually supports in New Hampshire2. The natural experiment: same rent, no income tax
This is the most useful thing on this page, because it isolates a variable that is usually confounded.
New Hampshire and New Jersey charge identical rent for a two-bedroom by HUD's measure. New Hampshire levies no income tax on wages; New Jersey levies a graduated one reaching 6.37% at ordinary professional salaries.
At every income the same rent is a lighter burden in New Hampshire:
| Annual salary | NH rent as % of take-home | NJ rent as % of take-home | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| $45,000 | 61.0% | 62.6% | 1.6 points |
| $60,000 | 46.4% | 48.1% | 1.7 points |
| $85,000 | 34.1% | 35.8% | 1.7 points |
A 1.7-point difference sounds small and is not. At $85,000 a New Hampshire renter has $269 a month more take-home than a New Jersey one — $3,225 a year — on an identical rent.
And it compounds with the 30% rule. 30% of New Hampshire take-home at $85,000 is $1,716; 30% of New Jersey take-home is $1,635. The same budget rule allows a New Hampshire renter $81 a month more rent.
What New Hampshire charges instead is property tax, and its effective rate is among the highest in the United States. A renter does not receive that bill directly — but a landlord does, and it is embedded in the rent. That is part of why New Hampshire's rents sit where they do, and it is the honest counterweight to the tax comparison above.
3. Towns, not counties
HUD defines New Hampshire fair market rent areas by TOWN, not by county, as it does across all six New England states. There is no HUD county figure for New Hampshire.
The county numbers in this article are medians across each county's towns, computed by this site and flagged as aggregates.
Two consequences:
Within-county variation is large and a county median conceals it. New Hampshire counties contain towns in different rent areas.
The town line is the operative boundary. Two houses a mile apart in different towns can sit in different rent areas with different published figures. In most of the country that line is a county border.
4. The spread
| Measure | New Hampshire |
|---|---|
| Distinct rent areas | 14 |
| Cheapest 2-bedroom area | $1,287 |
| Dearest 2-bedroom area | $2,941 |
| Internal spread | 129% |
| Statewide median | $1,950 |
New Hampshire has no rent area at $973. The cheapest area is $1,287, which is higher than the statewide median in 32 states.
The dearest at $2,941 requires $105,876 of gross income to pass a 3x screen — the same figure as Middlesex County, Massachusetts, which is the geography telling you something: New Hampshire's most expensive rent areas are functionally part of the Boston market.
5. Three things a fair market rent is not
It is the 40th percentile, not the median. Roughly 60% of standard-quality units rent for more than the FMR.
It is GROSS rent, including tenant-paid utilities. New Hampshire winters make this a large component — heating oil and electricity in an older New England building are substantial, and an advertised rent that excludes them is not the same quantity.
It is per rent area, and in New Hampshire per TOWN. See section 3.
6. What the two-bedroom actually requires
| Statewide | Hillsborough County | Rockingham County | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2-bedroom | $1,950 | $2,037 | $2,220 |
| Gross income a 3x screen demands | $70,200 | $73,332 | $79,920 |
What passing that screen leaves
| Statewide 2-bed | |
|---|---|
| Gross income required | $70,200 |
| New Hampshire take-home, single filer | About $58,216 |
| Take-home per month | $4,851 |
| Rent | $1,950 |
| Rent as a share of take-home | 40.2% |
40.2% — and that is with no state income tax at all.
| State | Rent as % of take-home at exactly 3x gross |
|---|---|
| Hawaii | 44.7% |
| Massachusetts | 43.0% |
| New Jersey | 41.9% |
| New Hampshire | 40.2% |
| North Dakota | 38.2% |
The 3x rule never lands on 30% in any state, and New Hampshire is the proof that state income tax is not the whole explanation — federal tax and FICA take 19.26% of an $85,000 salary before any state gets involved.
7. 30% of gross, and 30% of what you actually get
| Annual salary | 30% of gross | 30% of New Hampshire take-home | The gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| $45,000 | $1,125 | $958 | $167 |
| $60,000 | $1,500 | $1,260 | $240 |
| $85,000 | $2,125 | $1,716 | $409 |
New Hampshire's gap is the smallest available in the country, tied with the other eight no-income-tax states, because the whole of it is federal tax and FICA.
It is still $409 a month at $85,000.
What the two-bedroom costs at real salaries
| Annual salary | Statewide | Hillsborough | Rockingham |
|---|---|---|---|
| $45,000 | 61.0% | 63.8% | 69.5% |
| $60,000 | 46.4% | 48.5% | 52.9% |
| $85,000 | 34.1% | 35.6% | 38.8% |
Rent as a share of take-home pay.
At $85,000 all three exceed 30% of take-home. New Hampshire's rents are high enough that even the country's most favourable tax position does not bring a median two-bedroom inside the budget rule at that salary.
8. Two counties, and what they show
| County | Studio | 2 bedroom | 3 bedroom | Basis |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hillsborough County | $1,404 | $2,037 | $2,442 | Median across the county's towns |
| Rockingham County | $1,601 | $2,220 | $2,722 | Median across the county's towns |
Rockingham is $183 a month above Hillsborough on a two-bedroom and $197 above on a studio.
