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Crunching costs, sorting signals, rendering insights.
Crunching costs, sorting signals, rendering insights.
Remote workers have a superpower: location independence. Which New Hampshire city let you keep the most of that salary? We scored 1 cities on cost of living, utility infrastructure, and income potential. Manchester leads at cost index 111 with a utilities index of 102.
#1 Ranked: Manchester — cost index 111, rent $1,976/mo, income $77,415
Remote-worker scoring: cost index 111, utilities index 102, income $77,415 — maximizing geographic arbitrage
Data sourced from Census Bureau, Zillow, BLS, and Tax Foundation — current as of 2026
| Rank | City | Cost Index | Median Rent | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Manchester | 111 | $1,976 | Details |
Remote workers have a superpower: location independence. Which New Hampshire city let you keep the most of that salary? We scored 1 cities on cost of living, utility infrastructure, and income potential. Manchester leads at cost index 111 with a utilities index of 102.
Here's Manchester by the numbers — and there's a lot to like (and a little to watch). Cost index: 111. Rent: $1,976/month. Income: $77,415/year. Home price: $427,321. Population: 115,474. The strongest category is Utilities at 102; the most expensive is Housing at 128. Translate that rent to annual numbers, and residents are costing renters $972 more per year vs. the national median. There's real money on the table here.
Remote workers profit from geographic arbitrage. Our model scores cost index (20pts), local income as a proxy for economic infrastructure (15pts), and utility costs (10pts) — because when your living room is your office, reliable affordable internet and power matter. Manchester scores highest with a 111 cost index and 102 utilities index (and that gap widens if you factor in state taxes).
It's a strong position — but not without footnotes. Across New Hampshire, the average cost of living index is 111 — 1 points below the national median. Known for no income tax in a traditionally expensive region, the state offers 1 tracked cities with median rents averaging $1,976/month. That's $81 more than the national average of $1,895. That level of affordability is getting rarer every year.
What to do with this data: use the ranking as a shortlist, then dig into the city profiles for trend lines and category breakdowns. The difference between #1 and #5 is often smaller than the difference between "good on paper" and "actually fits my life." Compare your top picks with our calculator to see real take-home numbers.
115,474 residents · New Hampshire
Here's Manchester by the numbers — and there's a lot to like (and a little to watch). Cost index: 111. Rent: $1,976/month. Income: $77,415/year. Home price: $427,321. Population: 115,474. The strongest category is Utilities at 102; the most expensive is Housing at 128. Translate that rent to annual numbers, and residents are costing renters $972 more per year vs. the national median. Financially, that's significant.
Our persona scoring model weights cost of living, income, rent, healthcare costs, tax burden, and population size differently based on what matters most to remote workers. Each factor contributes 10-25 points to a 0-100 composite score. Cities with the highest composite rank first. All data is sourced from federal agencies and verified research institutions. Cost of living indices are normalized to 100 (national median) using Zillow rent as the primary signal, with sub-category adjustments derived from regional BLS price data. Rankings are updated monthly as new data is released.
Manchester ranks #1 in New Hampshire for this analysis with a cost index of 111 and median income of $77,415.
Manchester scores highest for remote workers due to its strong income potential, median rent of $1,976/mo, and competitive median income of $77,415.
Our cost of living index uses real Zillow rent data as the foundation, indexed to 100 (national median). Sub-categories (housing, food, transport, utilities, healthcare) are derived from the overall index with regional adjustments. Data is updated monthly.
City data is refreshed monthly from Census Bureau population estimates, Zillow rent and home price indices, BLS salary data, and Tax Foundation tax rates. Last updated: 2026.
The median 1-bedroom rent in Manchester is $1,976/month as of 2026, based on Zillow's Observed Rent Index. This is $81 above the national median of $1,895/month.
The median home price in Manchester is $427,321, which is 5.5× the local median income. Most median-income households would stretch to buy at this ratio. The national median home price is $467,370.
New Hampshire has a 0% state income tax rate — one of the states with no income tax. Combined state and local sales tax averages 0%, and the effective property tax rate is 1.57%.
This ranking was generated using data current as of early 2026. Population and income data comes from the Census Bureau's American Community Survey (5-year estimates). Rent and home price data is from Zillow's monthly releases. Tax rates are from the Tax Foundation's 2025 edition. Rankings are refreshed monthly.