Town & County Comparisons

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Tracy asked:

Quote from: Tracy Saboe on October 11, 2003, 08:02:56 pm

We should also think about which places will be easiest for libertarians to live in, so they'll be able to be activists instead of living pay-check to pay-check

Places with low costs of living
and already lower taxes would probably be best, Or
should we try to go for more statists areas (but with
low cost of living) so we have more impact on the
state? Or does cost of living matter?

Also, cost of houses,land,etc.

Tracy

Real Estate Taxes for Owner-Occupied Housing Units
Ranked in ascending order. See following tables for house values.

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

Annual Real Estate Taxes for Owner-Occupied Housing Units
(ranked in ascending order by percentage)

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%

Counties ranked by House values compared to Household incomes and by Gross Rent compared to 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.

Ranked by Median House Value as Percent of Income (lowest on top).
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%

Ranked by Median Homeowner Income as Percent of House Value (highest on top).
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.

Ranked by Median Gross Rent as Percent of Tenant Income (lowest on top).
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%

Ranked by Median Tenant Income as Percent of Gross Rent (highest on top).
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:
http://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.

The following tables have total housing units, number occupied, vacant, and what sort of vacancy according to the 2000 Census.
http://www.state.nh.us/osp/sdc/sdcSF3.html
Admittedly things have changed since. But this is a snapshot for comparison.

S.R.O = For Seasonal, Recreational, or Occasional Use

The following table is the numbers of housing units.
(This table is ranked by decending order of number of units available for sale or rent.)

COUNTY	Total Units	Owner Occupied	Renter Occupied	Total Vacant	For Rent	For Sale Only	Rented/Sold Vacant	S,R, or O Use	Migrant Workers	Other Vacant	Total for Sale or Rent
HIllsborough	149,961	93,820	50,635	5,506	1,319	665	473	2,351	0	698	1,984
Rockingham	113,023	78,999	25,530	8,494	859	593	400	6,059	14	569	1,452
Merrimack	56,244	36,048	15,795	4,401	508	429	210	2,911	15	328	937
Grafton	43,729	21,687	9,911	12,131	381	445	198	10,583	4	520	826
Coos	19,623	9,925	4,036	5,662	477	299	165	4,176	2	543	776
Carroll	34,750	14,266	4,085	16,399	311	358	95	15,110	4	521	669
Strafford	45,539	27,426	15,155	2,958	384	265	74	1,905	0	330	649
Belknap	32,121	16,640	5,819	9,662	387	256	121	8,702	0	196	643
Cheshire	31,876	20,057	8,242	3,577	283	301	137	2,608	0	248	584
Sullivan	20,158	11,915	4,615	3,628	304	189	83	2,846	0	206	493

The above table but with percentages of total units.
(This table is ranked by decending order of percentage available for sale or rent.)

COUNTY	Total Units	Owner Occupied	Renter Occupied	Total Vacant	For Rent	For Sale Only	Rented/Sold Vacant	S,R, or O Use	Migrant Workers	Other Vacant	Total for Sale or Rent
Coos	19,623	50.58%	20.57%	28.85%	2.43%	1.52%	0.84%	21.28%	0.01%	2.77%	3.95%
Sullivan	20,158	59.11%	22.89%	18.00%	1.51%	0.94%	0.41%	14.12%	0.00%	1.02%	2.45%
Belknap	32,121	51.80%	18.12%	30.08%	1.20%	0.80%	0.38%	27.09%	0.00%	0.61%	2.00%
Carroll	34,750	41.05%	11.76%	47.19%	0.89%	1.03%	0.27%	43.48%	0.01%	1.50%	1.93%
Grafton	43,729	49.59%	22.66%	27.74%	0.87%	1.02%	0.45%	24.20%	0.01%	1.19%	1.89%
Cheshire	31,876	62.92%	25.86%	11.22%	0.89%	0.94%	0.43%	8.18%	0.00%	0.78%	1.83%
Merrimack	56,244	64.09%	28.08%	7.82%	0.90%	0.76%	0.37%	5.18%	0.03%	0.58%	1.67%
Strafford	45,539	60.23%	33.28%	6.50%	0.84%	0.58%	0.16%	4.18%	0.00%	0.72%	1.43%
HIllsborough	149,961	62.56%	33.77%	3.67%	0.88%	0.44%	0.32%	1.57%	0.00%	0.47%	1.32%
Rockingham	113,023	69.90%	22.59%	7.52%	0.76%	0.52%	0.35%	5.36%	0.01%	0.50%	1.28%

People moving to New England may be in for a surprise regarding heating fuels if they are used to being on natural gas utility lines. Except for Hillsborough county, most of New Hampshire uses fuel oil or kerosine.

