Massachusetts vs New Hampshire

Household income

Currently in

Moving to

Your $100,000 in Massachusetts is worth

$94,518

at national prices · RPP 105.8BEA RPP SARPPSource: BEA Regional Price Parities · SARPP · 2024 vintage · released February 2026 · Official API

The same income in New Hampshire is worth

$95,969

at national prices · RPP 104.2BEA RPP SARPPSource: BEA Regional Price Parities · SARPP · 2024 vintage · released February 2026 · Official API

Your income goes +$1,451 further in New Hampshire (+1.5% purchasing power).

Show the math

adjusted = income ÷ (RPP ÷ 100)

Massachusetts: $100,000 ÷ (105.8 ÷ 100) = $94,518

New Hampshire: $100,000 ÷ (104.2 ÷ 100) = $95,969

difference: $95,969 − $94,518 = +$1,451

Where the difference comes from

Price level by component, 100 = US average. Higher means more expensive.

Regional price parity by component for the two states, with the percentage difference.
Component	Massachusetts	New Hampshire	Difference
All items	105.8	104.2	−1.5%
Housing rents	128.1	114.9	−10.3%
Goods	98.8	98.6	−0.2%
Utilities	152.1	133.7	−12.1%
Other services	102.9	103.9	+1.0%

BEA Regional Price Parities · SARPP · 2024 · rel. February 2026 · Official API

Housing reality check

Typical rent and home price in each state — tangible context beyond the index.

MassachusettsMedian rent$1,762/moMedian home$562,100

New HampshireMedian rent$1,491/moMedian home$402,500

US Census ACS 5-Year Estimates · ACS5 · 2024 · rel. December 2025 · Official API

Tax at a glance

Hand-curated, tax year 2026 · verified 2026-07-20

Income and sales tax for the two states.
Tax	Massachusetts	New Hampshire
Income tax (top rate)	9.00%	None
Sales tax (combined avg)	6.25%	0.00%

Tax Foundation (income & sales) · Tax · 2026 · rel. tax year 2026 · Manually maintained · verified 2026-07-20

Official API Manually maintained2 of 3 metrics sourced from official APIs, 1 manually maintained. How every number is calculated →

Massachusetts vs New Hampshire: the read

The bottom line

Move a $100,000 income from Massachusetts to New Hampshire and its purchasing power changes from $94,518 to $95,969 in national-average terms — a gain of $1,451. New Hampshire is the cheaper of the two, running at 104.2 on the price index versus 105.8.

Where the difference comes from

The widest gap is utilities: Massachusetts sits at 152.1 and New Hampshire at 133.7 (100 = national). New Hampshire has the edge there, and it's the main reason the two states diverge.

Housing

Median rent runs $1,762 in Massachusetts against $1,491 in New Hampshire, and the typical home $562,100 versus $402,500. New Hampshire is the more affordable place to buy.

Taxes

On tax, Massachusetts has 9.00% top income tax and a combined sales tax of 6.25%; New Hampshire has no wage income tax and 0.00%. That income-tax difference can outweigh a chunk of the cost-of-living gap for higher earners.

Full profiles: Massachusetts ·New Hampshire. Every figure here is sourced on the pages linked above.

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