Both are aggregates across town-level HUD areas. Rockingham runs along the Massachusetts border and the seacoast; Hillsborough contains Manchester and Nashua. Both are commuter geography for Boston, which is the single largest determinant of New Hampshire rent.
Income required at 3x: $79,920 for Rockingham and $73,332 for Hillsborough — a $6,588 difference in what a landlord will demand.
9. Rent versus buy in New Hampshire
New Hampshire is the state where the rent-versus-buy comparison most needs the property tax counted properly.
New Hampshire's effective property tax rate is among the two or three highest in the United States. For a renter that cost is embedded in the rent and paid indirectly. For an owner it is a direct annual bill that continues after the mortgage is repaid, and it is very often the largest recurring housing cost after the mortgage itself.
Three things decide the comparison:
Appreciation. Backward-looking, county-specific, and not a forecast.
Selling costs. Around 7% of the sale price, and it never comes back.
Ongoing carrying cost. This is where New Hampshire differs from most states. A high property tax pushes the break-even year out, because every year of ownership carries a cost the renter does not pay directly.
And the town matters enormously. New Hampshire's property tax rates are set at town level and vary widely — a town with a large commercial base or a low school budget can be dramatically cheaper than the one next to it. Run the actual mill rate for the actual house, not a state average.
Run the New Hampshire rent-versus-buy calculator with your own numbers.
10. What you can actually control
Find out which TOWN's rent area you are in, not just the county. New Hampshire has 234 municipalities and HUD measures at that level.
Get the landlord test and the budget test straight. 3x gross gets you approved. 30% of take-home is what you can carry. On the statewide $1,950 those are $70,200 of income and, at that income, $1,455 of rent — $495 less than the rent itself.
Existing debt does not appear in the landlord's test.
Ask about heat specifically. The FMR is gross rent. A New Hampshire winter on tenant-paid heating oil is a large and seasonal cost, and it does not appear in the advertised rent.
Weigh the Massachusetts comparison honestly. New Hampshire's income tax advantage is real — $4,030 a year against Massachusetts at $85,000. But Massachusetts taxes income earned by nonresidents working within the state, so someone living in Nashua and working in Boston pays Massachusetts tax on that income and New Hampshire has no tax to credit it against. The saving only materialises if you work in New Hampshire too.
And there is no state income tax lever to pull. In most states a pre-tax 401(k) deferral reduces the state bill as well as the federal one. In New Hampshire it reduces only the federal, which makes the deferral worth less here — still worth doing, and the state side is already at zero.
11. How HUD's cost-burden thresholds actually work
The 30% and 50% figures quoted throughout this article are not rules of thumb. They are regulatory definitions, and knowing where they come from tells you what they are and are not good for.
HUD defines a household as "cost-burdened" when it spends more than 30% of gross income on housing, and "severely cost-burdened" above 50%. The threshold traces back to the National Housing Act, and HUD uses it to measure housing need and to set programme eligibility.
Three things follow from that origin, and all three matter to a renter:
It is measured against gross income because a housing programme can verify gross income. A caseworker can read a W-2. They cannot easily verify what your actual tax withholding, retirement deferrals and health premiums leave you. Gross is administratively tractable, not economically correct.
It counts housing costs, not just rent. HUD's measure includes utilities, which is precisely why the fair market rent is defined as gross rent. If you are comparing your own situation against the 30% threshold, include your utility bills — otherwise you are measuring a smaller number against the same line.
It is a population statistic before it is personal advice. The threshold exists to answer "how many households in this county are struggling," and it does that job well. It was never designed to tell one household what it can afford, and it does not account for household size, debt, childcare, medical costs, or the tax rate where you live.
Which is why this article reports both figures. In New Hampshire a two-bedroom at $1,950 against a $70,200 income is exactly at HUD's 30% line by HUD's own measure. Against what actually reaches that household's account it is closer to 40%. Both numbers are correct; they answer different questions.
If you want one number to plan around, use 30% of take-home. It is the more conservative of the two, it is the one that reflects what you can actually spend, and it is what this site's calculator reports alongside the conventional figure.
12. What a landlord checks besides your income
The 3x income screen is the most visible test, and it is not the only one. None of the following is a legal requirement — they are common industry practice, and individual landlords differ.
Credit score. Most professionally managed buildings run a credit check, and many publish a minimum. A low score does not automatically disqualify you, but it commonly triggers a larger deposit or a guarantor requirement.
Rental history and references. Previous landlords, length of tenancy, and any eviction filings. An eviction filing can appear on a tenant screening report even where the case was dismissed, which is worth knowing if you have one.
The security deposit. How much a landlord may ask for, when it must be returned, and what may be deducted are all governed by state law, and those rules vary enormously. Check New Hampshire's own statute — this site's rent dataset covers HUD fair market rents and does not cover landlord-tenant law, so nothing on this page should be read as describing it.
Application fees. Charged per applicant in most markets, and often non-refundable. Applying to several places at once is a real cost.