Heating Fuel for Occupied Units

COUNTY	Total Units:	Utility Gas	Bottled, Tank, LP Gas	Electricity	Fuel Oil, Kerosine, etc.	Coal or Coke	Wood	Solar Energy	Other Fuel	No Fuel Used
Belknap	22,459	1,659	2,540	1,255	15,745	47	1,076	12	70	55
Carroll	18,351	197	3,284	1,294	11,722	25	1,761	6	34	28
Cheshire	28,299	841	2,251	1,648	20,656	147	2,568	12	107	69
Coos	13,961	16	500	248	12,231	16	911	0	30	9
Grafton	31,598	487	4,580	2,608	20,768	42	2,950	11	115	37
Hillsborough	144,455	51,455	13,697	11,251	63,455	226	3,167	29	822	353
Merrimack	51,843	11,219	5,948	4,727	26,854	69	2,525	26	387	88
Rockingham	104,529	14,251	11,491	9,311	65,947	245	2,629	79	457	119
Strafford	42,581	6,904	4,001	3,258	26,999	34	1,166	2	120	97
Sullivan	16,530	258	2,531	623	11,450	22	1,473	3	121	49

Heating Fuel for Occupied Units
The above table but with percentages of total units.

COUNTY	Total Units:	Utility Gas	Bottled, Tank, LP Gas	Electricity	Fuel Oil, Kerosine, etc.	Coal or Coke	Wood	Solar Energy	Other Fuel	No Fuel Used
Belknap	22,459	7.39%	11.31%	5.59%	70.11%	0.21%	4.79%	0.05%	0.31%	0.24%
Carroll	18,351	1.07%	17.90%	7.05%	63.88%	0.14%	9.60%	0.03%	0.19%	0.15%
Cheshire	28,299	2.97%	7.95%	5.82%	72.99%	0.52%	9.07%	0.04%	0.38%	0.24%
Coos	13,961	0.11%	3.58%	1.78%	87.61%	0.11%	6.53%	0.00%	0.21%	0.06%
Grafton	31,598	1.54%	14.49%	8.25%	65.73%	0.13%	9.34%	0.03%	0.36%	0.12%
Hillsborough	144,455	35.62%	9.48%	7.79%	43.93%	0.16%	2.19%	0.02%	0.57%	0.24%
Merrimack	51,843	21.64%	11.47%	9.12%	51.80%	0.13%	4.87%	0.05%	0.75%	0.17%
Rockingham	104,529	13.63%	10.99%	8.91%	63.09%	0.23%	2.52%	0.08%	0.44%	0.11%
Strafford	42,581	16.21%	9.40%	7.65%	63.41%	0.08%	2.74%	0.00%	0.28%	0.23%
Sullivan	16,530	1.56%	15.31%	3.77%	69.27%	0.13%	8.91%	0.02%	0.73%	0.30%

The percent native may be a factor to acceptance of outsiders. This was discussed on the "Which State" forums. It was thought that high percentages are good because the natives don't feel as threatened. Low percentages may indicate more likelihood of acceptance. The middle percentages may be the most stressful for both natives and newcomers.

The following table has percent native born, number born in each major section of the US and Americans born outside the US, and those who were foreigners. The last column is percent who are not yet naturalized citizens.
Note: the "Northeast" is the greatest source of "non-natives". Massachusetts and New York may be the largest sources.

COUNTY	% Native	Census	Native	Northeast	Midwest	South	West	Outside US	Foreign	Not Citizen	% Alien
Rockingham	27.7%	277,359	76,716	162,802	9,524	9,983	5,663	2,281	10,390	4,541	1.6%
Carroll	37.6%	43,666	16,438	21,633	1,497	1,859	871	325	1,043	400	0.9%
Hillsborough	44.2%	380,841	168,236	144,631	13,058	15,635	8,993	4,495	25,793	15,328	4.0%
Cheshire	44.2%	73,825	32,655	32,393	2,559	2,353	1,648	572	1,645	696	0.9%
Grafton	45.2%	81,743	36,964	31,013	3,650	3,563	2,658	704	3,191	1,664	2.0%
Strafford	50.2%	112,233	56,313	39,578	3,911	4,590	2,740	1,288	3,813	1,982	1.8%
Sullivan	52.6%	40,458	21,283	14,792	1,035	1,251	686	227	1,184	564	1.4%
Belknap	53.2%	56,325	29,954	19,998	1,641	1,802	1,137	371	1,422	644	1.1%
Merrimack	54.3%	136,225	74,005	43,361	4,728	5,284	3,491	1,005	4,351	2,093	1.5%
Coos	66.4%	33,111	21,994	7,833	566	819	353	224	1,322	481	1.5%

The prior discussion on the "Which State" forums were at:
Being an Unwelcome Presence
Population, Activists, "Overall Access"

Quote

Percent native born - lower number is better for newcomers
Being under 45% is very important. Coloradans (and others) made a transition at that point. Newcomers were not welcome in local politics when the percentage of natives was over 50%.
Jason noted:

Quote

"states that are mostly native may be most friendly to outsiders because they don't feel threatened, while states that are about half and half will have the most tension.Â States that are mostly non-native will again be friendly to outsiders."

