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Towns / New Hampshire

Portsmouth, New Hampshire

Portsmouth is a small town of about 23,000 people in Rockingham County, New Hampshire. It has grown about 5% since 2020. A typical home costs about 6.5 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 51 miles away as the crow flies.

Population
23,028
up 4.7% since 2020
Typical home, 2020-24
$688,500
Rockingham County prices up 24% since 2022
Household income
$106,219
U.S.: $80,734
Prices, Boston area
108.3
U.S. average = 100
Emergency room
In town
Portsmouth Regional Hospital
To Boston
51 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 6.5 years of the typical household's income here. Across the U.S. it's 4.1.
  • A safer neighborhood47 violent crimes were reported in 2025, about 2 per 1,000 people (U.S.: 3.3). Property crime: 11.3 per 1,000 (U.S.: 15.3).
  • Schools in town8 public schools: 5 elementary, 1 middle, 1 high school and 1 other.
  • A hospital close byPortsmouth Regional Hospital is in town and has an emergency room.
  • Within reach of a big cityBoston is about 51 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 Portsmouth 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
$688,500U.S.: $332,700
Home prices since then
Up 24%Rockingham County, 2022 to 2025
Typical rent, with utilities
$1,869 a monthU.S.: $1,413
Typical household income
$106,219U.S.: $80,734
Homes owned by the people living in them
52%U.S.: 65%
Typical property tax bill
$8,018 a yearNew Hampshire: $6,667
Homes built before 1940
33%U.S.: 12%
Homes built since 2010
9%U.S.: 11%
Vacation and seasonal homes
1%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 Portsmouth 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
23,0282020: 21,990
Median age
42.9 yearsU.S.: 38.9
Age 65 and older
22%U.S.: 17%
Under 18
14%U.S.: 22%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or more
64%U.S.: 36%
Moved here from another county or state in the past year
10%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 (19%); professional and business services (19%); retail (11%)
Unemployment rate
3%U.S.: 5%
Average commute
22 minutesU.S.: 26 minutes
Work from home
22%U.S.: 15%
Below the poverty line
7%U.S.: 12%

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

Health care

Nearest emergency room: Portsmouth Regional Hospital, Portsmouth, NH, in town. It's a general hospital. Medicare gives it 3 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

8 public schools in Portsmouth, run by Portsmouth School District and Rye School District.

Colleges in or next to town: Great Bay Community College (1,000 to 4,999 students).

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
86%U.S.: 76%
Homes with any internet subscription
95%U.S.: 91%

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
16°F
July average high
80°F
Days 90°F or hotter
10 a year
Nights at or below freezing
143 a year
Rain and melted snow
49.4 inches a year
Snow
56 inches a year
Elevation
51 feet

Weather stations: Greenland (4 miles away) and Eliot (3 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: 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

41 places on the National Register of Historic Places, including Gov. John Langdon Mansion, the John Paul Jones House, the MacPheadris-Warner House and the Moffatt-Ladd House. Three are National Historic Landmarks, the country's highest honor for a historic place.

National Park Service sites within about an hour:

  • Salem Maritime National Historical Park38 miles
  • Lowell National Historical Park39 miles
  • Saugus Iron Works National Historic Site42 miles
  • Boston National Historical Park49 miles
  • Boston National Historical Park49 miles

Read about Portsmouth's history on Wikipedia.

Know Portsmouth?

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

  • Newington, NH847 people, 3 miles
  • New Castle, NH997 people, 3 miles
  • South Hampton, NH892 people, 15 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.