Guarantors and co-signers. Where an applicant fails the income screen, many landlords will accept a guarantor — commonly at a higher multiple, such as 80x the monthly rent in annual income rather than 36x. That is a much larger number than the tenant's own test, and it is the usual route for students and recent graduates.
Proof of income. Pay stubs, an offer letter, or tax returns for the self-employed. Self-employed applicants are frequently asked for two years of returns, which is a materially higher bar than a salaried applicant faces on the same income.
The practical point: the 3x screen decides whether you clear the first filter. Everything above decides whether you get the apartment, and several of those items cost money to fail.
13. When these figures change
HUD publishes fair market rents annually, effective at the start of the federal fiscal year on 1 October. The figures in this article are FY2026.
Three ways your area's number can move:
Re-measurement. HUD builds FMRs from American Community Survey data with more recent trend adjustments. A rent area whose measured market has moved will see its figure move with it.
Redefinition. HUD occasionally redraws rent areas — splitting a metro, adding a county to one, or creating a small-area FMR where ZIP-level figures replace a single metro figure. When that happens, a county's published rent can change substantially without any change in its actual market. New Hampshire has 14 rent areas today; that count is not fixed.
The $973 cluster. Seventeen states have their cheapest rent area at exactly $973 for a two-bedroom — the same dollar figure in seventeen separate states, which is a minimum HUD applies to some class of areas rather than seventeen markets coincidentally agreeing. It is not a universal floor: twenty states have rent areas below it, running down to $776 in Alabama. This site has not confirmed the mechanism against HUD's methodology and does not guess at it. What matters practically is that an area sitting at $973 is carrying an administered figure rather than a measured one, and it moves when that administered figure moves.
What that means for planning. A fair market rent is a well-sourced annual snapshot, not a forecast. If you are signing a twelve-month lease, the figure that matters is the rent in the lease, and the FMR is context for judging whether that rent is reasonable for the area and the unit size.
Voucher holders should note one thing more. FMRs set the basis for Housing Choice Voucher payment standards, and a public housing agency may set its standard within a range around the FMR rather than exactly at it. Your agency's payment standard is the operative number, not the published FMR.
Frequently asked questions
What is the average rent in New Hampshire? HUD's statewide fair market rent for a two-bedroom is $1,950 a month for FY2026 — third-highest of the fifty states, tied with New Jersey.
Why is New Hampshire rent so high? Its southern tier is a Boston commuter market, and Boston-area rents pull it up. The dearest New Hampshire rent area at $2,941 is the same figure as Middlesex County, Massachusetts.
Is renting cheaper in New Hampshire than New Jersey? The rent is identical at $1,950 statewide. The burden is lower in New Hampshire because it has no income tax — 40.2% of take-home at a 3x screen against New Jersey's 41.9%, a difference of $89 a month at $85,000.
Why does HUD not publish a rent for New Hampshire counties? Because it defines New Hampshire rent areas by town, as it does across all six New England states. The county figures here are medians across towns.
What income do I need to rent a two-bedroom in New Hampshire? A 3x landlord screen needs $70,200 on the statewide figure, $73,332 in Hillsborough County and $79,920 in Rockingham County.
Does New Hampshire's lack of an income tax help renters? Yes, measurably — the same rent is 1.7 points lighter as a share of take-home than in New Jersey. What New Hampshire charges instead is property tax, among the highest in the country, which a landlord pays and a renter funds through rent.
Is 30% of income a realistic rent budget in New Hampshire? 30% of take-home at $85,000 is $1,716, and the statewide two-bedroom is $1,950. Even with the country's most favourable tax position, a median two-bedroom does not fit inside the rule at that salary.
Should I buy in New Hampshire instead? The high property tax pushes the break-even out, and it varies enormously by town. Run the actual mill rate for the actual house rather than a state average.
What to do next
New Hampshire's rent is third-highest in the country and its tax position is the most favourable. Both are true at once, and the property tax is the piece that reconciles them.
- New Hampshire rent affordability calculator — the landlord's test and the budget test, side by side.
- New Hampshire rent vs buy — with property tax counted properly.
- New Hampshire take-home pay — the highest of any state at $85,000.
- The 30% rule is measured against the wrong number — the full argument.
- Renting in the USA in 2026 — all fifty states, county by county.
Every figure on this site is sourced and dated. How we source every number.
Rent figures are HUD Fair Market Rents for FY2026, from HUD User, published under 24 CFR 888.113. An FMR is the 40th percentile of gross rent including tenant-paid utilities for standard-quality units in a defined rent area — not a market median. HUD defines New Hampshire rent areas by TOWN rather than by county, so the county figures here are this site's medians across each county's towns and are flagged as aggregates. Statewide figures are the median across New Hampshire's 14 distinct rent areas, unweighted by population. Take-home figures are computed by this site's own tax engine for tax year 2026 on a single filer with no dependents or pre-tax deferrals, using federal figures from IRS Revenue Procedure 2025-32. The 3x landlord screen is a common industry practice, not a legal standard. New Hampshire landlord-tenant law and its town-level property tax rates are outside this dataset. This is general education and not housing, legal or financial advice.