Source of above data:
http://www.state.nh.us/osp/sdc/sdcSF3.html

In the following I did not rank the counties in any order other than alphabetical because it is a quandary as to which column to use for a ranking. A high school diploma, admittedly, does not indicate much "educational attainment" any more BUT it is a lot more than nothing or a "drop out".
Sullivan and Coos counties had the highest high school percentages of those with only a HS Diploma or equivalent, but they also had the lowest college attainment and the greatest rate of less than high school attainment.

The following table is educational attainment of people age 25 or over expressed as percentage of that population (not the total population).
HS Grad is Diploma or Equivalent.
"College" is some college or an Associate Degree.

COUNTY	POP age 25 or over.	0-8th	9th-12th	HS Grad.	College	Bachelors	Masters+
Belknap	39,260	4.4%	9.9%	32.6%	29.8%	15.7%	7.6%
Carroll	31,534	2.9%	8.9%	32.2%	29.5%	17.1%	9.4%
Cheshire	48,032	4.0%	9.8%	34.4%	25.2%	17.2%	9.4%
Coos	23,490	8.6%	14.5%	41.6%	23.4%	8.1%	3.8%
Grafton	52,795	3.7%	8.6%	31.0%	24.0%	18.4%	14.2%
Hillsborough	251,908	4.3%	8.7%	27.5%	29.4%	20.0%	10.1%
Merrimack	91,278	4.0%	7.9%	29.6%	29.4%	18.8%	10.3%
Rockingham	187,172	2.5%	7.1%	28.6%	30.2%	21.1%	10.6%
Strafford	70,319	4.6%	9.0%	30.4%	29.5%	16.9%	9.5%
Sullivan	28,199	5.5%	11.5%	38.5%	24.8%	12.4%	7.3%

The following table has more detail than the above.
HS Grad is Diploma or Equivalent.
"College" is some college but no degree.
"Prof." is a professional degree.

COUNTY	POP age 25+	NONE	K to 4th	5th-8th	9th-12th	HS Grad.	College	Associate	Bachelors	Masters	Prof.	Doctorate
Belknap	39,260	0.4%	0.2%	3.8%	9.9%	32.6%	21.5%	8.3%	15.7%	5.5%	1.5%	0.6%
Carroll	31,534	0.2%	0.1%	2.6%	8.9%	32.2%	20.4%	9.1%	17.1%	7.0%	1.3%	1.1%
Cheshire	48,032	0.3%	0.1%	3.6%	9.8%	34.4%	18.6%	6.6%	17.2%	6.6%	1.6%	1.2%
Coos	23,490	0.4%	0.2%	8.0%	14.5%	41.6%	15.3%	8.1%	8.1%	2.7%	0.8%	0.3%
Grafton	52,795	0.2%	0.2%	3.3%	8.6%	31.0%	16.9%	7.1%	18.4%	8.4%	2.8%	3.0%
Hillsborough	251,908	0.5%	0.2%	3.6%	8.7%	27.5%	20.3%	9.1%	20.0%	7.6%	1.6%	0.8%
Merrimack	91,278	0.4%	0.2%	3.4%	7.9%	29.6%	20.6%	8.8%	18.8%	7.1%	2.5%	0.8%
Rockingham	187,172	0.3%	0.0%	2.1%	7.1%	28.6%	20.7%	9.5%	21.1%	8.2%	1.5%	0.8%
Strafford	70,319	0.3%	0.1%	4.2%	9.0%	30.4%	20.5%	9.0%	16.9%	6.5%	1.6%	1.5%
Sullivan	28,199	0.3%	0.1%	5.1%	11.5%	38.5%	18.2%	6.6%	12.4%	5.0%	1.6%	0.8%

Source:
http://www.state.nh.us/osp/sdc/sdcSF3.html

Reserved for more data.

Election 2000
Votes for Bush & others in Blue
Gore & Green in Red
Counties which were bruisingly close (48% to 52%) in Purple
(not that Bush is a "good" vote, but the 2000 election was indicative of socialist/liberal trends because of expectations about the choices.

