New Hampshire's housing shortage is increasingly affecting more than home prices and rents. A new analysis from New Hampshire Housing finds that the lack of homes near major employment centers is contributing to longer commutes and making it harder for businesses to attract and retain workers.
The report, “Housing Is New Hampshire’s Future,” found that in 11 of the state's 13 cities, the median rent is higher than what a worker earning the state's median wage can afford while keeping housing costs within 30% of income. Only Franklin and Berlin fell below that threshold.
The affordability gap is particularly pronounced in some of the state's largest employment centers. In Lebanon, a worker would need to earn about $47.06 an hour to afford the city's median rent, compared with a statewide median wage of $25.29. Portsmouth required $46.23 an hour, while Nashua and Dover required $41.12 and $40.71, respectively.
Jobs Are Growing Faster Than Housing
The shortage is also visible in the relationship between jobs and available homes.
New Hampshire Housing found that Portsmouth has about 3.37 jobs for every nonseasonal home, followed by Lebanon at 2.82, Bedford at 2.45 and Concord at 2.21. Those ratios suggest that many workers are living outside the communities where they work and commuting into these employment centers.
That creates additional costs for workers and employers while making it more difficult for communities to maintain a workforce close to where jobs are located.
Construction Is Improving, But the Gap Remains
There are signs that New Hampshire's housing construction pipeline is improving. New Hampshire Housing reports that developers built 39% of the housing units the state needs by 2030 between 2020 and 2025.
However, the state still needs substantially more housing to keep pace with population and economic growth. New Hampshire Housing has projected a need for more than 90,000 additional units by 2040.
The state's median single-family home price has also reached a record $575,000, while only 15% of New Hampshire households earn enough to afford that median-priced home, according to the housing agency's 2026 report.
For New Hampshire's real estate market, the latest findings highlight how the housing shortage is becoming an economic issue as much as a residential one. Until more homes are built in and around major employment centers, workers may continue living farther from their jobs, adding pressure to both household budgets and the state's workforce.
Discussion
Thoughts from readers and local market watchers.