County Comparisons – Housing

by Joe Swyers • 10/12/03

1. Real Estate Taxes
   (Owner-Occupied Housing Units)

   County	Median	Average	# of units
   Coos	$1,750	$1,807	6,648
   Carroll	$1,831	$2,129	10,248
   Belknap	$2,360	$2,604	11,943
   Sullivan	$2,414	$2,538	7,798
   Grafton	$2,458	$2,777	14,515
   Strafford	$2,741	$2,965	19,570
   Cheshire	$2,745	$2,905	14,350
   Merrimack	$2,866	$3,024	26,262
   Hillsborough	$3,251	$3,370	75,683
   Rockingham	$3,375	$3,517	62,328

2. Real Estate Taxes vs. Value
   (Owner-Occupied Housing Units)

   County	Average tax	Average value	Tax % of value
   Carroll	$2,129	160,534	1.33%
   Rockingham	$3,517	185,748	1.89%
   Belknap	$2,604	132,455	1.97%
   Grafton	$2,777	138,516	2.00%
   Hillsborough	$3,370	154,877	2.18%
   Sullivan	$2,538	114,451	2.22%
   Coos	$1,807	81,316	2.22%
   Merrimack	$3,024	134,889	2.24%
   Strafford	$2,965	127,041	2.33%
   Cheshire	$2,905	123,713	2.35%

3. House values vs. Household incomes and Gross Rent vs. Household incomes. The data source has median and average household income of rental units and the median and average household income of homeowners. Thus the house values are compared to homeowner incomes and gross rents are compared to tenant incomes.

   Least Expensive Houses, as percentage of income, are in Coos and Sullivan counties. House value, as percentage of median incomes ranges from 173% in Coos county to 240% in Rockingham county and 269% in Carroll county.

   1. Median House Value as % of Income
      (House Value of Owner Occupied homes)

      County	Median House$	% of Income	Average House$	% of Income
      Coos	$69,300	173%	$81,316	178%
      Sullivan	$89,600	189%	$114,451	197%
      Merrimack	$115,100	201%	$134,889	196%
      Hillsborough	$135,500	206%	$154,877	197%
      Cheshire	$104,100	207%	$123,713	206%
      Strafford	$112,100	208%	$127,041	203%
      Belknap	$104,100	208%	$132,455	210%
      Grafton	$106,000	212%	$138,516	218%
      Rockingham	$158,300	240%	$185,748	238%
      Carroll	$117,800	269%	$160,534	285%

   2. Median Homeowner Income as % of House Value
      (Household Income of Owner Occupied homes)

      County	Median Income	% of House$	Average Income	% of House$
      Coos	$40,036	58%	$45,589	56%
      Sullivan	$47,284	53%	$58,121	51%
      Merrimack	$57,158	50%	$68,685	51%
      Hillsborough	$65,934	49%	$78,595	51%
      Cheshire	$50,179	48%	$60,107	49%
      Strafford	$53,931	48%	$62,598	49%
      Belknap	$50,067	48%	$63,213	48%
      Grafton	$49,950	47%	$63,410	46%
      Rockingham	$66,039	42%	$78,056	42%
      Carroll	$43,730	37%	$56,364	35%

      Income in rental units is much lower in all the counties. BUT rental costs are more in line with incomes in all counties - only ranging from 23.2% to 25.8% of median incomes. Note that, for renters looking to buy a house, the hurdle (from income as percent of rent to percent of house value) is much greater in Rockingham and Carroll counties. Though incomes in Coos county are much lower than, for instance, in Rockingham county, the housing costs are also much lower ($399 to rent versus $717 and $69,300 to own versus $158,300). Least Expensive Rents, as percentage of median income, are marginally lower in Rockingham and Coos counties. As percentage of average income, the lowest are in Coos and Sullivan counties.

   3. Median Gross Rent as % of Tenant Income
      (Gross Monthly Rent of Tenant Occupied homes)

      County	Median Rent	% of Income	Average Rent	% of Income
      Rockingham	$717	23.2%	$714	19.3%
      Coos	$399	23.4%	$380	17.4%
      Carroll	$552	23.6%	$522	19.2%
      Merrimack	$613	24.4%	$600	19.3%
      Strafford	$623	24.5%	$616	21.1%
      Hillsborough	$694	24.5%	$691	20.2%
      Sullivan	$537	24.5%	$525	18.8%
      Grafton	$560	24.6%	$564	19.9%
      Belknap	$588	25.0%	$555	19.5%
      Cheshire	$596	25.8%	$565	20.2%

   4. Median Tenant Income as % of Gross Rent
      (Household Income of Tenant Occupied homes)

      County	Median Income	% of Rent	Average Income	% of Rent
      Rockingham	$37,036	430%	$44,360	518%
      Coos	$20,504	428%	$26,146	573%
      Carroll	$28,063	424%	$32,670	522%
      Merrimack	$30,177	410%	$37,218	517%
      Strafford	$30,561	409%	$34,962	473%
      Hillsborough	$33,939	408%	$40,949	494%
      Sullivan	$26,255	407%	$33,573	533%
      Grafton	$27,312	406%	$33,933	501%
      Belknap	$28,243	400%	$34,231	514%
      Cheshire	$27,714	388%	$33,645	496%

Source: www.state.nh.us/osp/sdc/sdcSF3.html. The source quotes gross rent by the month but for the above tables the annual rent was used to calculate the percentages.