New Hampshire Property Tax Rates Vary Widely Across Towns, Analysis Shows

New Hampshire local governments depend on property tax revenues more than those in any other state to fund services, according to an analysis by the New Hampshire Fiscal Policy Institute. The analysis, released recently, examines variations in property tax burdens for homeowners across the state's cities and towns.

It highlights how these differences arise from factors including local spending decisions and the size of each municipality's taxable property base.

For example, the analysis compares neighboring towns Nottingham and Lee. A homeowner with a $500,000 property in Nottingham would pay approximately $6,600 in annual property taxes, while the same value in Lee would incur about $13,805. Across the state, taxes on a $500,000 home range from a low of $1,310 to a high of $18,270 in incorporated cities and towns.

The disparities partly result from differences in equalized valuation per capita among municipalities, as reported in the analysis.

In 2024, Nottingham's equalized valuation per capita stood at $253,500, compared to $224,200 in Lee. 6 million per capita in New Castle. Communities with larger property tax bases can distribute the tax burden more broadly, potentially leading to lower rates for individual properties.

The analysis notes that state policies also influence the extent of these variations. Property tax revenues support expenditures at municipal, school district, county, and state levels. In fiscal year 2022, New Hampshire local governments derived 61 percent of their revenue from property taxes, exceeding the proportion in any other state.

State law restricts local governments from imposing taxes without explicit authorization, and New Hampshire provides less funding to localities than other states. 1 percent.

The analysis reports that New Hampshire residents paid about $3,388 per person in property taxes in 2022, the second-highest amount nationally.