The three southernmost counties bordering Massachusetts:
Rockingham: 67,075 vs 66,841
Hillsborough: 82,277 vs 83,090
Cheshire: 14,176 vs 19,132

The next two heading north central:
Merrimack: 30,576 vs 32,965
Strafford: 21,740 vs 27,673

Two Western counties:
Sullivan: 9,541 vs 9,069
Grafton: 18,543 vs 20,109

The northeastern counties:
Belknap: 15,025 vs 11,696
Carroll: 12,864 vs 10,938
Coos: 7,542 vs 7,033

The following link is a county-level summary of the 2000 election.
Summary of Presidential Vote

The following links are to pages with town-level detail.

Belknap County
Carroll County
Cheshire County
Coos County
Grafton County
Hillsborough
Merrimack County
Rockingham County
Strafford County
Sullivan

The following tables are the employees in the major sectors and, most importantly, the number or percentages of government employees.

The following table is the number of employees (or self-employed) in each sector -- the counties ranked in ascending order of total number of government employees (â€œbestâ€ on top).

COUNTY	Total	Pvt for profit	Pvt No profit	Self Empl.	Unpaid family	Local Gov't	State Gov't	Fed Gov't	Total Gov't
Coos	15,686	10,670	1,313	1,116	30	1,466	794	297	2,557
Sullivan	20,483	13,860	1,919	1,974	84	1,854	460	332	2,646
Carroll	21,418	13,874	1,687	3,093	95	1,866	438	365	2,669
Belknap	28,848	19,062	2,239	2,989	154	2,464	1,520	420	4,404
Cheshire	38,065	26,691	3,325	3,268	63	3,036	1,135	547	4,718
Grafton	42,329	25,272	7,193	3,934	104	3,252	1,582	992	5,826
Strafford	59,534	42,674	4,211	3,539	121	4,040	3,128	1,821	8,989
Merrimack	70,851	45,972	7,079	5,437	238	5,526	5,331	1,268	12,125
Rockingham	151,291	112,224	9,402	11,609	321	10,104	3,705	3,926	17,735
Hillsborough	202,366	153,551	14,357	12,561	295	12,999	3,465	5,138	21,602

The following is the above table in percentages -- ranked in ascending order of percentage of total government employees (â€œbestâ€ on top).

COUNTY	Total	Pvt for profit	Pvt No profit	Self Empl.	Unpaid family	Local Gov't	State Gov't	Fed Gov't	Total Gov't
Hillsborough	202,366	75.9%	7.1%	6.2%	0.1%	6.4%	1.7%	2.5%	10.7%
Rockingham	151,291	74.2%	6.2%	7.7%	0.2%	6.7%	2.4%	2.6%	11.7%
Cheshire	38,065	70.1%	8.7%	8.6%	0.2%	8.0%	3.0%	1.4%	12.4%
Carroll	21,418	64.8%	7.9%	14.4%	0.4%	8.7%	2.0%	1.7%	12.5%
Sullivan	20,483	67.7%	9.4%	9.6%	0.4%	9.1%	2.2%	1.6%	12.9%
Grafton	42,329	59.7%	17.0%	9.3%	0.2%	7.7%	3.7%	2.3%	13.8%
Strafford	59,534	71.7%	7.1%	5.9%	0.2%	6.8%	5.3%	3.1%	15.1%
Belknap	28,848	66.1%	7.8%	10.4%	0.5%	8.5%	5.3%	1.5%	15.3%
Coos	15,686	68.0%	8.4%	7.1%	0.2%	9.3%	5.1%	1.9%	16.3%
Merrimack	70,851	64.9%	10.0%	7.7%	0.3%	7.8%	7.5%	1.8%	17.1%

Source:
http://www.state.nh.us/osp/sdc/sdcSF3.html

Reserved for more data.

For each House and Senate member (each of all 424)
see the legislative report I did last year.
It doesn't have the detail porcupines now need but it does list:
Party, Win%, terms, District, Dist.#, Last Name, First Name, State Born, Occupation.
http://www.freestateproject.org/statelegs.htm

P.S. For an example to see how to format tables, click on the quote button of my table posts. The codes are in brackets. The paired "/tr" and "tr" are the row breaks. The paired "/td" and "td" are the column breaks.

Okay,
now I look forward to other researchers adding material to this research thread.

If you want your material added to earlier posts,
ask me by IM
http://forum.freestateproject.org/index.php?board=31;action=imsend;to=Joe

I'm going to be putting my research results mostly into this thread rather than having them scattered over hundreds of threads where finding them was a chore for everyone and intermeshed with too often off-topic discussion -- as happened in the "Which State" forums.

Was this guy banned??

why should he be banned ?
and who should be banned ?

Quote from: Old Nick on October 06, 2004, 09:32:31 am

Was this guy banned??

He wasn't banned, so he must've just closed his account.

Eyeballing this data, Caroll County seems awfully attractive... Anybody wanna bust my bubble here and tell me about that it's invaded by leafers each fall or something?

What about the property value and tax etc data on non residential commercial, private non profit and agriculture property?

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