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Towns / New Hampshire

Kensington, New Hampshire

Kensington is a small town of about 2,100 people in Rockingham County, New Hampshire. Its population has held about steady since 2020. A typical home costs about 4 years of the typical household's income, compared with 4.1 across the U.S. The nearest metro area of about a million people or more, Boston, is about 41 miles away as the crow flies.

Population
2,092
up 0.1% since 2020
Typical home, 2020-24
$657,700
Rockingham County prices up 24% since 2022
Household income
$165,083
U.S.: $80,734
Prices, Boston area
108.3
U.S. average = 100
Emergency room
4 miles
Exeter, NH
To Boston
41 mi
straight line

The book's checklist

  • Lower cost of livingEveryday prices run 8.3% above the U.S. average in the Boston-Cambridge-Newton metro area.
  • More house for the moneyA typical home costs 4 years of the typical household's income here. Across the U.S. it's 4.1.
  • A safer neighborhood0 violent crimes were reported in 2025, about 0 per 1,000 people (U.S.: 3.3). Property crime: 1 per 1,000 (U.S.: 15.3).
  • Schools in town2 public schools. No public high school in town: the nearest is Great Bay Charter School (h), about 3 miles away.
  • A hospital close byExeter Hospital INC in Exeter, about 4 miles away, has the nearest emergency room.
  • Within reach of a big cityBoston is about 41 miles away as the crow flies. The book suggests staying within about 60 miles if you'll miss big-city sports, concerts and theater.

A check means Kensington meets the rule of thumb from Frank and Dave's book. An empty box isn't a deal breaker: it's something to weigh for your family. A question mark means there isn't enough data.

For a lifetime

Homes and money

Typical home value, as owners valued them in 2020-2024
$657,700U.S.: $332,700
Home prices since then
Up 24%Rockingham County, 2022 to 2025
Typical rent, with utilities
$1,813 a monthU.S.: $1,413
Typical household income
$165,083U.S.: $80,734
Typical property tax bill
$9,637 a yearNew Hampshire: $6,667
Homes built before 1940
17%U.S.: 12%
Homes built since 2010
4%U.S.: 11%
Vacation and seasonal homes
0%U.S.: 3%
Everyday prices
108.3U.S. average = 100 (the Boston-Cambridge-Newton metro area)

Home values and rents are what households told the Census Bureau across 2020 to 2024, so they trail today's market: county prices have moved up 24% since 2022. Everyday prices are the government's average for the Boston-Cambridge-Newton metro area, not Kensington alone. Check current listings before you budget.

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates; Federal Housing Finance Agency, House Price Index for counties (all transactions); U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024.

The people

Population, 2025 estimate
2,0922020: 2,091
Median age
43.3 yearsU.S.: 38.9
Age 65 and older
19%U.S.: 17%
Under 18
17%U.S.: 22%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or more
48%U.S.: 36%
Moved here from another county or state in the past year
3%U.S.: 6%

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates (Vintage 2025); U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Work

Biggest lines of work
Schools, health care and social services (23%); manufacturing (18%); professional and business services (13%)
Unemployment rate
4%U.S.: 5%
Average commute
29 minutesU.S.: 26 minutes
Work from home
19%U.S.: 15%
Below the poverty line
2%U.S.: 12%

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Health care

Nearest emergency room: Exeter Hospital INC, Exeter, NH, about 4 miles away. It's a general hospital. Medicare gives it 4 of 5 stars.

Look up doctors, clinics and the hospitals themselves on Medicare's Care Compare. Ask where the most serious cases are sent.

Sources: Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Hospital General Information.

Schools

2 public schools in Kensington, run by Kensington School District and East Kingston School District. The nearest public high school is Great Bay Charter School (h), about 3 miles away.

See each school on the federal school search, then check test scores and graduation rates on New Hampshire's school report card.

Sources: National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data, 2023-24 (via the Urban Institute Education Data Portal); National Center for Education Statistics, IPEDS institution directory, 2024.

Internet

Homes with cable, fiber or DSL internet
85%U.S.: 76%

Before you buy, look up the address on the FCC's National Broadband Map to see which providers serve it.

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Weather

January average low
14°F
July average high
82°F
Days 90°F or hotter
11 a year
Nights at or below freezing
154 a year
Rain and melted snow
52.6 inches a year
Snow
63 inches a year
Elevation
122 feet

Weather stations: Epping (9 miles away) and N Hampton (7 miles away, rain and snow). Averages for 1991 to 2020.

Sources: NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020; U.S. Geological Survey, 3D Elevation Program.

Getting around

Straight-line miles. The road is always longer, and as the book says, an interstate at 70 is a different trip from a farm road at 45. Check the real drive: Exeter Hospital INC, Haverhill, Boston.

Rockingham County is in a metro area of 1 million people or more (USDA rural-urban code 1, on a scale where 1 is the biggest metro areas and 9 the most rural counties).

For a day

5 places on the National Register of Historic Places, including the Kensington Town Center Historic District.

National Park Service sites within about an hour:

  • Lowell National Historical Park26 miles
  • Salem Maritime National Historical Park29 miles
  • Saugus Iron Works National Historic Site32 miles
  • Minute Man National Historical Park36 miles
  • Boston National Historical Park39 miles

Read about Kensington's history on Wikipedia.

Know Kensington?

Tell us what a visitor shouldn't miss, and what living there is really like. Write to Main Street at mainstreet@smalltownguide.com. The best notes from people who know the town will be added here.

Nearby

Straight-line miles.

Small towns

Smaller places

  • South Hampton, NH892 people, 3 miles
  • Newington, NH847 people, 13 miles

Sources

  1. U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates (Vintage 2025)
  2. U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates
  3. Federal Housing Finance Agency, House Price Index for counties (all transactions)
  4. U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024
  5. FBI, Crime in the United States, Table 8 (offenses known to law enforcement by city)
  6. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Hospital General Information
  7. National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data, 2023-24 (via the Urban Institute Education Data Portal)
  8. National Center for Education Statistics, IPEDS institution directory, 2024
  9. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020
  10. U.S. Geological Survey, 3D Elevation Program
  11. National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places listings
  12. National Park Service, park unit boundaries
  13. USDA Economic Research Service, Rural-Urban Continuum Codes, 2023
  14. U.S. Census Bureau, 2025 Gazetteer files and 2020 urban areas

Census survey figures are estimates with a margin of error; we leave out any figure whose margin is too wide to be useful. Data last gathered October 5, 2026. See something wrong? Write to mainstreet@smalltownguide.com.